The Observer, March 30, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 22
New Case shirt reflects popular student opinion
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The bookstore will soon have some competition against their plain Case T-shirts and sweatshirts with a new, slightly more controversial slogan created as part of a class project.
Students in Richard Osbourne's "Entrepreneurship and Building Personal Wealth" class were split into eight teams and given $1000 to start a business addressing a specific need in the Cleveland area.
Paula Baranuk, group member of "The A-Choir," explained the assignment: "One of our class assignments is to identify a need and create a new business to address that need…The assignment accounts for 30 percent of our final grade and it will be graded based upon our creativity and viability of our value proposition, quality of implementing strategy and marketing tactics … and the return on investment we achieve, and teamwork."
Baranuk's group, composed of Weatherhead students Zak Dabbas, Ryan Forsey, Mike Putre, Bryan Salisbury, Tim Witt, and Bill Wolf decided to create a "really fun, unique T-shirt that is a playful twist from the norm."
"We considered the apparel already being sold throughout the school. Most of it is simply Case logo-branded merchandise, and we quickly realized that rather than compete in an already full market, we should try to branch out into something niche and more unique," said group member Zak Dabbas.
Members then polled students at the university to find a T-shirt idea, and at times, dragged the students to the group's brainstorming meetings. The recurring theme of the student input was the high cost of tuition at Case. But many of the students felt the high cost was justified based on the quality of education provided at the school.
"Based on this, we decided to create a clever shirt that students could relate to, and at the same time, stand apart from the shirts already available to students. We also felt strongly that the shirts should be offered at a very competitive price, far below that of the $20 to $25 dollar shirts available currently," said Dabbas.
The result:
"CA$E
Considerable Amount Spent on Education
I'm Worth It!"
The other option considered for the t-shirt design was a picture of a large brain with a caption below reading "Size Matters!" An abbreviated poll of Case students, however, resulted in the CA$E t-shirt design.
"I really like the design of the shirt and would definitely buy one if I had the money. But Case has most of that," said freshman Keith Lupton.
Junior Alejandro Abreu echoed the sentiment, saying, "I like it because it's not too overbearing. I'd buy one. But the slogan is completely true. I was looking into summer classes at Case, and even with the 50 percent discount, it still costs about three times as much as CSU."
The group plans to have the t-shirts ready for sale in April but locations and dates are still undecided. The current prices are $12 per T-shirt or 2 for $20.
Baranuk said that the proceeds of all their sales will "repay our 'angel investor' her $1000 back, profits up to $1000 will be split 50/50 between our investor and our team (her profit will go to the Weatherhead Alumni Fund) . . . profits beyond $1000 go to our team."
Despite the financial profit of the team project, the group members have gained considerable knowledge and business savvy in the endeavor.
Baranuk said that the greatest piece of knowledge she gained is that, "Market demand supersedes personal preference." The mini business project has given her a sense of "yes, I can."
