Polite Coffee – Marketing Communications Research
Purpose
Evaluate Polite Coffee’s brand presence and identify ways to strengthen its media presence and connect with college students in the competitive College Station coffee market.
Our Approach
Our team worked collaboratively on the research, combining qualitative focus group insights, a survey of 42 college students, and competitor analysis to examine brand awareness, social media habits, content preferences, and factors influencing coffee shop visits.
Outcome
The research revealed that Polite Coffee was perceived positively as welcoming, cozy, and inviting, but its visibility among students was limited. Among survey respondents, 85.7% reported discovering the brand through friends or family, while none reported discovering it through social media. Our team recommended partnering with Greek life organizations, offering student promotions, and improving social media content and engagement to expand awareness.
Skills Demonstrated
Marketing communications research, focus group research, survey analysis, competitor analysis, strategic recommendations
Potbelly Sandwich Works – Integrated Marketing Campaign
Purpose
Develop an integrated marketing campaign to help Potbelly reconnect with consumers ages 18–25, increase brand awareness, and encourage more frequent visits.
My Contribution
My primary contributions focused on creative strategy and campaign execution ideas, including Potbelly food trucks and campus events, experiential marketing concepts, and social media post examples. These tactics were designed to bring Potbelly directly to college students, encourage trial, and create shareable brand experiences.
Outcome
Our team developed the “Satisfy the Crave” campaign, built around the insight that young consumers may appreciate Potbelly but do not consistently think of it first when craving a sandwich. The campaign combined crave-focused messaging, campus activations, social media, influencer partnerships, and promotional tactics to strengthen brand awareness and encourage repeat visits.
Skills Demonstrated
Creative strategy, campaign development, experiential marketing, social media content, consumer insights
Nuuly – E-Commerce Consumer Behavior Experiment
Purpose
Investigate whether reducing the number of visible products on Nuuly’s clothing rental homepage could reduce choice overload and make shoppers more likely to complete their selections.
Our Approach
Our team designed an experiment comparing a homepage displaying the standard product assortment with one featuring a curated selection. We collected 111 survey responses through Qualtrics and measured participants’ perceived overwhelm and likelihood of selecting items.
Outcome
Participants viewing the curated homepage reported a higher likelihood of completing their selections, with average ratings increasing from 2.74 to 3.21 out of 5. The results supported recommending a more curated product-view experience to simplify decision-making. Because the study relied on self-reported intentions rather than actual purchases, further testing would be needed to confirm its effect on real conversion rates.
Skills Demonstrated
Consumer behavior research, experimental design, survey development, quantitative analysis, e-commerce strategy