Customer feedback is the best way to know how a brand is perceived in the marketplace. Does mobile have a role to play in this era of instant diss?

Let's step back and take a look at a brand that's engaged deeply in navel-gazing: Starbucks Coffee Co. The CEO has bemoaned publicly that the Seattle-based retail chain has lost some of its luster. Over-expansion, a weak economy, unfocused menu and staff turnover -- several reasons could have contributed to Starbucks' current woes and decline as a great lifestyle brand.

But the most obvious issue seems to be a failure at the last mile: customer service.

Hate to say this, but the Starbucks experience, at least in some stores in New York and Washington, DC, feels like a fast-food restaurant at late night. The attention to detail is missing and the staff is languid, to say the least.

If only there was a way to immediately convey these feelings to corporate headquarters by texting â?¦ COFFEE.

Yes, Starbucks should have bought that short code. Not only is it a branding exercise, but it is also easy to remember if customers want to send in positive or negative feedback for subsequent corrective measures.

So if Starbucks did indeed buy COFFEE, it could emblazon that short code on its coffee cups and rings, sandwich and beverage packaging and in-store signage. It could also list the texting details on the site at http://www.starbucks.com.

Don't be surprised to receive texts such as "SUCKS!" "Staff don't smile," "Orders mixed up," "wasn't given receipt -- and this is not the first time," "too pricey," "told them to hold the cream," "store too dark" or "What's with the Internet???"

Once slighted or disappointed in a shopping experience, consumers won't hesitate to use the full might of word-of-mouth against proud brands. Blogs and social networks are their weapons of mass destruction.

Few people in this day and age are going to call a corporate toll-free number or visit the Web site to fill in the relevant fields for feedback or even dash off an email. It's a different culture now.

A text, on the other hand, is brief and to the point and can be sent in less time than it takes for the customer to add the heat ring to the hot chocolate that lay abandoned and unidentified at the pickup counter.