Supporting a new store opening through Drive-To-Store campaigns and Footfall Uplift Analysis

Starbucks is the world’s leading coffeehouse chain, known for turning coffee consumption into a personalized, urban lifestyle experience. Since entering the Italian market in 2018, the brand has seen a rapid expansion, reaching nearly 50 locations across the country.

Client

Starbucks
Sector

Food & Beverage
Area of Expertise

Marketing & Media, Digital Strategy

1. Goals

To support the launch of its first Italian flagship store in Piazza San Silvestro, Rome, Starbucks partnered with us to create a media strategy which aimed at:

Increasing brand awareness
Driving foot traffic to the new store
Highlighting the store’s uniqueness, dedicated events and new menu

2. Our Approach

The launch campaign for Starbucks’ new flagship store in Piazza San Silvestro was built on an integrated strategy that combined brand awareness with drive-to-store initiatives. The plan included an accurate audience segmentation, aiming to reach both local residents and tourists visiting the capital.
Specifically, we supported the brand through a two-month campaign structured in two distinct phases: an initial teasing phase to spark curiosity and interest around the flagship store opening, and a subsequent drive-to-store phase to encourage physical visits to the store.

To track and optimize performance, the campaign was supported by advanced measurement tools such as footfall analysis and uplift measurement. These allowed us to accurately quantify the increase in in-store traffic directly attributable to the campaign — isolating its real impact from general audience behaviour. We used the footfall uplift metric: a clear and reliable way to assess marketing effectiveness by measuring the difference in store visits between people exposed to the ads and a control group.

In particular, we supported the Starbucks Italy team with activities such as:

Building visibility around the opening through dedicated awareness campaigns
Running Local campaigns on Google Ads to drive online-to-offline micro-conversions, such as asking for directions to get to the store
Accurately measuring results by assessing the incremental impact of advertising through footfall uplift analysis, to evaluate the campaign effectiveness and the actual increase in store traffic.

6 million impressions

14.000 direction requests

+57% in-store visits

+40% Google searches for Starbucks in Rome

3. Key Wins

By combining awareness and drive-to-store efforts, the launch campaign for Starbucks’ new flagship store in Rome successfully delivered tangible results:

Over 6 million geo-targeted impressions across the capital, highlighting a broad yet precise coverage
More than 14,000 direction requests for the store — a clear signal of interest and intent to visit
+57% uplift in in-store visits, confirmed through footfall analysis, showing a real increase in store traffic driven by the campaign
+40% increase in Google searches for Starbucks in Rome compared to the same period the previous year.