Case Study
Follow the White Rabbit
Business Preface
White Rabbit was a late night coffee and cocktails concept with a stage and dance floor, centered in the small yet passionate Farmer’s Market District near Downtown OKC. It opened in the summer of 2024 and died in the following winter.
As a freelance marketing artist, I joined the White Rabbit Team in late September, after discovering it while trying to find the best coffee spots in a “caliber-coffee” DESERT.
White Rabbit would close its doors one month later, saying goodbye to its patrons in November and selling, where-after it would close its doors permanently from new-owner ventures. If White Rabbit hadn’t closed—if I had joined at a better time, what would I have done to ensure its success? This case study shows my step-by-step process in building a cohesive brand and marketing campaign for a well-loved and remembered client, posthumously.
Step One: Investigate
To better understand White Rabbit’s downfall, I looked to its closest competitors and performed two Competitor Investigations. Although not every internal operation of a business can be uncovered, this type of investigation is intended to create a full picture of a competitor’s successes and drawbacks that are available for analysis to the public.
My competitor investigations were made on Palo Santo and Powerhouse, two major players in the small district in which White Rabbit was located, with findings suggesting shared qualities that ensure these businesses’ survivability:
Active marketing campaigns with direction.
Symbiotic relationships with local venders and farmers.
Undefined target market and CPI.
Local support and collaborations.
A SWOT Analysis was then conducted and determined White Rabbit to have not more aggressively pursued these benefits.
Investigation was then directed inward, where White Rabbit was thoroughly examined to identify any further issues and hone missing elements. Its marketing goals, target markets, and UVP were recognized:
Marketing Goals
Funnel socials.
Create community.
Build interest.
Target Markets
Target music & alternative communities.
Age: 18-30 years.
Late-night revelers & coffee lovers.
UVP
“A coffee alternative with spirit. the only place where curated movie screenings, live comedy, and performances from the best local talent meet in one place. It’s your late night rabbit hole for a cultured escape.”
Step Two: Prep Work
Strategy
After determining White Rabbit’s pain points and goals, it was time to develop a Social Media Strategy. Taking a note from its competitors, while minding White Rabbit’s limitations as a small and newly formed business with a zero-dollar budget, a three-tier social media design was decided upon.
The purpose of this strategy was to minimize content creation and time expenses while optimizing SM activity and meeting White Rabbit’s target market in high-promoting business platforms.
Design
Moving on to White Rabbit’s branding and design, I created a branding template that synchronized White Rabbit’s pre-existing themes found through its social media, website and venue. This template served as a blueprint for further content creation.
Next, I used NightCafe, a free online AI image generator, to develop concept art for the business and see if further expense of content creation time could be eliminated. Testing with the “Juggernaut” Model and “Synthwave” Present, as well as the “Stable Diffusion” Model and “Synthwave” and “Arthemy Comics v5.0” Presents for inspiration and content creation assistance.
Step Three: White Rabbit Sells its Business
What it would look like:
Step three would have been a campaign launch, with content designed a month in advance for the upcoming holidays. In general, the process would be:
Brainstorm, taste-test, and finalize a new menu.
Design new menu and prep content that would make up 50% of posts.
Assist in networking and community events for in-person marketing.
Collect real-time content for additional, fast-turnaround posting.
Identify business analytics and assess.
Other helpful steps I could have taken:
Other tasks I would have liked to complete:
Community polling for ICP research.
Developed a feasible content calendar.
Designed a second campaign strategy to reach local artists and stimulate venue interest for performances.
Completed Projects
While only spending a month with White Rabbit, I was able to complete four projects that were on my list of short-term goals for the business: revamping its website, adding a Linktree, designing a menu, and creating a featured item marketing campaign for October.
Website
White Rabbit’s website was an uncompleted project left by its former marketing team. During my time with White Rabbit, I learned this former team put no effort into SEO or UX Design. Although these features aren’t necessary in all service businesses (like a bar) a website can still be used by a target market for customer research and interest.
It’s design used elements within the Branding Template, with a fully-fleshed Menu page, Schedule, Home and About section, and Contact for artist sign-up and venue renting CTAs.
Linktree
White Rabbit was falling down the hole of disorganization and chaos. With the owner as the only marketer and strategist for the brand, they were now under the stress of social media management, content creation, scheduling, etc.
And they had too many socials…
To better funnel online visitors, I quickly organized a Linktree, with White Rabbit’s main socials and primary landing pages added.
This was to develop navigation as a temporary resolution while I and the owner could prioritize a meeting for a real marketing campaign.
Menu
In honor of its Punk Wonderland theme and to lean on the upcoming Halloween Downtown bar hop, White Rabbit developed a seasonal menu and needed a design.
It’s previous menu was created by a formerly hired marketing team which split ties without making designs specifically fashioned for White Rabbit available to the business.
This included its menu design.
In order to match its personalized branding, I assisted in the brainstorming and decision making of its menu items, and used Canva Free-Version to complete a new menu.
October Campaign
During my time at White Rabbit, the owner had walked into an unexpected and funny issue: he over-steeped five gallons of cold brew and didn’t know how to get rid of it all. With everyone (including a trusted friend of mine) tasting the beverage and liking it, I came up with a quick marketing strategy to get more customers walking through the door and clear out fridge space.
Any customer who walks in gets one shot of cold brew on the house, with more shots available on request and for a reasonable price. Since White Rabbit had a late closing time, I named the new featured item the “Wake Up Call” and got to work designing promo Instagram posts.
My client would post a promo of this Wake Up Call on their story each day and spread the word with bartenders offering it to every visitor.
Unfortunately, this campaign was short-lived, due to pre-existing stresses and White Rabbit’s impending close.
