Drink to Earn

Starbucks Odyssey is the official name for Starbucks’s “drink to earn” NFT platform. It combines the company’s very successful Starbucks Rewards loyalty program with Web3 technologies to offer NFT-confirmed questing toward exclusive experiences and rewards.

According to Starbucks CMO Brady Brewer, Starbucks opted to make NFTs the passes that allow access to this digital community, but the company is intentionally obscuring the nature of the technology underpinning the experience in order to bring in more consumers — including non-technical people — to the Web3 platform.

“It happens to be built on blockchain and Web3 technologies, but the customer — to be honest — may very well not even know that what they’re doing is interacting with blockchain technology. It’s just the enabler,” Brewer explained.

The question you have to ask: “Why does this platform need to use a blockchain?” It is fully centralized and completely under the control of Starbucks.

Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.

About Shelly Palmer

Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.

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