Starbucks bins Odyssey NFT rewards programme but retailer promises more to come from its Web3 adventures

Cast your minds back to 2022 when Starbucks announced it was venturing into the world of Web3 with the beta launch of an NFT rewards programme, Odyssey.

The retailer brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Mobile Order & Pay system and app, to serve as a special advisor.

“We have a history of harnessing emerging technology to innovate on behalf of our customers and making it easily accessible and approachable for the mainstream,” said Brady Brewer, Starbucks Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

“Our innovative spirit and the desire to continuously exceed the expectations of our customers has led to the launch of Starbucks Odyssey.”

All very cool sounding. But alas, after a barrage of hype, this has remained as a closed, invite only beta. And now Starbucks is quietly binning it.

On 15th March, it added the following question to the FAQs section of the Odyssey website: "Why are you ending the Starbucks Odyssey Beta programme?”

"The Starbucks Odyssey Beta must come to an end to prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the programme,” came the answer.

According to the website, the Starbucks Odyssey programme will officially end on 31st March.

Users in the closed beta have until 25th March to complete any remaining Journeys, activities such as online games and quizzes that enabled members to earn NFTs and reward points. The project's Discord channel was shut down on 19th March.

The move is interesting for several reasons, according to Frank Beard, Head of Marketing at Rovertown and a member of the RTIH Top 100 Retail Tech Influencers List.

On one hand, it was easy to dismiss Odyssey from the start. In a LinkedIn post, Beard said: “Despite couching their September 2022 announcement in "third place" language, it was difficult to see how Odyssey was anything more than an attempt to capitalise on the NFT/Web3 hype.”

“Remember the NFT craze? VCs were paying $200k+ for algorithmically generated JPEGs of cartoon apes and using them as profile pictures on Twitter. Wild times.”

He added: “NFTs aside, I found it curious that Starbucks maintained an official Odyssey Discord server. It's a stretch to say that collecting and selling digital images builds community, but Discord is full of communities.”

“And that matters. The older I get, the more I notice a severe lack of third places in American life. It's so easy to feel alone in public, even when surrounded by people, unless you belong to local groups organised around a religion, hobby, or similarly binding activity or belief.”

“Online communities may be an imperfect substitute, but they're not nothing. I grew up on the internet. I was an active member of many forums in the late 90s and early 2000s.”

“If one of my favourite coffee roasters like Black & White or Luminous had a community for insufferable coffee snobs like myself, I'd probably check it out.”

That's why it's somewhat sad to see Starbucks pull the rug on its Discord, Beard argues.

Several participants have already started an unofficial Odyssey Discord, and he decided to check in out of curiosity. “They're sharing favourite Starbucks drinks and even talking about organising a monthly movie night. Maybe they'll stick with it.”

Beard concluded: “Not sure what the takeaway is here, but there's something fascinating about the intersection between our desire for community and the desire for companies to provide and profit off that space.”

“And while the classic Turkish, British, and Vietnamese coffee shops of yesteryear also existed for profit, something feels fundamentally different about a publicly traded company funnelling superfans into a Discord and abruptly shutting it down. Maybe they'll give it another try soon?”

Starbucks did not respond to our request for comment.