image source: roadblogg.blogspot.com

I am a frequent visitor to Starbucks… just as I am heavy user of Facebook… just as I am obsessed with swiping my finger across my iPhone. It is common that I do all three things at the same time. As I am standing in line or waiting for my drink at Starbucks, I would most likely be updating Facebook and checking email on my phone. I would occasionally take a quick glance at the plasma TV to find out the name of the song playing in the store. When my drink is done, I grab it, thank the bartista and exit the store.

Being so consumed by my routine, I never really paid attention to or noticed what other people in the store are doing. Last Monday as I was waiting in line to place my order, I was presented with the opportunity… my iPhone died. For nearly two seconds, I panicked and felt like I was trapped on an island with no connections to the rest of the world.

As I was putting my phone in my back pocket, I noticed the guy in front of me was pulling his Blackberry out of his suit jacket. Within the eleven to thirteen seconds between pulling out his Blackberry to placing his order for a “venti, non fat, extra hot, caramel chai latte, extra shot of caramel, with soy milk and no whip,” he managed to scan through his in box an launch two other applications. Needless to say, that is impressive.

As I was waiting for my drink, I looked around the store and noticed five out of the seven tables were occupied and four out of the five had laptops. Out of the four people with laptops, two were typing away and the other two were simultaneously switching between their multi-function smart phones and their laptops.

“Grande vanilla soy latte for Will!” the bartista yells.

As I was walking over to the counter to pick up my drink, I noticed five out of the eight people waiting in line to order were browsing through their phones. Twittering, Facebooking, checking email, you tubing, browsing RSS feeds etc…

Other than a major change in social behavior as a society, I suddenly realized a typical morning at a Starbucks is a snap shot of a highly sophisticated market segment that consumes and shares information at a super fast speed, simultaneously through multiple channels.

What is effective at reaching this multitasking, Starbucks consuming, smart phone using and web browsing crowd? If this is your target market, you might want to consider cross media applications in your mix.

-Willv