1st-year Sprott students took on the Hub’s case crack challenge
Last Monday September 4th, the Innovation Hub had the pleasure of welcoming a new cohort of students into the Sprott School of Business by hosting a competitive case crack. First-year students were given the opportunity to put their marketing skills to the test by solving a business problem for CheapNite, a company by Carleton student founders. In collaboration with the Student Experience Office, Sprott Business Students’ Society (SBSS) and CheapNite, the Innovation Hub helped empower new students to unlock their potential in entrepreneurship, marketing and creativity.
Students participating in Sprosh attended a welcome ceremony in the morning before heading to the Nicol building, the new hub for business students at Carleton. After a welcome from the Student Experience Office, incoming students had the opportunity to hear about the Innovation Hub from Mitchell Collins, Marketing Coordinator. CheapNite founders Jake Ayre and Luke Meadus presented their business, and SBSS welcomed the new students.
The Case Crack goal was to come up with an idea to help market CheapNite to clients, a soon-to-be launched mobile app by Carleton student founders Jake and Luke. Restaurants can subscribe to have CheapNite promote their deals, driving app users to their business. (The app is now launched, you can download it today!).
First-year students were tasked to come up with new ideas to help CheapNite stand out to restaurants amid a multitude of delivery services and platforms being marketed to restaurants. In small groups, students brainstormed strategies to elevate CheapNite’s brand identity and service offering to have an easier time onboarding businesses onto their app.
The groups had 15 minutes to come up with innovative ideas and plan a three-minute pitch. The pitches were judged by CheapNite founders Jake and Luke, and SBSS members Julianna Koops, Emma Lavigne and Emily Truchon.
Students pitched a variety of unique ideas to market CheapNite including hosting events, incentives for students, leveraging social media, and using analytics to drive new features. The winning group presented a campaign for sports fans that included a trial during large sporting events and a feature to filter sports bars by the content they are broadcasting.
The Case Crack offered new students an introduction to entrepreneurship by encouraging them to brainstorm creative ideas in a collaborative environment, and practice pitching to an audience.
The Innovation Hub looks forward to hosting more engaging and interactive activities like this in the near future. To see what events and community networking opportunities we have to offer, check out our events page!