Your company is most likely neglecting a great resource that is inexpensive to use. College Organizations, there is a college organization or group for anything you or your company needs to do or have done. I was a member of the American Marketing Association at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. As a member I was able to meet with many company representatives that spoke at our meetings. The representatives talked about their jobs, their company, and answered questions. I was able to network with many individuals and different companies through the AMA, but that is where my relationship stopped. These companies that spoke were helpful and informative but all came down to finding some perspective employees. That is great for the company and the AMA members, but the company could have utilized the AMA more.
The AMA chapters participate in case competitions where they create detailed marketing campaigns for the selected company or organization. As a member if a company asked me or the UWM AMA to help create a marketing campaign, slogan, plan, etc. I would have been happy to do so. All a company would have had to do was ask or make a proposal, for about a tenth of what it would have cost the company to do it the AMA could have. I realized this and instead of waiting for a company to make a proposal I wrote one to Joe Sorge of the now famous AJ Bombers.
Part of the proposal: "An American Marketing Association fundraiser at AJ Bombers will increase the level of awareness University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee students have of AJ Bombers, while providing additional funding for the UWM Chapter of AMA. This will be done by promoting the menu and specials of AJ Bombers on campus by the use of strategically placed posters and flyers, and by word of mouth. The fundraiser will consist of promoting a new Burger of the Month, for the month of November 2009, called “The AMAzing Burger,” where one dollar of each burger sold will go to the UWM AMA." While the fundraiser did not yield the projected results, it did increase the awareness of AJ Bombers on campus and gave me and other AMA members valuable experience in creating a marketing campaign. Most importantly it provided additional funds for the AMA so the organization could continue to provide their members. So on behalf of myself and the UWM AMA I would like to thank Joe Sorge and AJ Bombers again for taking the chance with us.
So that was my personal experience with the underutilized college organizations.
Why you should consider using a college organization?
The number of college organizations and ability to find one just right for what you need.
The ease of finding that college organization and making contact with the president, a simple search on the campus website for organizations should provide you with a list that you could use. Or a Google search if you know what organization you would like to use.
It provides valuable experience to the college students in the organization.
Costs less than using an agency or going in house (or it should)
The money goes to the organization and is used for its members benefit.
I am not saying that using a college organization is perfect for every situation but it should be considered.
Do you or your company have any personal experience? Do you know any college organizations that would fit with what you intend to do? Have you considered using a college organization? Any other reasons why you would or should consider using a college organization?
Be warned this will be an interesting and different post to say the least…. So here it goes:
Last night I dreamt that I was the General Manager (I know that’s for baseball but it was a dream) of a pizza shop in Milwaukee. It was part of the Streetza family but had an awesome name… which I do not remember… since it was a dream parts have been forgotten and was not a pure idea. I will describe my dream while making marketing advice and suggestions on why it would work or wouldn’t and what should be changed.
Breakdown of the place
The dream started in the middle of the “story” and had some flashbacks with what I believe was my subconscious filling in the missing parts to make it work. It was a small pizza place with a handful of tables a counter, 2 cash registers, an awesome menu display up top, and some pizza warmer racks behind the counter. The pizza warming racks had timers on them that kept track of how long the pizzas were out, I will explain this later. The back had a large oven(s) (It was one oven but changed to many ovens later, but still fit a lot of pizzas) a large chart/board on the wall with times and when the pizzas should be made and placed in the over for maximum efficiency. There was a nice prepping table a large fridge with all the fresh ingredients, some random people working on making pizzas and an office. I was usually in the office taking phone orders for a full pizza and working on the social media aspects of the pizzeria. During busy times I would come out and help with the extra demand, whether I was making a pizza or working a register.
