Aisle Impact

Ann Arbor students start an in-store food marketing company.

HARRY KIRS BAUM

Staff Writer

Ann Arbor

0

ne night in 2001, Zack
Riback and Jeff Hurvitz, two
University of Michigan
undergrads, were watching a
television commercial for "Goldfish,"
the snack food.
"We realized that the commercial did
absolutely nothing to make a person
want to buy the product when it's
shown in the home," said Hurvitz.
That thought led to Aisle Impact
Marketing (AIM), a company that basi-
cally puts a series of television commer-
cials on the top shelf of store aisles.
With virtually no advertising or mar-
keting experience, Hurvitt, 21, AIM
chief operating officer and holder of a
University of Michigan bachelor's degree
in Japanese history, and Riback, 21,
AIM chief executive officer and U-M

senior majoring in political science,
found a way to start a business while
going to school.
"We learned about the industry as we
went along," said Riback, who has
known Hurvitz since sixth grade. "It was
innate knowledge. We knew that we
needed to get seed money to buy the
first set of equipment, and we knew we
needed to get it into a store to prove
that the system works. And we knew we
had to build a facade that we were an
actual company while we were just two
kids in college."
It worked.
They found one investor to give them
the start-up capital, and a friend's father
in Pennsylvania furnished one store in
his supermarket chain.
The concept is simple.
Grocery stores charge food companies
millions of dollars a year to put their
product on the sweet spot of a shelf, said
Riback, of West Bloomfield. "But we

noticed that companies are doing very
little in terms of in-store presence to bol-
ster their brands and image."
"We place a 15- to 17-inch flat-screen
monitor in multiple locations in the
store," said Riback. "We have remote
computers attached to each screen that
we can target using the Internet, to play
a food manufacturer's 15- to 30-second
spot."
It costs between $1,000 and $1,200
for each in-store video station, com-
prised of two back-to-back flat screen
televisions bolted to the shelf.
The typical supermarket has 45,000
square feet and 15 aisles, enough room
for three video stations per aisle, said
Riback.
A competing commercial may air on
the same screen and it depends on how
much airtime the manufacturer wants to
buy, said Hurvitz, of West Bloomfield.
"The manufacturer could buy all the air-
time on a designated advertising station

right above their product. If they don't,
we offer the remaining airtime to who-
ever wants to purchase it."
In the test supermarket, an AIM video
for an orange juice product increased
sales by 225 percent for that brand, said
Hurvitz.
AIM sells the concept to the advertis-
er, the retailer, or both. "We install the
equipment for free, and we air the com-
mercials and charge the food manufac-
turer," said Riback. "Or the store can
incur most of the cost for the equip-
ment, and they take a larger percentage
of the ad revenue we generate."
The goal for this year is to expand
into more supermarkets and increase
their base of four manufacturing clients,
said Hurvitz.

❑

For more information, contact
Aisle Impact Marketing,
(734) 730-6485.

Strong And Smooth

Former Detroiter Michael Coles is leading Caribou's charge.

DON COHEN

Special to the Jewish News

I

f Michael Coles were a cup of coffee, he'd likely
be quite a popular blend. Strong, smooth and
energizing.
Coles, the CEO of Caribou Coffee, the
nation's second largest specialty coffee company, was in
Detroit recently to speak to Jewish Federation groups
about his upcoming book on business, entrepreneur-
ship and overcoming challenges, Taking On Goliath.
"My life was always about overcoming adversity,
whether financial or physical," Coles said.
He grew up poor, and a near-fatal motorcycle acci-
dent had doctors telling him he would never walk
unassisted again. "So much of my life has been about
that, if things got smooth without challenges I don't
know how I would function."
While Coles' financial and physical health are now
both fine — in 1995, he and his wife Donna were
named Georgia Philanthropist of the Year; and he
holds two world transcontinental biking records —
two of his current challenges are to make a difference
with Caribou and in his many charitable endeavors,
particularly those related to Jewish causes.
Among Cole's Jewish involvements is the Jewish
Federation in Atlanta where he is chairs the Major
Gifts Division.

5/21
2004

98

"Caribou has been very exciting, very challenging
and very inspiring," says Coles of the company he has
headed since last June, having served the six previous
months as interim CEO.
In 1977, Coles founded what became the Great
American Cookie Company, selling it in 1998 having
turned an $8,000 investment into a nationwide chain
with 350 stores. In 1996, Coles was the Democratic
candidate running against House Speaker Newt
Gingrich to represent Georgia's Sixth Congressional
District; and, in 1998, he ran for the U.S. Senate:
After losing both campaigns and while searching for
a new challenge, a friend connected Coles to Atlanta-
based Crescent Capital Investments. Crescent held a
majority interest in Caribou and wanted a review of
the company. "I determined it had enormous potential;
the products were incredible," said Coles, who told
Crescent he wanted to become a partner in the busi-
ness. Challenge found.
"We began a slow rollout and began to grow the
company and change the look," says Coles, noting that
the 19 straight months of negative same-store sales and
stagnant growth that preceded him has become 13
straight months of positive customer counts.
"Capitalism and entrepreneurship gives you the oppor-
tunity to make a difference in people's lives," Coles phi-
losophizes, proud of being able to create new jobs.
With Coles at the helm, Caribou has grown from

Michael Coles enjoys his favorite beverage.

2,000 to 4,500 employees and by the end of the year
will have 325 stores nationwide, almost double what he
started with.
Coles is undaunted by Starbucks' 7,500 stores world-
wide, crediting them for opening the market for gour-

STRONG AND SMOOTH on page 100