Background
Formerly known as Student in Free Enterprise (SIFE), North Central College’s Enactus was established in 1987 by Dr. Gary Ernst to help small local and global entrepreneurs become financially stable. The intent is to help students expand their skills and gain real-world experience. Enactus represents North Central College through selling their Guatemalan imported coffee- Conscious Bean Coffee-and by participating in Enactus’ annual U.S competition.
The Challenge
Being in the introductory stage, the Coffee Lab is still learning how to maneuver and target certain segmentations across the Naperville community- whether it be local businesses or families. Enactus’ advisory board came to Cardinal PR to help discover new key audiences, promote Enactus, and sell Conscious Bean Coffee.
With the focus of reaching North Central College students, the advisory board struggled to increase their exposure to students due to Enactus’ and the Coffee Lab’s indistinguishable brands. Cardinal PR worked alongside Enactus members to strengthen their brand and organization as a whole.
The SOLUTION
Through identifying what is different through each brand, the advisory board members and Cardinal PR conjured up goals to create promotional tools for Enactus’ first annual holiday sale and coffee tastings while showcasing the entrepreneurial efforts from Enactus.
The overall goal was to distinguish both Enactus’ and the Coffee Lab’s brand through social media. For that, a content strategy was key. Cardinal PR utilized Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to help showcase Enactus’ entrepreneurial efforts and team members.
Insights
The Enactus advisory board identified that there was growth in sales and invisibility towards students and community members. From selling at local communities and churches, the Coffee Lab saw a big uptick in five-pound coffee bags.
The weekly coffee tastings showed steady growth during the duration of the Fall 2019 semester. By word-of-mouth alone, the number of attendees increased from zero to twenty individuals being those taken at the Larrance Academic Center from 9 am to 12 pm.
From creating a content strategy, both brands were able to showcase the coffee brand and the exclusive behind the scenes promotional tools featuring the coffee farmers and coffee brewing process. Also, the drafted media list was able to identify and contact two vendors to participate in Enactus’ first annual holiday sale.