A YEAR IN REVIEW
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what is nvc?
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History
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Briefs
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Blast emails
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competition rounds
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usb Pens
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Save the date
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OEN program ad
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Tri-met ad
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online placement
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web/social media
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event support
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program cover
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Media schedule
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Contributors
{
The New Venture Championship is an international entrepreneurial investment competition for graduate students presented by the University of Oregon’s Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship. Teams from all over the world come to Portland, Oregon to present and defend business plans to a panel of judges with the possibility of winning the grand prize of $25,000. Competitors receive cash awards and receive advice and counsel from business executives in the Northwest.
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The first NVC was held in 1992 in a university classroom on the University of Oregon campus. Only three teams participated, competing for $300 in cash prizes. In 2012, 53 teams submitted entries to compete for more than $56,000 in prizes and for a spot in both the 2012 Venture Labs Investment Competition and the 2013 NVC competition.
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{advisor and student brief} OBJECTIVE
Increase awareness of the New Venture Championship competition among graduate students and drive them to submit an intent to compete (ITC).
TARGET AUDIENCE
Students in graduate level business programs who are interested in entrepreneurship. These students are members of small entrepreneurial groups, hoping to get their ideas heard and win money to fund their ideas. Students spend much of their time on campus surrounded by individuals in their program. They are involved in social media, but perhaps in a more professional arena than an undergraduate student. Students will be curious about the “Intent to compete” process and will want to be informed on prize money. These students are influenced by their advisors. Advisors are university professors typically in the MBA programs. Many of the advisors have had teams that have competed in NVC in the past. Advisors are interested in the prestige of the event and insurance that students will have the opportunity to fund their ideas. It is difficult to reach students individually; therefore the advisor/faculty audience is key in gathering student groups. Advisors/faculty are busy people and NVC needs to make getting information to them easy and accessible.
CURRENT AND DESIRED POSITION
New Venture Championship is prestigious among the graduate investment competition circuit. It is known for exceptional judges feedback. Some universities are well aware of the competition and send teams to compete year after year. However, other universities only occasionally submit ITC’s, or aren’t aware of NVC at all. We want to position NVC as a competition that is invaluable and can’t be passed up. This campaign will maintain awareness among universities that regularly submit ITC’s, while turning occasional ITC submitters into regulars. We also want to put NVC on the radar of universities both nationally and internationally that have never submitted an ITC.
SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THOUGHT
The New Venture Championship competition will provide students with unmatched experience and exposure.
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{business brief} OBJECTIVE
Increase awareness of the New Venture Championship competition among UO business alumni in Portland.
TARGET AUDIENCE We targeted Portland Businesses to encourage them to attend the New Venture Championship competition. Their attendance will gain buzz for the competition and for the groups presenting their business ideas. Business presence will also allow for competing teams to network for future partnerships.
CURRENT AND DESIRED POSITION Currently the New Venture Championship competition is not on the Portland business community’s radar. They may have heard about it or seen a review in a business journal, but they have not been present at the actual competition. Some people do fill the position of angel investors, but they are not hands-on throughout the conference. We are positioning the New Venture Championship competition as an event that is both well known and well attended by the Portland business community. By attending they will bear witness to the forefront of innovation. Business professionals will also have the potential to make connections and partnerships with student competitors. As an investment competition we also want to see an increase in the number of angel investors in order to provide more value to both the participants and the attendees. New Venture Championship should be seen as a premier event that is marked on the attendee’s calendar every year.
SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THOUGHT NVC is prestigious among graduate student investment competitions.
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{blast emails} A series of three emails allowed us to reach out to a wide audience of faculty advisors, deans, and students. The first email was sent as a save the date reminder. The second e-mail informed recipients that the Intent to Compete was open. The third and final e-mail was a one-week reminder that the Intent to Compete deadline was approaching. EMAIL BLAST #1
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BLAST EMAIL #2 EMAIL BLAST #3
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{
{competition rounds}
} } BEST WRITTEN PLAN
Prior to the event in Portland, teams submit their business plans. A well written business plan is often the greatest influence on investors to offer an initial investor meeting.
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OPENING 2 1
Each team introduces their business venture with an elevator pitch and presentation. Judges ask questions and provide feedback.
} }
START UP
The Team Trade Show offers a welcome reception and allows teams to present their venture in a classic trade show environment.
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TRADE SHOW
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Teams have only one minute to effectively pitch their venture to judges and potential investors.
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}
ELEVATOR PITCH
SEMIFINAL ROUND FINAL ROUND
Each team formally presents their business venture to a panel of judges, during which time they may ask questions. Presentations are followed by a private feedback session.
}
}
}
SEMIFINAL ROUND
}
LIGHTNING ROUND
The twelve teams not advancing will enter the OEN Lightning Round. Without the use of any equipment or visual aids, each team makes a private informal pitch to a new panel of judges. The panel discusses strengths and weaknesses of each plan, after which teams will adjust their plan and re-pitch it to the judges.
