Starbucks isn’t a sports brand. But they have something all sports brands desperately want: super fans.
For Fanatics Fest 2026, we found a way for Starbucks to show up authentically, not by pretending to be part of the game, but by being the brand fans already love in their everyday lives. So we turned the Starbucks footprint into a sports-inspired hype engine, treating drinks like sneaker drops and giving fans something they couldn’t resist chasing.
Role: Associate Creative Director
Three Drops.
Three Cards.
One Grail.
Three Drops. Three Cards. One Grail.
Catch The Drop.
Clock hits zero, flavor is revealed, bar goes off.
Free refreshers are dropped and gone in seconds.
Score The Card.
Every drink gets you a gift card that you cannot
get anywhere else on planet Earth. Ever.
Collect And Win.
Collect all three cards and win a
Starbucks jacket designed by Complex.
We started by building a footprint from render to reality.
Designed collectable gift cards
made to look like the world’s most iconic sports trading cards.
Worked with Complex to create limited edition must-have merch.
And lastly had celebrity baristas, massive lines, major social buzz, and limited-edition drops that hit eBay before the weekend was even over.
SALT XC // Starbucks // Fanatics Fest