Pumpkin Spice Latte Marketing – The PSL Effect
There’s no doubt that if you’re a human being alive today it is a near 100% guarantee that you’ve heard of, seen or even tasted a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Some of us are fans, others are indifferent, while a few are outright haters, but when it comes to business and marketing the fact remains that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is a case study on how strong marketing’s influence can actually be.
In this article we are going to take a look at what Pumpkin Spice is, how the Latte came to be and how the PSL or Pumpkin Spice Latte generated such a buzz and how it continues to dominate the fall beverage space every single year. The PSL Effect is strong and PSL Season is here!
Who Created the Pumpkin Spice Latte?
While we know the cool thing to say would be that Starbucks invented the PSL, but the truth is that it’s something that was being done intermittently for decades prior to the Starbuck Pumpkin Spice Latte and there was actually trend of creating different versions of them in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
But it is without question that Starbucks is the reason everyone knows about it, popularizing and making it a cultural phenomenon.
Over 20 years ago (in 2003), a Starbucks employee by the name of Peter Duke’s that led the Starbucks Espresso Beverage team, also led to the creation of their PSL.
It took about 3 months to refine and create the flavor, which was then brought to test markets in Washing D.C. and Vancouver, Canada. Duke’s stated that within a week they knew the flavor was going to be a hit.
What is Pumpkin Spice?
Pumpkin Spice is actually originally referred to as Pumpkin Pie Spice.
In most cases it’s a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Sometimes allspice gets added into the mix to diversify the flavor.
It was originally created as a blend in 1933 by Thompson & Taylor Spice Co, but quickly adopted by the McCormick & Company in 1934 who was able to more widely distribute and sell the product.
So sadly for all the Starbucks fans out there, they did not “invent” pumpkin spice. Only the pumpkin spice latte as you know it.
How Starbucks Made the Pumpkin Spice Latte a Cultural Icon
Even back in 2003 Starbucks had a very large footprint so they had the advantage of being able to easily market and distribute the PSL easily. So we do understand that they were big, they had the capital and resources to pull it off. But that alone does not guarantee success.
As we mentioned earlier the biggest part of the success was the market testing they did to ensure that once launched it would at least do okay. So understanding your customer, getting feedback, and alpha / beta testing is important in the road to success.
Here’s a quick fact… Starbucks sells over 20 Million PSL’s each year which results in hundreds of millions of dollars in Pumpkin Spice Lattes alone. That’s crazy!!!
Starbucks sticks to their customer “know how” and after finding a product that resonated with their audience they did what every proper consumer goods company should do and that is fan the flames of promoting the product in ways that connect with the customers and get them to spread the word. We’re talking a barrage of marketing, paid media, earned media and organic promotion by customers declaring it PSL Season and sharing PSLefies online.
With the proliferation of Instagram and TikTok over the decades old beverage there continues to be even more growth in the exposure the drink obtains.
So while Starbucks had and has the resources the real secret lies in their knowledge of the customer and capitalizing on finding winning products by pushing it relentlessly until it finally dies culturally, which won’t likely happen for the Pumpkin Spice Latte any time soon.
The PSL Effect
Interestingly the PSL Effect isn’t solely related to Starbucks, but rather the impact of Starbucks success marketing and selling the Pumpkin Spice Latte. The PSL Effect is the overall influence that the Starbucks PSL has on the general food & beverage market. Starbucks has been so successful in growing the PSL popularity that consumers have come to expect similar pumpkin spice offerings virtually everywhere they go during the fall months.
Additionally Pumpkin Spice has proliferated across all food and beverage categories including ice cream, beer, baked goods, ham, yogurt and even pet food! Not to mention non food products such as candles, crayons and scented mailers.
This is a testament to how strong the Pumpkin Spice Latte Marketing has been for Starbucks.
For example a study in 2023 showed that brands who introduced Pumpkin Spice beverages during the fall months received up to 26% more visibility. And when introduced to markets that typically have not had much PSL related marketing they saw up to a 23% lift across all brands who did that marketing.
This results in a massive boom in revenue for companies and markets that have not ever or have typically marketed Pumpkin Spice food and beverage products.
So regardless of the industry you are in, the PSL Marketing case study serves as a testament to how learning more about your customer and catering to their wants, needs and desires can result in a windfall for your brand.
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