Launch Local at Work: Timberland Espresso
“Just keep swimming...”
Originally a mantra shared by Disney’s favorite plucky & forgetful blue fish, those little words are meant to inspire its young viewers to stay headstrong in the face of adversity and it shares a lesson that is consistent with Launch Local’s mission - to support businesses like you in keeping your heads above water in these uncertain and troubling times.
When COVID-19 hit, small businesses, which account for almost half of the country’s economic activity, were hit the hardest and many business owners were forced to give up on their life-long dreams and hard work. If you are reading this as someone running or involved in a small business, we just want to say that we are here to help.
Launch Local’s goal is to empower small businesses and nonprofits across the nation to build sustainable digital platforms. And we can proudly say with our most recent project, we’ve done exactly that.
Our client, Timberland Espresso, is a small coffee shop located right off of I-5 on the way to Mount St. Helens in WA. Since their founding in 2013, Timberland Espresso has enjoyed serving the community of Castle Rock. The local coffee shop serves all types of caffeine needs from a warm espresso and specialty iced coffee drinks, to a variety of teas.
The Timberland Espresso team is dedicated to making the coffee experience as convenient as possible and knew that their service was too important to their customers to become another victim of the small businesses closure pattern. So, they reached out to us - Launch Local - for help.
When the Timberland Espresso team initially approached us, they needed help improving their digital presence. They showed great potential in attracting new customers if they could develop better customer management systems and a stronger digital impact.
Excited to dive straight into work, our team was led by LL project manager, Ankush Vij, who established our overarching goal to improve Timberland Espresso’s digital presence and branding in order to attract new customers. We did so by tackling 4 areas:
Implementing a modern redesign of the website and logo
Tracking outreach methods
Revamping their social media presence
Detailed market research
Redesigning the website and logo
In recreating the logo, we tackled the task by first noting what we wanted to keep and get rid of. The logo was outdated and we wanted to make it more modernized and smaller but really liked the trees, as they reflected the outdoorsy scene of Washington. We decided to modernize it whilst also keeping the same colors and concept of the original logo.
Pictured: Old Logo (left) ; New Logo (right)
The original website was hard-coded from scratch with simple displays and navigation bars. The website was not scalable across devices and was made specifically for desktop viewing only. We knew the website needed a modern and simplistic revamp to ensure a more attractive and user-friendly experience. We also decided to add links to socials and reviews in order to attract more potential clients and develop successful relationships.
Tracking outreach methods
The client did not have a setup for website analytics beforehand, so our team connected the site to Google Analytics. Here is an overview of the site analytics from Feb 8, 2021 to March 9, 2021:
The industry standard for a good average session duration is 2-3 minutes; TE’s average session duration is close to that mark. The analytics for the new website showed there were almost twice as many page views as page sessions, which means that the average visitor was exploring ~2 pages per visit on the site. This is a good indicator of site usability and navigation.
Revamping their social media presence
LL Analyst, Isha Patel, strengthened relationships with clients by responding to positive and negative reviews on TE’s behalf and brainstorming effective strategies to enhance the client experience. The team also created an Instagram page for TE, as they had previously only had a Facebook page.
Working on increasing outreach, Isha focused on gaining followers for the accounts. I myself, an LL analyst, created all the graphics as well as separate story highlight reels with information pertaining to the menu, including everything from drinks and food to location, reviews and specials.
Here are a few screenshots of the graphics we created for Timberland Espresso’s social media presence:
After setting the tone for the rest of the project by establishing these goals and initial developments, we continued to build upon these foundations in order to create a more lasting impact for customers.
Every member of Launch Local strives to uphold the organization’s mission as each project, for us, isn’t just a project. It’s being able to tell the business that drowning is not an option as we will continue to keep our heads up together and swim against the strong currents of everything working against us.
On that note, my team members and I would like to share a few thoughts about our experiences working on the Timberland Espresso project —
KUSH (UNC Chapel Hill - Class of 2021, Computer Science Major) : “It was a pleasure working with talented analysts with a strong skill-set and enthusiasm for pro bono consulting and nonprofit work. Our talented analysts collaborated on effective strategies to enhance the client experience. Our client was very happy with the final results!”
GABE (UNC Chapel Hill - Class of 2021, Business Administration & Computer Science Double Major) : “I'm very proud of what our team was able to accomplish with the Timberland Espresso engagement, especially given that it was the first Launch Local project for many of us. As someone going into consulting next year, it was a fantastic learning experience and I can't wait to help more small businesses in future projects!”
KIM (UT Austin - Class of 2022, Corporate Communications Major): “Throughout my life, I had dedicated my time to giving back to my community through volunteering at local food banks, blood drives, shelters, and so forth. After I got to college, I spent my time exploring different passions and three years later, I combined my newfound passion of marketing with the preexisting passion for helping my community and joined Launch Local.”
“This experience was extremely rewarding as it was the first project I worked on outside of school that I knew was making an impact on others. It was something that I could proudly say I’m thankful for. It allowed me to put my skills to use and learn how to refine them for future projects as well as giving me the creative freedom I always looked for.”
ISHA (University of Washington - Class of 2023, Economics Major) : “Small business owners have been greatly affected by The Covid-19 pandemic. Witnessing the shutdown of several businesses is the initial reason Launch Local caught my attention. Their initiative is to empower small businesses to adjust to these economic disruptions, and I believe that is especially crucial during these hard times.”
“I had a remarkable time working on the Timberland Espresso team. I truly believe we have made a positive impact on promoting the business through improved website design and establishing a stronger social media presence.”
EDEN (UNC Chapel Hill - Class of 2023, Business Major): “The Timberland Espresso Project was my first Launch Local engagement. As a digital analyst, I was able to learn alongside talented peers and professionals whilst creating tangible materials that our client will be able to use continuously. I enjoyed building my network across state lines to collaborate and create an updated, aesthetically pleasing website for Timberland Espresso.”
Pictured: The Timberland Espresso project team’s closing meeting
Thank you for taking the time to read about Timberland Espresso and the work we did for them. If you or someone you know runs a small business and might benefit from free business and design services, please fill out the form on our business services page, or reach out to us via email at hello@launchlocal.org. We are constantly looking for more people to help and you could help us to help our next client by simply sharing this article or our website with your circle.
Help us to help those who need it the most; we may be small but we are effective and we are growing.
