User:RockyCoffee19/sandbox

Lead Section

Word Count: 87

Death Wish Coffee is a coffee distributor of “The World’s Strongest Coffee”. Death Wish was created by Mike Brown in the 2000’s in order to satisfy the customer’s wants for the strongest cup of coffee that his business could offer. After gaining popularity over several years, Death Wish won a superbowl commercial time slot through a competition sponsored by Quickbooks. Since the commercial, Death Wish Coffee has broadened its’ supply scope through selling their coffee major chains such as Target through bagged coffee and Keurig Cups.

Early Life

Word Count: 271

Mike Brown was an accountant for the state of New York in his twenties when he decided that it was not for him.[[|[1]]] After quitting his job, Brow opened up a coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY in 2008 at the age of 28.[[|[2]]] He named the coffee shop “Saratoga Drinkers”. The coffee shop began to go through tough times after constant menu changes and the learning curve of starting a business.[[|[3]]] This required Brown to sell his house and move into his mother’s home at the age of 30 in order to maintain payments for the shop.[[|[4]]] In order to make an extra profit, Brown began selling coffee with high caffeine content after customers continually asked him for his strongest cup of coffee.[[|[5]]] Not being able to find the strongest blend of coffee, Brown decided to create his own. Brown got samples from several importers and created his own blend.[[|[6]]] This blend was comprised of both Robusta and Arabica beans -- Robusta beans having double the caffeine of Arabica.[[|[7]]] He designed the skull and crossbones himself and named the blend of coffee “Death Wish” after a souvenir that his girlfriend had bought him.[[|[8]]] It was a picture of a mean dog saying “Death Wish” under it.[[|[9]]] Brown originally created this in hopes of “making ends meet” by the profit of $5,000 extra a year selling it online.[[|[10]]] At this point in time, Brown had only six employees.[[|[11]]] All the money that was initially made by Brown was reinvested into the business.[[|[12]]] His company began to operate out of coffee shop’s basement for the first half of the year in 2010, and then later moved it into a warehouse. [[|[13]]]

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[1-13] Adams, S. (2016, February 9). Meet The Entrepreneur Behind The Death Wish Coffee Super Bowl Ad. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2016/02/09/meet-the-entrepreneur-behind-the-super-bowl-coffee-ad/#226cedf21725

Super Bowl Paragraph Rough Draft

Word Count: 453

On Sunday, February 7th, 2016, Death Wish Coffee Coffee Company viewed a commercial during Super Bowl 50. This coveted commercial spot was awarded to Death Wish after the company won the Small Business Big Game contest powered by Intuit Quickbooks, an accounting software company. This year’s Super Bowl received 114.4 million viewers, thus making it the third most watched television production in America’s history. This 30 second ad spot costed around $5 million and was produced by RPA Advertising Agency. RPA produced 3 other advertisements in this year’s Super Bowl. Other companies that were in competition for the top prize include Chubbies, a clothing company specializing in very short shorts, and Vidler’s 5 & 10, a mom and pop shop located in New York state. The 30 second video advertisement starts off with a scene on a Viking war ship. The coxson is shouting words of encouragement and motivation as they row through a very heavy storm. The ship comes to a cliff and as the crew begins to fall off the edge, the viewer sees that the waterfall’s source is a cup of coffee and actually goes directly into a man’s mouth. The ad ends with a bearded man taking a sip from his mug and giving a brief smile with a deep, manly voice narrating “Death Wish Coffee, Fiercely Caffeinated”. The ad spot has been wildly successful for Death Wish. According to Spot Trender, a commercial analytics firm, 64 percent of people said that they enjoyed the ad, and 87 percent said they would remember it. Over 50 percent said they were likely to buy the product. The results of the ad were almost instantaneous. According to Death Wish’s CEO, Mike Brown, the company received 150,000 hits on their website as soon as it aired. It was two of the top ten under the Movers and Shakers category. In 24 hours, sale’s increased 550% percent. The day after, Death Wish Whole Bean Coffee was the number one best-seller in the Grocery & Gourmet category on Amazon.com. Even five weeks later, the company was seeing tremendous attention as revenues were still an impressive five times higher than before the ad was shown. Brown can only sleep four to five hours a night in order to keep up with the amount of orders his company needs to fill. Even today, Death Wish Coffee is reaping the benefits from the ad. More Amazon data shows that Death Wish Whole Bean Coffee is number 34 on the bestseller list under Grocery and gourmet category, and number 18 in the coffee and tea category. Death Wish has an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 82 percent of customers ranking it a 5 stars.

