?The cup is ultimately a low-tech handheld screen,? said Gary Schwartz, president and CEO of Impact Mobile, New York. ?It commands our attention and sits on the table with our phone during any conversation.

?Both cup and phone have the ability to spurn discussion,? he said. ?Starbucks understands this.?

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has said the company is forging ahead with the campaign despite the harsh social media backlash it has sparked since its launch last week.

 

Schultz, whose brand was the first runner?s-up for the 2014 Mobile Marketer of the Year, is no stranger to bold stands. In 2012 he had baristas write ?work together? on cups during the Congressional fiscal-cliff controversy. 

He has also spoken out about gun control, gay rights and affordable education.

Starbucks? mobile loyalty and payments strategy is a clear success and continues to grow, but the coffee shop chain is a strong mobile marketer in other ways as well. 

The marketer continues to push the envelope on SMS with fun campaigns that leverage rich media to engage and entertain customers. This year it also pushed further into using mobile in-store with a new mobile ordering strategy and plans for an iBeacon implementation.

Early last year, an organizational restructuring gave Mr. Schultz more control in the brand?s day-to-day work with digital and physical assets.

Starbucks has held open forums for employees to talk about race relations. But not everyone wants to discuss the subject while ordering their morning coffee, nor do they think the coffee line is the right place to have this kind of conversation.

Historically, cause marketing has been a successful strategy for multinationals such as Benetton and Dove. Issues such as racism, homophobia and teen girl?s self-esteem allow brands to become firebrands.

?Starbucks in the 2015 seems to have a nostalgia for the English coffeehouse of the 17th century, when coffee and political debate went hand in hand,? Mr. Schwartz said.

?There is no question that Starbucks? ubiquity allows it to be a sounding board for urban America. There is a question whether this should be foisted onto the privacy of our cups,? he said.

In the age of social media, brands need to be highly aware of the content they are releasing when launching campaigns, as the potential for backlash is heightened due to social media?s reach and lack of accountability. 

?Mobile has infinitely increased the speed at which messages are spread, so a few negative tweets can easily spur millions of retweets and a backlash,? said Esha Shah, Manager of Mobile & Strategy at Fetch.