Kyle
We’ve seen an explosion of social entrepreneurship represented by some great out of the box startup ideas. Back in November we brought you an interview with Utah Startup HeadCase, which is attacking poverty with headphones. We also recently wrote about Los Angeles startup Upperatus, using unique monthly designed t-shirts and donating $11 per shirt to a monthly charity.
Now, New Hampshire startup LocalCoaster is using coasters in bars and restaurants as a socially driven advertising vehicle. The startup, founded by Whit Whitman, Jim Thompson, Susan Wiley and Matt Burke are using both sides of a coaster to engage customers, get them local deals and give to charity.
The company is attracting local businesses and corporate sponsors to advertise on the coasters.
NPR describes the process like this:
One side of the coaster is sold to a local advertiser, for example RiverRun Bookstore. On the other side the advertising will be sold to larger corporations like Holloway Automotive .
The coasters will be distributed free to local restaurants and bars. The advertisers and partnered restaurants will get to vote for their favorite charities. The charity selected will receive the first $5000 of the as revenue.
The startup received there first shipment of 110,000 coasters at the beginning of the month. They’ve signed up 11 local businesses and 1 corporate advertiser to date. They are optimistic about LocalCoaster. They also have 16 local and regional charities on board.
They plan on expanding outside of Portsmouth shortly. In February they will open up shop in Portland Maine. Burlington Vermont and Conway New Hampshire are already listed on the companies website.
Linkage:
Check out LocalCoaster here
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