Advertising the Product Rough Draft

Word Count: 429

Death Wish Coffee’s advertising strategy has changed dramatically since the Super Bowl spot. Since the Super Bowl ad spot, Death Wish has not needed to advertise as business has grown substantially. Before the contest, Mike Brown relied on free marketing as much as possible. In an interview with Forbes Magazine , Brown said that “We’ve sent the product to news reporters, celebrities, bloggers. Ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t hear anything back. But when people wrote reviews about it, we’d see a bump in sales. We also do Facebook ads and Google advertising. Facebook ads work better than Google ads. We get charged about a dollar every time someone clicks on our ad.” In 2013, the NBC show “Good Morning America” opened up their show by drinking Death Wish Coffee and even went as far as to go up to Brown’s initial shop in Saratoga Springs, New York. After that brief exposure, Death Wish’s customer base doubled. Death Wish Coffee markets their coffee as the “World’s Strongest Coffee”, which they put on every box and bag of coffee they produce. They add a very large warning on the back of the coffee bag explaining that this bag of coffee is not like your normal coffee as it contains 6 times the average caffeine per cup of coffee. The all black bag with red letters and skull and crossbones logo adds to the dangerous and edgy theme that Death Wish is trying to create with their brand. Currently on Death Wish’s website, there are links to all their social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. There is a spot to enter a customer's email address to sign them up for a newsletter that contains exclusive deals, new product releases, and contests. Also on their website, many different types of merchandise are available. From t-shirts, to coffee supplies, to patches, many different types of apparel are for sale by the company. The marketing strategy that Death Wish Coffee is currently implementing is called “Disruptive Marketing”. Disruptive marketing can be defined as “reshaping an existing product or service to meet the demand of customers unsatisfied by the current offering”. The current coffee industry is very saturated and not very welcoming to new start ups, such as Death Wish, but not a single big coffee retailer marketed their coffee solely for its strength. Death Wish took this opening and sold their entire blend behind being the “World’s Strongest Coffee”. Death Wish took advantage of creating a brand specifically for this niche market and have had massive success in doing so.

Different Forms of Products

Word Count: 378

Coffee When Death Wish Coffee first began, the company was very small and their specialty product was known for their skull and crossbones label. At first the company only sold the product in their store which was a local shop in Saratoga, New York but as the company has expanded so has the need for more products. Mike Brown, the owner of the company, expanded to selling the coffee grounds in store and out by creating a tab on his website to allow customers to purchase his products online. Customers have the option to buy a one pound, two pound, or five pound bag of the product. There is also an option to have the coffee be in bean form or ground form.

Bundles: Death Wish comes in different bundles which allow customers to purchase different products. With this being said, Death Wish Coffee eventually created and started to sell K Cups, which are individual size servings that fit within the Keurig machine. Customers can buy a pack of twenty. The company also sells a six cup Chemex Coffee bundle which allows the customer to manually brew their coffee so they have hundred percent control over how their coffee taste. This product comes with six filters and a bag of coffee grounds. There is another option online, which is a bundle that comes with a bag of Death Wish Coffee grounds and a bag of Valhalla Java Coffee. Valhalla Java is another product that the company offers and it is a blend of medium and dark roasts.

Barrel Brand

Introduced in 2014, Deathwish’s Barrel Brand coffee, which is infused with whiskey, rye, rum, and wine, is a product that the company offers to appeal to those “with a sophisticated palate whom are coffee/ spirit connoisseurs”[3]. To create this product, the company uses oak barrels from a local distillery to create their specialty craft coffee, which the company feels will revolutionize the coffee industry just as craft beer did decades ago. While initially offered in very limited quantities, a high demand for this product has allowed the company to recently begin increasing the amount in which they produce.

Customers can find every option that the company offers in coffee including merchandise, under the shop tab on the Company’s website.

1http://www.deathwishcoffee.com/collections/barrel-brand 2http://sweatpantsandcoffee.com/whiskey-infused-barrel-brand-coffee-death-coffee-reviews/ 3http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/11/prweb12303064.htm

Outline:

Intro: Reasons why the coffee was made, include superbowl commercial reference, describe how it is a small business, Brief description about how the company won the Superbowl competition, when it was founded Early Life of the company: who created it, when it was created, why it was created , Why it is named Death Wish Super Bowl: How it was advertised in the super bowl and how the company won the competition. Describe competition they enlisted in Advertising the product: How they have done it, talk about the content of the product’s website. Talk about logo Different forms that the product comes in: K cups, ground coffee, bulk product, brands? etc Conclusion: References