Finalists present their business venture to a panel of judges, during which time they may ask questions. Presentations are followed by a private feedback session. Winner is crowned the 2012 New Venture Champion and presented the Reinmuth Cup.
} } FINAL ROUND
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{usb pens} Faculty advisors have tremendous influence over which competitions their school’s teams compete in each year. They are used to being solicited standard event promotion materials such as brochures, pens, and pads of paper. We wanted to reach out to them in a creative and modern way. We sent 1GB USB pens to 200 faculty advisors at schools across the United States. The USB pens were loaded with a printable event poster, informational video, and links to connect them with our social media. The pens were packaged in a flat rate box that included a Save the Date postcard for easy response.
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ADMIT ONE
Portland, OR
April 5-7, 2012
{virtual poster + save the date}
Plan Today. Lead Tomorrow.
NEW VENTURE {Champion}ship
Winning start-up capital at NVC is a fundamental part of the experience. OregonNVC.com Learning directly from judges and investors how to fine-tune new ventures. Providing the knowledge and momentum to move forward.
Embassy Suites, Portland, OR
April 5-7, 2012
New Venture {Champion}ship
April 5-7, 2012 Embassy Suites, Portland, OR
TURNING GREAT IDEAS INTO REAL BUSINESS VENTURES
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{OEN program ad}
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{Tri-met MAX ads} We needed to create new awareness of the NVC event among the Portland business community. To do this we advertised on the MAX Light Rail trains that run through downtown Portland. We placed 14 ads on 7 trains during the month leading up to the event. This provided NVC a physical presence with the Portland business community who regularly commute to the downtown area on these trains. The ads were designed to be visible at high speeds and utilize the brand recognition of the Oregon “O�.
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{online placement} Banner ad placements on the Oregon Business Journal and Portland Business Journal websites provided us with an opportunity to reach business professionals in the online space. We picked these two publications because their readership aligns with our second target market. We chose online placements because they were effective in cost, and in reaching our audience that are actively seeking news and events in the geographical area of our event.
21st Annual April 5-7, 2012
Portland, OR oregonnvc.com
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{OBJO + PBJ} 21st Annual
oregonnvc.com
2012 Portland, OR
April 5-7
21st Annual
NEW VENTURE CHAMPIONSHIP
April 5-7
2012
Portland, OR
oregonnvc.com NVC 2012 16
{web} Throughout the duration of the campaign we made website improvements to increase our web presence and user experience. The new design is organized, clean, and easier to navigate. We needed a clearer sense of what NVC is – so we created an updated description of the event and its history.
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{social media}
Social media has established itself as a practical tool in event promotion. We implemented a new strategy for how we utilized the NVC Facebook and Twitter accounts, which had been stagnant since the prior year’s competition. Through scheduled updates and tweets we were able to drive traffic to our website for competition news and updates. The addition of a LinkedIN account will allow for easy and direct contact with future event alumni and advisors. We saw the biggest increase in social media engagement during the event as we posted live updates and direct links to newly created content on our website. NVC 2012 18
{event support} A large part of the 2012 campaign was the design of all the visual elements for the event. These included the printed program, large banners, signage for each round, nametags, nametents, certificates, and thank you cards. We worked with multiple vendors in the Eugene area to price, and print these prior to the event.
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{nametags, certificates, thank you cards} Charles H. Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship
University of Oregon
Randy Swangard
Cornelis “Kees� de Kluyver
Managing Director, Business Innovation Institute Lundquist College of Business
Dean and James & Shirley Ripper Distinguished Professor Lundquist College of Business
April 7th, 2012
Plan. Today. Lead Tomorrow.
It is your generous support that makes the New Venture Championship possible.
Thank you.
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{program cover}
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{media schedule} OCT OEN AD USB PENS VIRTUAL POSTER OVERVIEW VIDEO BLAST EMAILS OR BUSINESS AD PBJ AD MAX AD
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NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
{thank you} The visual and strategic branding campaign for NVC 2012 was developed through a partnership between the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and the School of Journalism and Communication. The New Venture Championship would like to thank the following individuals for making this campaign a success. BUSINESS INNOVATION INSTITUTE Randy Swangard, Managing Director, Special Assistant Dean LUNDQUIST CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Richard Sloan, Undergraduate Coordinator Amy Fortuna, Program Coordinator CHARLES H. LUNDQUIST COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Dean: Cornelis “Kees” de Kluyver SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION Dean: Timothy Gleason Faculty Advisor: Dave Koranda Account Director: Merissa Lathrom Designer: Kaila Bittinger Writer: Eric Perrenoud Media Planner: Neethu Ramchandar Media Planner: Emilie Hartvig Strategist: Destiny Henderson Strategist: Emily Vande Wege Web Designer: Julie Grimstad Public Relations: Nic Corpora Public Relations: Taylor Stafford
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TRANSFORMING INNOVATIONS INTO BUSINESS VENTURES.