Lessons Learned From a Failed Ivy League Entrepreneur

A "Case Story" By Chris Cononico
 

Chapter Thirty-Five

In the weeks before our launch, we had the enormously important task of finalizing our NCRB logo, the design of the Campus Card, and the remaining contents of our mailer. Arguably, the cover letter was the most important component of our campaign because it introduced our product. We believed it determined whether or not people threw away the contents of the envelope or explored our services further.

For our NCRB logo, we decided to adopt a circular seal that contained a large book with ivy on either side. The words National College Registration Board were emblazoned across the top. Our 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. We wanted to convey to the reader how the card would be accepted everywhere. Inside the brochure we featured a sample image of a Campus Card.

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

Our brochure also contained a page filled with the logos of the national companies offering discounts. We were 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. We also had an arrangement with Transmedia, which would link our cardholders to their discount program, which offered discounts at over 7,000 restaurants across the country. Finally, we promoted the 32% discount on student textbooks that was available to our cardholders from our on-line bookstore.

In our brochure we described the benefits of Campus Card for meals, books and campus essentials. We gave instructions to families on how to sign up for the program, and requested families not send deposits for the debit account until after they received our card in the mail. We just wanted people to try us out by signing up for the $25 discount card. We thought it would be an easier sell to get people “in the door.” That’s when we planned to send a more customized product offering to each cardholder based on the school he was attending.

Unfortunately, my partners and I were paranoid our direct mail campaign would flop because we weren’t school-sponsored. The pressure we felt had us drafting and redrafting our marketing materials. While we were confident people would be satisfied with our services, we were paranoid that families might not give us an opportunity. That’s why we felt the need to project the image of “NCRB” instead of a start-up founded by former students. We thought NCRB would get better results and lend an image of credibility that would allow us to compete with thousands of schools.


 

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.