Jamba Complicated Juice

Jamba Juice. A smoothie that's fresh and good for you: done! It's a great idea, a great product.

Entering a Jamba Juice you can't help but notice: friendly, clean and that Jamba Juice "smell" - fresh fruit, blenders, almost a rubber / sterile / fruity / airy smell to it. I'm sure it's trade marked. Truly exceptional.

What throws me off is the lack of simplicity, clarity and ease in their menu layout. One walks in wanting a "Jamba Juice" or a "smoothie", yet the menu options seem, although flavorful, daunting and almost confusing.

There are 11 Categories. Some of them are sub-categories, but I can't quite tell. There is "Breakfast All Day" which has 3 sub categories: "Yogurt and Fruit Blends”, “With Organic Granola" (3 additional options) and "Freshly Squeezed Juice and Juices". Wait, no, the "Juice and Juices" is it's own 'domain', with 4 options under its category.

The "ALL FRUIT" category: Ok...I feel like I'm taking the S.A.T. Let's see (by the this point I've stepped out of line because I'm...slowing it down, but then I notice those people meandering about, pretending like they know what they are doing, perusing the menu and decoding as I am.)

ALL FRUIT had 4 flavors. "JAMBA LIGHT", also it's own category, which has 3 flavors, but can I get those flavors as a "BLENDED WITH PURPOSE", which is the category next door? I don't know. Then they have "OUR CLASSICS". But I want a "Strawberry Nirvana", which is under the "JAMBA LIGHT" category, but I don't want the "Diet coke" version of a Jamba Juice. Ok, so there are the "Strawberries Wild" and "Strawberry Surf Rider" under "Our Classics".

I feel like going to sleep or leaving. I can't quite tell.

I asked the very nice and smiling employees: "Hi...I'd just like a Jamba Juice...like a "smoothie"...like that one! (pointing to one they are just putting a lid on). I didn't want to order wrong and get something that resembled a grocery store juice or a milk shake..I wanted their traditional jamba juice - the healthy person’s version of a 7-11 Slurpy!

Maybe if you had pictures next to the menu items? Maybe that would help?

Jamba Juice. Please. Take a page out of Google & Apple's playbook, or even the store next door, Chipotle. Simplify, streamline and make ease and menu clarity your main goal. Streamline the prices and I daresay...reduce them. If you can get to three prices, $3.50 being a 16 oz, your business would get really interesting. Right now my only option is to pay $5 for a smoothie, or $6 for a GIGANTIC burrito with organic ingredients next door at Chipotle. Chipotle wins, unlses you have a $3/$3.50 option with at least 12-14oz, than I'll pay just around $10 for dinner with both products.

The names are fun and cute, but they seem to be a bit over bearing. Too much!

Reduce clutter. Streamline blends and prices. Simplify.

Jamba Juice: A great idea, great stores, fun/nice employees and not a lot of lines. Maybe the menu is just...too much.

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Starbucks Wireless Terrible, Embarrassing

Starbucks new "free wireless" does not work! It's not functional, it's hard to log into and only one Starbucks Partner I talked with out of 15 over four or five stores knew how to log in, and he was a techie. There is no literature in the store to tell you how to log in and beyond that, there shouldn't be! It should be an easy, seamless log in process.

The partner I spoke with had only one way around the problem: His solution: "I just give customers my id and password who want to log in because no one has been able to figure it out quite yet. You can't log in because you need to access your email to retrieve your account info and validation. Of course you can't do that unless your online. Beyond that, there are no instructions, just the log in screen." (Log in screen seen below)


The above photo is of attempt 1. Logging into the ATT network. What follows is the access point - where you put in your "id and password".

The problem here is that no where does it say "Hey guys, if your new to our new free internet wireless network, WELCOME! We're excited about our new service and the best way to use it is as follows" and continue on with an easy step 1, 2 and 3 process. This is by far more complicated than Tully's process, which simply says "CLICK HERE TO LOGIN". Done! That's it! Free, easy and strong internet wireless.

But Starbucks has an impenetrable wall to their free wireless connection. The only way to access their network is to purchase a Starbucks card, go home, log in, sign up for an account, save your account information, go back to Starbucks and log in with the information you have. Embarrassing!

Again, this is a symptom of a company that doesn't know how to be big. Just last week an Ex Starbucks Executive told me: "Their 10,000 stores..it's hard to execute on those details"

The Partner I talked to above mentioned, while shrugging his shoulders: "I think there just leaving it up to ATT to take care of it..I don't know..but that is what I heard".

Wow. This is too bad. A great opportunity sputtered away.

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