This part of the dream made plenty of sense since it was all based on prior knowledge of restaurants. The menu over the top of the counter was similar to McDonald’s but not lit up, more closely resembling that of Bella’s or Kopp’s. It was plastic or wood that was painted and had the name of the business in the upper left… the name which I forgot. It offered the four normal slices offered by Streetza and a fifth special slice of the day. The prices were 3.75 per slice (same as Streetza) but if the slices were over an hour old they were a dollar. Not sure if an hour would be a good amount of time, might need to be shorter in real life to make it more effective. You could order a whole pizza for 18 dollars if you called it in ahead of time. If you were ordering a slice you could have it to-go or here at the pizzeria. The to-go had a nice cardboard triangle wedge that the slice of pizza fit into. The menu also offered soda in three sizes from a Pepsi machine to the side and an option of garlic bread. The cash register was very simple with an easy layout of each type of pizza with three columns, whole pizza, slice, dollar slice. Then on the right side the three sizes of soda and garlic bread. There was a sales tax added onto the purchase which angered one customer. The board in the back was a white board with magnets of each pizza and times for when they were to be in the oven. I assume this was because of the different demand for the slices so there would not be a wait on a particular slice, as well as to keep track of the phone orders.
How it began
Later in the dream I sequenced back to how it all started. I won a large lottery (wish I knew when and the winning numbers) so I moved back to Milwaukee and enjoyed myself but eventually got bored (yeah right). So I contacted Scott Baitinger of Streetza Pizza about opening up a Streetza store that operated during the day. Montage sequence later and after 3 months of planning we were set to start a business. We decided on a location (no idea where that was but I think the location was between North and Brady based on the surrounding buildings) had some interviews and stories written up and found and trained some employees. Pretty sure it took a total of 6 months before the stores grand opening and opening special of dollar slices all day.
Since it was a montage of sorts most of the exact details were skipped. The first three months would have included coming up with a solid business plan that listed the prices and procedures as well as the goal and mission of the business. Also needed to be done near the end of those three months would be proper research to find the right location, since that would be key. Either by a college or a bunch of businesses would be a prime location. Down town Milwaukee would have also been good but there is some decent competition there with Rustico and Brick 3 and the other numerous restaurants and the rent prices would be higher. But any prime location will have competition so the location would come down to some graphical equation plotting price vs. customer base/potential profits. The building would also take time to renovate the location to fit the needs of the pizzeria. Then there is the hiring and training of the employees and finding a local company to purchase the ingredients from. The final piece that would need to be done prior to opening is the buildup of awareness and social media. More information about how to create a successful restaurant (a restaurant I would go to and frequent) will be a future blog post, stay tuned for that.
Other tidbits
The dream was very unlinear much like an episode of Lost so some other key parts will be placed here since they happened “randomly” and in no real order. One of the reasons the business in my dream was so successful was not only the great brand that Scott built up with loyal patrons but because I also took a very hands on approach and was heavily involved. I am a person who gets my hands dirty and will do the work that needs to be done, even if in the example I had no real need to (lottery win). I also worked with a few groups at UWM, including CEO and AMA. I spoke to both organizations about the idea and the steps taken to make it a success. Answered some key questions about the aspects of the business, might I add I was awesome in doing so… even if I don’t remember the exact questions or answers. Sponsored CEO and AMA by providing pizza at the meetings and presenting them with fundraising opportunities. One fundraising opportunities was creation of the pizza of the day which would be sold for an extra dollar a slice that went towards the organization. Which gave birth to the AMAzing pizza, which in my dream was AWESOMLY AMAZING, I could really smell and taste it even if it was just a dream. We also helped Panther Pack out (UWM Panther Athletics) by being a sponsor for their rewards program, after attending so many games given a coupon or other item donated from a local business, for a free slice of pizza. We also catered much like Streetza does now; this would allow the truck to be open on those nights when they would be catering an event. Also in my dream there was a break in/ vandalism which was solved by social media help and the person who gave information that led to the conviction of the vandal got free pizza for a year.
And that sums up what I can remember from the dream, it would be nice if that managed to happen. One problem is I did not win a lottery so I could not invest in the business as well as the other cash flow problems that could arise. However Scott if for some reason this idea has some traction I will be more than happy to help out make it a reality and even be the(general) manager.
What location would you like to see a streetza pizzeria? What would you name it? Would you frequent a place like that? Any other suggestions or comments?
