Marketing and Branding

At the October meeting of the Social Enterprise Network, the group discussed marketing and branding.  Matt Halley of Cookie Cart shared his experiences building the Cookie Cart brand and served fresh-baked cookies.

Marketing and Branding

Cookie Cart is a youth employment program; their mission is to provide North Minneapolis youth the opportunity to develop life, leadership and employment skills. Cookie Cart aims to be safe place for teens while providing a first employment experience that builds transferable skills. Their core program is a retail commercial bakery, where the students work making and selling cookies.

Marketing the Job Training Program

Cookie Cart is more than a first job.

  • Focus on highly transferable skills, not baking, food service, or retail
  • The employees receive training, education and support
    • Experience is more important than the product
    • Part of the experience is learning how to be a good employee, how to behave at work
      • Arrive on time, clock in/clock out
      • Respect your co-workers and managers
      • Perform duties
      • Receive paycheck (and learn about taxes)
  • Relationship with managers/supervisors - boss, mentor, youth worker
  • They are actual employees, on the organization's payroll

Recruiting

  • Word of mouth
    • Siblings, friends, neighbors, cousins, etc
  • Kids come in when they turn 14 (the minimum age for employment) and turn in their application
  • Sometimes there is a waiting list
    • Motivation is the crucial factor - not skills, other barriers, etc
  • Bakery environment is a draw

Marketing the Product - the Cookie Cart Cookie

Challenge

Cookie Cart is a small business that exists within the environment of a nonprofit organization.

  • Looks and feels like a traditional bakery - makes and sells cookies
    • The more Cookie Cart resembles a regular retail bakery, the more effective its job training program
  • However, the mission - to provide a valuable experience that builds transferrable life skills - is the reason Cookie Cart exists
  • Important to have a marketable product, but don't want to lose track of the mission

Pricing

  • Cookie sales are not the most important metric of success
    • If the only goal was selling cookies, the organization could be self-sufficient
      • Sales are approximately 1/3 of the organization's income
    • The education programming requires subsidy
      • Specialized staff
      • Additional space
      • Management and administration
  • There are a range of cookie price points
    • Cookie Cart will never be the cheapest cookie
      • Cannot compete at the level of a grocery store cookie
    • Cookie Cart can and does compete with other local bakeries
  • Being the cheapest cookie might not be desirable even if it was feasible.  A homemade gourmet cookie has a different value, it's a luxury style brand
    • Quality, natural ingredients
    • Made from scratch

Brand Management

Not just any cookie, a Cookie Cart Cookie.

  • A Cookie Cart Cookie is a premium, high quality cookie
    • Reinforces parts of the Cookie Cart experience - pride in a job well done and communicating your value to the world. 
      • All the kids can recite the Cookie Cart mission/elevator speech
    • Positioning the cookie as a luxury brand (rather than a grocery store cookie) helps with the price point
    • If the cookies are not high quality, the brand and sales will suffer, which undermines the organization's ability to deliver its mission.
  • Youth permeate everything - you support kids by eating these cookies
    • Their images are front and center
    • Bakery boxes signed by the kids
    • It's about them and their experience 
    • They are brand ambassadors, carry the brand into the community
    • Always wear the Cookie Cart shirts to reinforce logo, brand
      • Very distinct look - bright yellow, well-known logo, 21 years of history in North Minneapolis
      • Because the brand is so strong, challenge to update it
        • Would like to gradually shift it more towards the bakery
  • Image control
    • Some concerns that cookies baked by kids from the North side might have negative associations
    • Focus on cleanliness and quality. Spent a lot of time identifying how to communicate these values.
      • Kids always wear hairnets and gloves
      • Showing a clean bakery at all times is important
  • Take advantage of marketing opportunities/partnerships
    • Memorial Blood Center
      • People did not realize they were eating a Cookie Cart cookie
      • Added branded napkins to increase name recognition
    • Hennepin Theater Trust
      • Individually wrapped cookies (with logo) sold to the theaters
      • They re-sell at  their shows
      • Co-branding opportunities at Kids' Nights
  • Customer Service
    • Focus on making the customer happy 
    • Another transferable skill - Cookie Cart is building a specific training and curriculum 
    • Very proud of customer feedback

Sales Strategies

  • Sales strategy relies on relationships, word of mouth is very important
  • Customer breakdown
    • 1/3 churches - long history (Cookie Cart was founded by a nun and the first accounts were for Sunday services)
      • Stretches a church budget, but we appeal to the religious organizations to tap into their social justice budget
    • 1/3 corporations
      • Customer appreciation, conference, etc
      • Sale can be the beginning of a larger relationship - volunteering, funding, in-kind, other forms of support
    • 1/3 other nonprofits
  • Historically Cookie Cart has achieved 95% of sales goals, but this year the economy has impacted performance
    • Hired a sales/marketing manager (originally to help train youth, but the focus shifted due to the economy)
    • Increase marketing, specifically around corporate gifting/customer appreciation
      • Purchased a mailing list of local businesses, such as law firms
      • Attend more corporate fairs and events

      • Outreach to rotatory clubs and professional associations

Audiences

Cookie Cart has multiple stakeholders, all who receive slightly different messages - the organization tells the same story with a different emphasis.

  • Retail Customers - try to steward this relationship
    • Making a donor ask to a customer can be especially challenging, they often think their purchase alone amounts to a gift
    • It takes a sophisticated donor to buy cookies and make an additional donation
    • Explain the larger mission and the need for subsidy
  • Donors
  • Previous Employees

Strategic Planning

  • Last time focused on growth in other programming
    • 360 program - formal employee skills training
      • Resume writing, interview skills, etc
  • Now want to increase cookie sales, allowing the organization to work with more youth

Making the Case

How does Cookie Cart measure their success? 

  • Metrics
    • Track outcomes - where do the employees go after leaving Cooke Cart?
      • 60-65% find traditional employment
      • Some decide to pursue higher education
    • Employee reports
    • Cookie Cart does not measure success through cookie sales or academic readiness
  • Wilder Research has evaluated Cookie Cart's program
    • Kids and parents did self-assessments
  • The employee experience
    • The average employee works at Cookie Cart for 18 months
    • Delicate balance between being safe and supportive, but not so comfortable that they do not move on
    • Help them identify next steps for their career and/or education