One Sip at a Time: Wine Biz Students Team with Wine Company, Oliver's Market to "Stomp Out Student Loans Debt"
Rohnert Park, CA (PRWEB) March 11, 2014 -- It is a unique twist on cause marketing. Terra FOSSIL Wines approached the Wine Business Institute of Sonoma State University to request student involvement in their new "Stomp Out Student Loans" campaign.
The winery has teamed with SSU Wine Business Professor Dr. Liz Thach to develop a real-life cause marketing project in partnership with Oliver's Grocery Stores in Santa Rosa and Cotati.
For every bottle of Terra FOSSIL wine sold at Oliver's for $9.95, the winery will donate $1 and Oliver's will donate $1 for a combined total donation of $2 per bottle to the scholarship departments of SSU and SRJC to ease students' financial burden and cultivate conversation about this country's rowing epidemic of student loan debt.
"I'm always on the look-out for real-life wine business projects for our students," Thach said about the efforts by her Wine Business students in the Bus 305W Introduction to Wine Business class.
The 41 students in the class will work in teams to analyze the Terra FOSSIL brand, create an online video, develop at least 10 creative Facebook/Twitter/Instagram etc. postings, design a community communication campaign, and create POS (Point of Sales material).
They will present their ideas on April 2 to a panel of reviewers from Terra FOSSIL and Oliver's. The student team with the most creative campaign will receive a cash prize of $100 per student from Terra FOSSIL. Official launch in Oliver's grocery stores is late April.
Cause marketing is defined as cooperative efforts between a for-profit and a non-profit business for mutual benefit.
"Last year we worked with Wharton University on social media design," said Terra FOSSIL CEO, Greg Leib, "and it was there that we realized what a huge problem student loan debt has become.
"Our nation is currently buried in over $1 trillion in student loan debt, which overshadows the country's current credit debt. As we expand our Terra FOSSIL wine brand into California and continue our philosophy of cause marketing, we decided to try to help in some small way. This seemed like a good cause and a great learning opportunity."
Tom Scott, General Manager of the three Oliver's store locations (Montecito, Stony Point and Cotati Store) is very supportive of the project and is not only providing floor space to sell the wine, but is also contributing a portion of their profit margin.
"We like to support our community," says Scott. "This project seems like a great way to help launch a new wine brand for our customers and to assist our local universities and colleges."
So how do SSU students in Bus 305W feel about the project? Horacio Junior Arcila says "I am interested in the idea of helping out a winery and the cause of reducing student loans." Junior Carly Fine has similar sentiments. "I am really excited to work with Terra Fossil on a project related to social media, and I have a lot of ideas to contribute to wine marketing that is for a great cause."
Terra Fossil Wines plans a roll out of the "Stomp Out" campaign to Universities and Community Colleges across the country.
Andy Kumpon, TeFo INC., http://www.terrafossil.com, +1 (718) 626-7802, [email protected]
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