References:

http://dailycoffeenews.com/2016/01/28/death-wish-dream-comes-true-with-super-bowl-ad/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2016/02/09/meet-the-entrepreneur-behind-the-super-bowl-coffee-ad/#bbbef961725c http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-campbell/death-wish-coffee-strongest-cup-in-the-world_b_2916150.html http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/02/02/death-wish-coffee-wins-super-bowl-commercial/ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/nyregion/after-the-super-bowl-death-wish-coffee-might-need-its-own-brew-to-keep-up.html?_r=0 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/super-bowl-50-commercials-intuit-quickbooks-death-wish-coffee-ad/ http://www.inquisitr.com/2777224/death-wish-coffee-small-upstate-new-york-brewer-with-wickedly-strong-blend-hits-big-time-with-super-bowl-commercial/ http://www.cnweekly.com/articles/2016/02/28/news/doc56ce011463664597656174.txt http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/16/smallbusiness/super-bowl-intuit-ad-contest/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqFDb48dFM4&feature=youtu.be http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/01/28/death-wish-coffee-scores-free-super-bowl-ad-from-intuit.html http://www.inquisitr.com/580219/death-wish-coffee-has-200-percent-more-caffeine-for-your-monday-morning/#TsocxXLX0QXw4uGQ.99

Annotated Bib

Daily Coffee News- Citation: Brown, Nick"Death Wish Dream Comes True with Super Bowl Ad." Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine Death Wish Dream Comes True with Super Bowl Ad Comments. 2016. Accessed March 02, 2016. http://dailycoffeenews.com/2016/01/28/death-wish-dream-comes-true-with-super-bowl-ad/. Summary: In this source, Roast Magazine updates the world about Death Wish Coffee’s dream come true. In the article it talks about how the small business won the Small Business Big Game contest which allowed them to air their commercial at the Super Bowl for free. It talks about when Mike Brown founded the business and vaguely talks about how the company has grown. Usefulness: We could use the article as a start to continue our research on the company. It includes a link to the Small Business Big Game contest which would allow us to expand on how and what exactly Death Wish Coffee won. The source included the creator of the company and when it was founded. Credibility: It’s in Roast Magazine. This is a magazine dedicated to updating the success of different brands/companies of coffee

Forbes- Citation: Adams, S. (2016, February 9). Meet The Entrepreneur Behind The Death Wish Coffee Super Bowl Ad. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2016/02/09/meet-the-entrepreneur-behind-the-super-bowl-coffee-ad/#226cedf21725 Summary: Interview between the owner and founder of Death Wish Coffee, Mike Brown, and a Forbes Staff member about how He built his business, how he marketed Death Wish before the super bowl ad, and what it has been like since the ad was shown. Credibility: It is forbes magazine Usefulness: Talks about the company’s beginning, struggles financially, how the name of the the coffee brand originated, what makes the coffee so strong from a roaster’s pov, the marginal gains from a bag of coffee, how the company got involved in the super bowl commercial contest and how the contest worked, how the commercial was created and by whom it was created, and sales after the super bowl plus future plans.

Huffington Post- Campbell, Andy. "Death Wish Coffee: 'World's Strongest' Cup Claim Put To The Test." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 May 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016. The Huffington Post is a very creditable newspaper that is world renowned. The author is well educated on the topic and is not trying to be bias at all. We can use this source in our wiki article to highlight what it tastes like and a professional’s thoughts on the blend. In this source, Andy Campbell from the Huffington Post gives his review on Death Wish Coffee. He describes the coffee as “a wolverine riding an intercontinental ballistic missile over the Grand Canyon into my face”. Obviously this article has a sense of humor to it but Campbell provides his opinions about the taste and caffeine buzz

Fox News Citation: "Death Wish Coffee Wins a Super Bowl Commercial." Fox News. February 02, 2016. Accessed March 02, 2016. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/02/02/death-wish-coffee-wins-super-bowl-commercial/. Summary: In this article, it first describes the company winning the Super Bowl competition. It talked about how many companies Death Wish beat. The article then continued to talk about the founder Mike Brown and what made him want to create this strong coffee brand. It described the design of the coffee bag. Fox also touched on how much the brand sells every single day and talks about how the number should increase after the Super Bowl commercial airs which Brown then hired two more people. The end of the article talks about how Death Wish was the second company to win this competition Credibility: It was aired and published on Fox and shows that it has no biased information Usefulness: Continues to describe the Super Bowl competition. This article goes into a little bit more detail of what the company had to do to win the competition. It talks about where the founder is from and why he created this coffee. It also states how many employees this small business has and how much coffee they sell daily.

