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Starbucks "Cat Paw" Returns After the Success of the Cat Paw Cup

This time, though, Starbucks chose bags.

At 11:22 AM on July 5th, Starbucks China's official Weibo posted the news that the second wave of the "#StarbucksAtmosphereGroupLaptopBag#" would launch the following day. From the images alongside the post, it was clear that Starbucks had brought back merchandise featuring the "cat paw" element.

The target audience for this "Starbucks Atmosphere Group Laptop Bag" is limited to Starbucks members, and other conditions apply. To get the bag, customers need to accumulate 150 yuan of spending within seven days, from July 6th to July 12th, to be eligible for a reservation opportunity.

Comments and messages online show that some people are already looking forward to it, while others are eagerly pressing Starbucks to release a "cat paw phone case." The adorable cat element, it seems, is still in fashion.

Remembering the 2019 Cat Paw Cup Frenzy

Does everyone remember the very cute cat paw cup Starbucks launched in 2019?

When the cat paw cup was released, plenty of people wanted one of their own. Popularity was so intense that the cups were extremely hard to get. Some consumers set up tents outside Starbucks stores to wait overnight for the doors to open, and there were even fights between customers over a cup inside the stores.

That also triggered a scalper economy, with some unscrupulous merchants listing cat paw cups on online shopping platforms, claiming they were authentic products from internal channels, and inflating the price to thousands of yuan.

Starbucks paid attention to the situation and eventually announced on February 27, 2019, that it would sell the cups in limited quantities at specific times, and restrict purchases to its online store only.

The Marketing Strategy Behind the Cat Paw Phenomenon

After the cat paw cup episode, the Economic Observer analyzed it as part of a marketing strategy orchestrated by Starbucks.

Before the release, popular online platforms and influencers collaborated to build buzz around the cat paw cup, triggering a herd effect. Scalpers then spotted the opportunity and joined the bidding frenzy, driving prices up, and finally the official statement promised a restock.

To meet the strong consumer demand for cat-themed merchandise, Starbucks released four cups incorporating cat paw elements on April 7, 2020.

On April 13, 2020, Starbucks launched another "Cat Paw Cup," but this time it did not win consumers over.

Following tradition, Starbucks' annual "Cat Paw Cup" that goes viral online would quickly become popular. To avoid the fights that broke out in stores at the end of February 2019, Starbucks made these two cups available online for registration and reservation, with the system randomly selecting winners.

Surprisingly, some customers complained that this year's "Cat Paw Cup" reused the old mold. In design terms the series matched previous years, with only the color scheme changing to the purple "Purple Cherry Cat Paw Cup." It shows how easily designs with too much repetition wear down consumers' sense of novelty over time.

Lessons Learned and New Strategy

More than two years have passed since the Starbucks cat paw cup episode, and it is clear that Starbucks saw a business opportunity in the cat paw and also learned from it. The cat paw cups and cat tail cups of 2020 no longer followed the 2019 model of first-come, first-served on-site purchases. Instead, Starbucks prepared sufficient stock and let consumers reserve on online platforms, with sales decided by random lottery.

Now, as the second wave of "Atmosphere Group Laptop Bags" is about to launch, the "Cat Paw Laptop Bag" is making its debut too. Thanks to the changed mechanism, though, you must be a member and spend enough within a week to even get a chance in the lottery draw. You do not even need a driving license to draw for a plate number, it seems. Perhaps that is the charm of cat paws.

So, readers, what do you think of Starbucks' cat paw-themed merchandise? Are you thinking about getting one too?

*Image source: Internet

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