A marine and his love for cold brew.

A knack for crafting coffee and a desire to bring people together has given Eric Gates the inspiration for
his new business.

Coffee and Conversation

In 2006, Eric found that coffee created opportunities for genuine, heartfelt conversations that led to personal healing. Coffee became his wellspring for life. Because of the relationships established from gathering together, sharing coffee, and getting to know each other better, Eric wants to share the joy he has found with each of his customers. It is his wish that each sip of Devil Dog Cold Brew will bring people closer to reaching out and fostering new and healthy friendships.

Devil Dog Coffee Company

2006

Eric Gates

devildogcoffeecompany.com

Market Challenges

Brand and packaging lacked the character and appeal to stand toe to toe with the competition on retail shelves.

The website did not set the right visual tone for selling consumables; there was inconsistent messaging.

Operational bottlenecks limited Eric’s ability to ship his products, handicapping his reach to customers.

Immediate Needs

Business Operations

Logo Design

Marketing Strategy

Product Packaging

Social Media Marketing

Web Design

Our Approach

Eric had a good marketing voice for his product, but he needed help in execution. With a strategic design overhaul to elevate and strengthen his brand, TangoSquared worked with Eric to set a path for Devil Dog Coffee Company towards operational efficiency, increased brand awareness, and scalability. Our first task was a top-to-bottom rebrand, including a new website with a fresh design, and a budget-friendly approach to new packaging.

Latte

#ede0c0

Sunset

#e9472a

Taupe

#a39273

Earthy Black

#171717

A Plan for Success

1

Expand the brand with a new name and a logo that is rich with meaning and speaks to its target market.

2

Re-envision the packaging and website to capture Eric’s charisma and make it easy for customers to discover and purchase his products.

3

Smooth out wrinkes in production and operations so that the path to scale is practical and driven by reasonable milestones.

Marketing Strategy

Local First

  • While smoothing out operations, we target marketing efforts to the Austin, Texas and surrounding areas to get onto retail shelves.
  • Meanwhile we kickoff brand awareness efforts nationwide for Devil Dog’s coffee bean products, to boost online sales.

Be seen, not discovered

  • Don’t hide in search results; get in front of the customer where opinions bolster good products.
“Working with InVetIt has been a true partnership that has allowed Devil Dog Coffee Company to thrive. InVetIt has that “X” factor when it comes to business and product development.”

Eric Gates, Founder of Devil Dog Coffee Company

Coffee Sells

Armed with a new look, great website, and a supply chain that can scale, Devil Dog Coffee Company has jumped into the marketplace with a plan to take over the local Austin area and expand from there. Eric increased his retail store presence almost immediately, with a variety of his product line available in 8 stores.

We will be keeping this case study active as we track marketing and sales.

Visit Devil Dog Coffee Company

For the previous 12 months prior to InvetIt partnership and rebranding, Devil Dog was being sold by 1 grocery/convenience store. Within 2 months of implementing the new operational strategy, Devil Dog is now being sold at 8 grocery/convenience stores in the Austin area; representing an 880% increase in wholesale revenue.

320%

Increase in online retail sales

1,230%

Increase in page likes, post launch

143%

Increase in post engagements, post launch

35%

Increase in organic reach, post launch

156%

Increase in page views, post launch

Established “Coffee with a Cause” initiative… and editorial calendar

Faster alone, further together

Our clients have raised venture capital and have been acquired by companies like Tesla, Microsoft and MacKenzie Childs.

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