Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010

Midtown Muse: College rivalries brew over coffee

I guess I just never thought about it when I was growing in Raleigh, learning in Chapel Hill and falling in love in Durham, but the rivalry between the Tar Heels, Wolfpack and Blue Devils transcends sports.

The Battle for Bean Street is a pioneer of a challenge - albeit one that puts me in a bit of a three-way tug of war - that for the first time has one of the nation's most passionate fan rivalries going head to head - er, cup to cup - over, you guessed it, coffee.

In the first month of the campaign, more than 20,000 cups of Bean Street coffee, emblazoned, of course, with the university logo of choice, have been sold at Triangle-area Kangaroo convenience stores. A new store in Sanford is participating, too.

Smartly, Kangaroo Express has tapped into the fan rivalry to get all of us to tap into their stores' new Fresh initiative, fueled by its launch of Bean Street coffee.

Rally around our favorite school - and pay it forward for a good cause.

The university with the most school-branded Bean Street Coffee cups sold by April 1, 2011, will become Battle for Bean Street Champions and receive a $20,000 donation to the charity of its choice.

The two runners up will receive $5,000 each to be given to charity.

"It tugs at the heartstring at the rivalry between these three schools," said Dave Henninger, Kangaroo Express' vice president of marketing. "It's part of the excitement here in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, and it's all for a good cause."

So, what's in it for Henninger (read Kangaroo Express) and the universities is what's good for us.

If N.C. State wins, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which is part of the Jimmy V Foundation, wins.

If Carolina wins, UNC Build a Block, a Habitat for Humanity project - and the 10 university and UNC hospital employees in need of homes - wins.

If Duke wins, so does the Duke Cancer Institute.

UNC senior Leah Vance is student co-director of the Build a Block project.

"It is fun," she said, noting the neck-and-neck battle raging between her school and N.C. State. "We definitely have some very intense rivalries in the blog.

"Students love it."

Because it's a grassroots effort to drum up support.

We can track weekly cup totals per store - 47 stores participate in the Triangle - on a digital battle grounds map at BattleForBeanStreet.com. We also can delve into the challenge through discussions on Facebook and Twitter.

So far, the battle has been a bit of a see-saw ride, but N.C. State is trending in the Raleigh area, particularly in Midtown. UNC is dominating in both Durham and Chapel Hill, but the Blue Devils are steadily creeping forward.

It's the commercial face of a corporate campaign with Kangaroo Express introducing its new coffee and updated stores, and we get to vote with our coffee cups.

The new Bean Street coffee also comes with new equipment, condiments and services, like coffee hostesses who keep the coffee area clean and hospitable.

"We're launching this program in a big way," Henninger said. "We want to be a part of our guests daily lives."

Once inside, Henninger said, customers find stores cosmetically improved, both inside and outside, and a "cleaner, brighter, lighter" shopping environment with fresh sandwiches - "A new, reimagined Kanagaroo Express here in Raleigh."

Having gotten rid of some of the standards in the industry - condoms in the bathrooms and X-Rated magazines on the stands - Kangaroo Express is trying a new approach.

"What's exciting for us is it's the first time these three schools have come together in a promotional effort like this," Henninger said.

"That's fun, for one."

Second, he added, is it's the first time we see camaraderie between the three university mascots.

"They don't travel in packs, but we brought them together," Henninger said.

So, tell me, what color is your cup?