The

Entrepreneurial

Code

Lessons from an

Ivy League Entrepreneur

Chapter Thirty-Two

In the weeks before the launch, Johnny and his partners had the enormously important task of finalizing their NCEB logo, the design of the College Card, and the remaining contents of their mailer. Arguably, the cover letter was the most important component of the campaign because it introduced the product. They believed it determined whether or not people threw away the contents of the envelope or explored the services further.

For the NCEB logo, the partners decided to adopt a circular seal that contained a large book with ivy on either side. The words National College Enrollment Board were emblazoned across the top. The logo was prominently displayed on the brochure cover, which also featured the image of a student with a book bag over her shoulder walking through a college campus.  Faded in the background were the names of hundreds of different cities.  They wanted to convey to the reader how the card would be accepted everywhere.  Inside the brochure was featured a sample image of a College Card.

Since they couldn’t yet customize their campaign for individual campuses, they decided the next best approach was to project a general “academic” feel. By combining the NCEB brand with images of real students using Bullfrog Cards, the partners thought their mailer would grab people’s attention. They wanted to convey that NCEB was relevant to students everywhere. At the same time, they needed to convince people to become members of the program, even if their school didn’t sponsor it.

The brochure also contained a page filled with the logos of the national companies offering discounts. NCEB was promoting special deals from companies such as IBM, TWA, Lens Express, Flowers USA, Princeton Review, Firestone, Dollar Rent A Car, Day Timer, Papa John’s Pizza, Student Travel Services, Jiffy Lube, and more.  They also had an arrangement with Transmedia, which would link cardholders to their discount program, which offered discounts at over 7,000 restaurants across the country.  Finally, they promoted the 32% discount on student textbooks that was available to cardholders from the on-line bookstore.

In the brochure the partners described the benefits of College Card for meals, books and campus essentials. They gave instructions to families on how to sign up for the program, and requested that families not send deposits for the debit account until after they received the card in the mail.  They just wanted people to try the program by signing up for the $25 discount card.  They thought it would be an easier sell to get people “in the door.”  Then they planned to send a more customized product offering to each cardholder based on the school he was attending.  For example, they intended to include a list of actual restaurants accepting the card both on and around the school’s campus to encourage families to activate the meal plan feature.

Unfortunately, Johnny and his partners were paranoid that the direct mail campaign would flop because they weren’t school-sponsored. While they were confident people would be satisfied with their services, they were concerned that families might not give them an opportunity.  It left them drafting and redrafting the materials trying to stumble upon the best way to present their message.

 

Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico
All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.