New York Times Mckinley, Jesse. "After the Super Bowl, Death Wish Coffee Might Need Its Own Brew to Keep Up." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Feb. 2016. Web. 02 Mar. 2016. Summary: This article highlights the nuts and bolts of the company. It provides info on the Inuit contest that they won along with other information surrounding the company such as their beginnings and controversies. Usefulness: We will use the info in this source Credibility:

CBS News: Citation - Small Coffee Business Scores Big With Free Super Bowl Ad. (2016, January 28). Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/super-bowl-50-commercials-intuit-quickbooks-death-wish-coffee-ad/ Summary: This article describes the process Death Wish Coffee company is going through to prepare for the Super Bowl ad spot. They include an interview with MIchael Brown in which he talks about his company and his humble beginnings in an upper state coffee shop. Usefulness: We can use the facts in this article to better describe the start of Death Wish Coffee and how they are preparing for the influx of orders that they will get with the successful super bowl commercial spot landed. Credibility: CBS News is a popular news source that is interested in reporting stories, not being bias. They are a multi million dollar news company so they are obviously trusted worldwide.

CNN Weekly Citation: Post, P. (2016, February 28). Death Wish Coffee sales soar after Super Bowl ad - News - Community News (cnweekly.com). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.cnweekly.com/articles/2016/02/28/news/doc56ce011463664597656174.txt Summary: This website talks about how the sales of Death Wish Coffee soared after the Super Bowl commercial aired. The beginning of the article vaguely touches on the small business and then goes in depth with the commercial, how many viewers saw the commerical and what the commercial did to the small business. Usefulness: It gives insight of how much the Super Bowl commercial impacted the small business Credibility: CN weekly is a small news source that updates daily. It is stationed in Saratoga Springs, NY.

The Inquisitr Citation: Francis, N. (2016, February 7). Death Wish Coffee: Small Upstate New York Brewer With Wickedly Strong Blend Hits Big Time With Super Bowl Commercial. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.inquisitr.com/2777224/death-wish-coffee-small-upstate-new-york-brewer-with-wickedly-strong-blend-hits-big-time-with-super-bowl-commercial/ Summary: Coverage on Death Wish because of their success with winning the Super Bowl Ad. Also has a statement towards how the coffee was asked for and how the blend became created -- customers wanted the strongest coffee out there. Tells of the first disclaimer the coffee had as it was produced. Follow up article to an article written in 2013. Talks about the success now of the company.

CNN Money Citation: Kavilanz, P. (2015, November 16). One small business will score a free Super Bowl ad. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/16/smallbusiness/super-bowl-intuit-ad-contest/ Summary: The article talks about how Death Wish Coffee won the Super Bowl commercial. The article states how much the 30 second commerical would cost and which company was granting Death Wish the opportunity to air the big time commercial. Vaguely talks about the beginning of the company. Usefulness: Goes into depth about the small company’s big win. Who the company went against and how much the commercial was Credibility: CNN is a multi million dollar company that report news daily. The article that we have picked comes from a section of CNN.

Youtube

Citation:  Death Wish Coffee Co | Our Story [50s]. (2015, August 5). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqFDb48dFM4 

Summary: This video is under a minute long and it gives a brief summary/ overview about how the business started and what it is all about. You get to see the owner and workers in the video so you begin to put the pieces together Usefulness: Gives a more personal view. Gives you the perspective of the actual owner/worker. Credibility: It comes from the owner. We have to be aware of the possible Bias that comes along with the video but i think its a great way to see how the company began.

Fox Business Citation: Rocco, M. (2016, January 28). Death Wish Coffee Scores Free Super Bowl Ad from Intuit. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/01/28/death-wish-coffee-scores-free-super-bowl-ad-from-intuit.html Summary: the website talked about the Superbowl program. It went into a little detail about what the other competitors won. It includes a link to the super bowl commercial. Usefulness: Gives us a little insight as to what the company went through and what the other runner ups won. It also allows for you to view other links that involve the company/ competiton Credibility: Fox is a multi million dollar news company.

The Inquisitir Citation: Carlson, D. (2013, March 19). ‘Death Wish Coffee’ Has 200 Percent More Caffeine For Your Monday Morning. Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://www.inquisitr.com/580219/death-wish-coffee-has-200-percent-more-caffeine-for-your-monday-morning/#TsocxXLX0QXw4uGQ.99 Summary: Its a short article describing the coffee brand. Usefulness: Provides details about how strong the coffee is and how much is it selling for Crediibility: Inquisitr is a liberal news and media website owned by Daniel Treisman.