Live Case – Project
Elevate Donatos Pizza Customer Rewards Program
A Collaboration Between
Donatos aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness of strategies for driving rewards member participation. An effective customer reward program will enable Donatos to engage customers, demonstrate our value, and motivate our audience to make more frequent purchases.
-Establish a scoring system for classifying or “bucketing” where people are in the sales funnel
-Create personas based upon each “bucket” and how Donatos can cost-effectively engage each audience segment
-Investigate ways customer reward program processes can be improved and sustained through automation.
-Develop a campaign strategy, including prototype materials for nurturing customer relationships, triggering purchasing behavior, etc.
From growing the number of subscribers to moving existing program users up to the next level of engagement (e.g. 4 times per year to 6, monthly to bi-weekly, bi-weekly to weekly users) we are looking for a plan the results in:
1) Measurable increases in subscribers and their engagement
2) Greater efficiency and consistency
3) A clear process for moving people through the sales funnel
4) Conversions
Project Topics
Customer Service
Marketing
Company Information
| Company | Donatos Pizza |
| HQ | Gahanna, OH |
| Revenue | N/A |
| Employees | 500-2500 |
| Stage | Large Enterprise |
| Hiring Potential | Follow-on Projects, Formal Internship, Entry Level Full-Time |
| Website | https://www.donatos.com/ |
Company Overview
Donatos Pizza is a pizza delivery restaurant franchisor headquartered in Gahanna, Ohio, United States. It has nearly 200 locations in eleven states, with the majority of locations in Ohio.
Experiential Learning Program Details
| School | Northern Illinois University (NIU) |
| Engagement Format | Live Case - Think "Hackathon" or Case Competition with a whole class of students! This learning format allows educators to deliver experiential learning to students at scale. Students are often split into groups to work on a live case (or a series of cases) from a real host company that directly relates to key learning objectives. |
| Course | Business in Action, Fall 2022 (Collum) – Donatos |
| Level |
|
| Students Enrolled | 40 |
| Meeting Day & Time | Online MW 6:00 - 8:40 pm CT |
| Student Time Commitment | 4-7 Hours Per Week |
| Company Time Commitment | 1 Hour |
| Duration | 7.57 Weeks |
Program Timeline
| Touchpoints & Assignments | Due Date | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FALL A: Company & Projects Reveal
FALL A: Company & Projects Reveal
Students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022) are introduced to the company and projects.
|
August 29th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
Confidentiality Agreement
Confidentiality Agreement
During this program, you'll be working on a real project posed by a real industry partner. By registering for the CapSource system and participating in this Program, you are bound by the Rules of Engagement, including strict confidentiality of information shared with you. Please be respectful and professional.
|
September 5th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
Fall A: Announce Teams
Fall A: Announce Teams
Teams are announced for students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022).
|
September 7th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL A: Official Project Launch
FALL A: Official Project Launch
Project launch and company visit with students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022)
|
September 12th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL A: Deliverable 1 Due
FALL A: Deliverable 1 Due
Students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022) submit Deliverable 1.
|
September 19th, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required | |
|
FALL A: Deliverable 2 Due
FALL A: Deliverable 2 Due
Students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022) submit Deliverable 2.
|
September 28th, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required | |
|
FALL A: Company Visit
FALL A: Company Visit |
October 3rd, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL A: Deliverable 3 (Paper & Presentation) Due
FALL A: Deliverable 3 (Paper & Presentation) Due
Students enrolled in FALL A (August - October 2022) submit Deliverable 3.
|
October 10th, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required | |
|
FALL B: Company & Projects Reveal
FALL B: Company & Projects Reveal
Students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022) are introduced to the company and projects.
|
October 19th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL B: Announce Teams
FALL B: Announce Teams
Teams are announced for students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022).
|
October 26th, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL B: Official Project Launch
FALL B: Official Project Launch
Project launch and company visit with students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022).
|
October 31st, 2022 | Event na | |
|
FALL B: Deliverable 1 Due
FALL B: Deliverable 1 Due
Students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022) submit Deliverable 1.
|
November 7th, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required | |
|
FALL B: Deliverable 2 Due
FALL B: Deliverable 2 Due
Students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022) submit Deliverable 2.
|
November 16th, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required | |
|
FALL B: Deliverable 3 (Paper & Presentation) Due
FALL B: Deliverable 3 (Paper & Presentation) Due
Students enrolled in FALL B (October - December 2022) submit Deliverable 3.
|
November 21st, 2022 | Submission Required submission-required |
Key Project Milestones
-
November 7, 2022 - Deep-dive on Donatos
- What is the company’s brand, mission and values, and how these are “lived” by the company?
- What is the company’s target demographic, product, and business model? How is the company structured?
- What is the customer’s problem/need and how the company’s product or service is solving that problem? What is their unique value proposition?
- What is the current pricing model? What is the annual revenue?
- Focusing on the current challenge, gather information needed to comprehensively describe the current sales funnel.
- How can the quantitative information you’ve gathered be used to design a scoring system for classifying or “bucketing” based upon where people are in the sales funnel?
- What customer personas emerge based upon each “bucket”? What do their unique journeys look like?
Suggested Deliverable:
Visualization of Donatos sales funnel, personas and customer journeys
-
November 16, 2022 - Investigate Strategies for Improving Customer Rewards Program
- How would you describe Donatos current customer rewards program? What are the strengths and weaknesses?
- Digging deeper into the customer data and and personas you’ve created, what are the implications for an efficient, cost-effective approach to engage each audience segment to:
- Channel incentives?
- Nurture customer relationships?
- Trigger purchasing behavior?
- Other activities and transactions in the sales funnel?
- What do competitor practices, trade publications, and other industry resources suggest about innovative and best practices for customer reward programs?
- How are reward/loyalty programs are used?
- What incentives, messages, content are shown to be effective or promising, and how do these differ by target audience?
- What tools are available to further automate the process to increase sustainability and quality? What are the costs associated with these tools, their implementation and maintenance?
- What opportunities do you identify to strengthen Donatos rewards program? What threats do you identify, and how could these be transformed into strengths?
Suggested Deliverable:
Curated, annotated resources. Visualization (e.g. tabled data) on findings.
-
November 30, 2022 - Develop a Rewards Program Strategy & Campaign
- What specific steps do you recommend Donatos take to improve their customer reward program structure and processes? From growing the number of subscribers to moving existing program users up to the next level of engagement (e.g. 4 times per year to 6, monthly to bi-weekly, bi-weekly to weekly users)?
- What are the key elements to a successful rewards program campaign strategy? Can you provide prototype materials to showcase your recommendations for designing content that will nurture customer relationships, trigger purchasing behavior, etc.?
- How do you anticipate the specific strategies and tactics in your plan will produce…
1) Measurable increases in subscribers and their engagement?
2) Greater efficiency and consistency?
3) A clear process for moving people through the sales funnel?
4) Conversions?
Suggested Deliverable:
Rewards Program Strategy & Campaign Paper & Presentation
Project Resources
There are no resources currently available
Industry Mentors
Academic Mentors
Assigned Students
There are currently no students assigned.