Starbucks is bringing consumers out of their post-Valentine?s Day slumps by sharing a love-themed music playlist with Snapchat followers, highlighting how the brand keeps its Spotify partnership at the center of its mobile marketing efforts.

After making a strong push for Valentine?s Day sales on its social channels, Starbucks is inspiring consumers to keep up with the happy feelings associated with the holiday. Its Snapchat followers were privy to a Story this week that featured some of the brand's red-tinged beverages and invited fans to follow a link to a Spotify-powered playlist for some love-oriented tunes.

"Starbucks currently offers customers free music downloads in-store with its ?Pick of the Week? program, so a partnership with Spotify is a next logical extension,? said Laura Sossong, senior consultant at Boston Retail Partners. ?As the Starbucks customer and the Snapchat user tend to be largely the same audience, accessing the application and its 100 million daily Snapchat users will be highly effective to launch the new Spotify playlists."

Warming up cross-partnerships
Starbucks has long been a proponent of relevant brand partnerships, as evidenced by its collaborations with the New York Times and Spotify.

Starbucks? partnership with streaming service Spotify points to the untapped potential of combining food and beverage marketers? mobile loyalty programs with music, as younger demographics put smartphones at the center of their content consumption and may be swayed to join programs with cross-partnership perks (see story).

Although bricks-and-mortar Starbucks locations ensure that they keep Spotify-related content front-and-center for customers, the beverage marketer sought to remind mobile users of the partnership. Fans following Starbucks on Snapchat were able to view a new Story this week, which depicted several images of red-colored drinks with musical emojis superimposed on top.

The brand then invited individuals to ?Take the love songs of Starbucks with you?? before panning to another picture displaying the link to the Spotify playlist, http://sbux.co/LovePlaylist.

Consumers could input the link into their mobile browsers, or open the Spotify app to search for the designated Starbucks-branded playlist.

The playlist opened up the perfect opportunity for Starbucks enthusiasts to listen to love songs while sipping on a latte in-store, or while going about their daily activities.

Additionally, individuals who did not previously have a Spotify membership may have been swayed to register for one so that they could access the curated playlist.

Starbucks has been one of the biggest mobile supporters in the food and beverage industry in the past year. In addition to cross-partnerships, the brand?s Mobile Order & Pay platform has converted a slew of consumers into new fans.

Growing adoption of Starbucks? Mobile Order & Pay program is a boon for the chain during the morning rush, when use increases and accounts for about 10 percent of transactions (see story).

Pouring out real-time content
Starbucks is engaging in a smart strategy by taking to Snapchat to advertise readily available real-time content for fans to enjoy.

Other quick service restaurant chains with strong followings would be well-suited to employ the same tactics.

Dunkin? Donuts also rewarded Snapchat followers with fun material this week by introducing a new geofilter prior to the Grammy Awards and asking fans to give honorary music awards to friends by tagging them on Twitter or Instagram.

"Snapchat campaigning certainly makes sense for those QSR chains targeting trend-conscious, social media savvy demographics that engage in dialogue with other users on a consistent basis,? Ms. Sossong said. ?The application is a true fit for those marketing to segments that view announcements and offers in real-time.?