Great Coffee & Good News at Starbucks

I love Starbucks. The coffee is great and I really admire CEO, Howard Schultz. He understands the social contract companies have to deliver more than just products and profits. Schultz does that, but he also knows he has a responsibility to engage with a broad range of people — not just share owners — and add value beyond a stock price and dividend.

Schultz and his company support veterans, are generous with employees, help create opportunities and jobs where few exist, and are unafraid to speak up on issues such as LGBT, race, and money in politics. You may have seen the Starbucks barista who handed out coffee and muffins to first responders after the recent bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Starbucks' communications leader, Corey duBrowa, is smart, creative and connected to the world in which his company operates. Corey works side by side with Schultz to drive the direction and strategy of Starbucks. Let's put it this way: if there was a fantasy league for chief communications officers, I'd draft Corey for my team.

So I watch with interest when Starbucks launches an initiative, including recently when it announced a new "content" campaign to tell the "true American story." Its genesis comes from Schultz's belief, as stated in a recent NPR interview, that the American media overemphasizes negative news and has "painted America with such a dark cloud."

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