• Ad Age, Thursday, July 10, 2008 11:30 AM

Starbucks is extending its sampling of summer beverages to assuage consumers and boost traffic through the season. The new round of promotions not only represents an expansion of the company's regional sampling efforts but also answers a flood of consumer requests on the company's "idea" website asking for a price break while they're feeling pinched.

The promotions, which are targeted to customers who have Starbucks cards or visit the stores more than once a day, vary by region and are focused in major cities. For example, consumers in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York, Philadelphia and Washington are getting free small iced coffees on specific days with certain restrictions. Another involves a cold grande beverage for $2 in the afternoon if you have a receipt from that morning.

"It's a difficult thing for a premium brand to price-promote," says Robert Passikoff, founder of Brand Keys. "With those kinds of tactics, what generally happens is you end up with a short-term bump, but after the promotion is over, you lose the customer base.

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