It’s that time of the year once more! Starbucks will be releasing its Limited Edition 2014 Starbucks Philippines Planners this coming November 2, 2013. This 11th edition set of 4 planners is truly one that you would not want to miss collecting.
This year’s theme is “Coffee Perfection” and many details incorporated into the planner echo the theme.
The 4 planners feature leather covers and come in yellow, brown, magenta and black. These 4 shades were specifically chosen as they correspond to Starbucks’ coffee blends.
The yellow planner was inspired by the Blonde Willow Blend; the brown planner was inspired by the Medium Colombia Blend; and the magenta planner was inspired by the Dark Komodo Dragon Blend. These three blends are already available in the Philippines.
The black planner was inspired by the blend called Starbucks Reserve (available so far in Thailand and Singapore only) and is in limited quantity for now. The beans are exotic, rare, specially picked and roasted.
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| Starbucks Reserve Coffee (screenshot from Starbucks website) |
Look at the artwork in each of the coffee blends. Then turn each planner over and carefully look at the embossed back cover. You will spot the same artwork incorporated into the back cover’s design.
Size-wise, they are about the same as last year’s. A magnetic clasp keeps the planners closed.
What are some of the new or improved features of this planner aside from the roast profiles?
* Signature bookmarks – Each planner also comes with its own signature bookmark and stands for something connected to Starbucks — a coffee bean for the yellow, a house (House Blend) for the brown, a vinta (Kape Vinta) for magenta, and the Starbucks cup for the black.
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| Each colored planner with its own signature bookmark |
* QR codes – Starbucks has gone digital. On some pages with pictures depicting Starbucks stories, you will find a QR code at a corner. Scan that with a scanning app and if you are online, you will be redirected to a Starbucks video that expounds on what the printed story is all about! I can’t wait to try that one out.
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| The QR code |
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| How QR code looks on a story page |
* Coffee stickers – A Starbucks survey showed that most planner users love stickers so they introduced coffee stickers reflecting the blends being featured.
* Coupons, coupons and more coupons – There are now 14 coupons you can use throughout the year to get Starbucks freebies. Last year there were only 13. That’s more than one a month!
How to Get the Starbucks 2014 Planner
If you’ve collected stickers for past planners, you more or less know how this goes. But if you’re a first-time collector of Starbucks stickers for the planner, here is how:
1. Get a promo card from any Starbucks branch.
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| Front |
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| Back |
2. You will need 18 stickers this time (9 Christmas beverages, 9 core beverages), except bottled drinks.
3. Promo is from Nov. 2, 2013-January 8, 2014.
Limited Christmas Starbucks Card Collectibles
Starbucks collectors, this one’s for you!
Starbucks has come up with 2 Christmas designs for its Starbucks card. It will only be available on a very limited basis but works exactly like the classic Starbucks card. One design is a snowman in a forest on a wintry day and the other design is a golden Christmas tree against a red backdrop.
Starbucks Leather Card Cases
For the first time also, leather card cases are available in colors matching the four 2014 planners. Mind you, these are not synthetic leather cases. I held them up to my nose and smelled REAL LEATHER!
Now, take note of this because it is only good for 3 DAYS!
From Nov. 4-6, 2013, just buy a Christmas Starbucks card and top it up with P1,500 and you get a FREE leather card case of your choice (subject to availability of color at the branch). For those who would rather not get the leather card case (but why won’t you???), you can get P300 FREE extra load on top of your P1,500. Remember, just these 3 days.
And here’s one more tip…
You get the most value if you use your Starbucks card when purchasing a beverage. Why? Because not only do you get a sticker towards the planner but you also earn a star towards a future free beverage once you accumulate the needed number of stars.
Happy collecting!!!
