Hop In Deals, a new locally-owned daily deal website launched in mid-November, is partnering with a Grand Valley State University marketing class to help with its advertising and promotion.

Hop In Deals provides coupons for 50 to 90 percent off products from local businesses in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and the Lakeshore.

“We wanted to start (the site) because we specifically saw a need in West Michigan for sites that not only offer consumers a discount on local things but also had a local flair to it in terms of us giving back to the community,” said co-owner Karyn DeKorne.

Dan DeKorne, co-owner of Hop In Deals, said because they compete with national companies and other local daily deal sites, they want to focus on more of the local business aspect and give businesses free brand recognition while giving the population the best deal possible. He said he is impressed with GVSU’s ability to help Hop In Deals with the marketing and promotional aspects of the company.

“I’ve never done a marketing project with (GVSU) before, and I wanted to see if their reputation was exactly as it is,” he said. “The way they’re organized, the way that they work and the openness toward local businesses is top notch.”

The husband and wife team said students are a large part of their target audience. They wanted the class to spread the deals the site has to offer.

“I am really excited about it, especially because Grand Valley has such a good reputation in town, and I know that it will have the potential to reach a lot of the student body,” Karyn DeKorne said. “So I think getting real world advice from students is going to be invaluable because that way, we can provide exactly what the students are looking for.”

Visiting professor Nelson VanElderen, whose marketing students worked with the DeKornes, said this was the first time he could use this type of project to give undergraduate students real-life experience from the classroom. He said he was impressed with how well the students could apply concepts they learned in class and use them to help out this business.

“I think it was great to see students jump in and actually work in a real life situation and be able to do stuff like that and to use their creativity and resources and work together and come up with some pretty good stuff,” he said. “It’s encouraging. It’s a kind of thing that gets students actually working with a real company and particularly a local one.”

VanElderen said the young age of the owners also benefited students as it them an opportunity to see that young people can start business initiatives.

Dan DeKorne said the more that people know about the site, the more it will help grow their company. They currently have more than 4,000 followers on Facebook, and Karyn DeKorne said the couple hopes their business will continue to grow and they will better help the community as they begin marketing more to their target audience, .

“We are really excited to be working with Grand Valley, and the best thing that people can do for us as a local business that is new is to tell their friends and sign up on our e-mail lists,” she said. “Understand that we are new, so give us a chance to get out there. Definitely recommend deals. We’d love to hear what people want to see on our site, to look to us first as being the deal-a-day site that is available for people in West Michigan.”

For more information or to purchase from the site, visit www.hopindeals.com or check out Hop In Deals on Facebook.

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