Students Gain Hands-On Promotional Experience NMU students received hands-on experience in their fields by helping local "clients" promote their business and causes in two separate projects this past semester.
Each team assumed the responsibilities of an advertising agency by coming up with appropriate names, company slogans, and corporate symbols and colors. The teams also had to select leaders who served as liaisons to representatives of the Ramada Inn.
They conducted extensive market research throughout the semester, culminating with formal presentations of their advertising proposals to Ramada Inn management.
“Acting as an advertising agency and competing to win an account was fun as well as educational,” said Hollijean Jolly, a senior marketing major. “Getting feedback from Ramada management really gave us all a feel for what a business looks for in an ad campaign. That was something we couldn’t experience from a textbook or lecture.”
Jolly’s team, named “Innovative,” won the competition. Its campaign focused on three different target markets—traveling athletic teams, traveling business people and college students and utilized television, radio and print media. “Our goal was to keep our campaign fun and original,” said Jolly. “I think we did a good job at accomplishing that.”
Ramada Inn owner and general manager Randy Larson said that this is the third year he has worked with Camerius’ class for this project.
“The kids give us new ideas and fresh looks; we love that,” he said. “And in the process, they learn how to market a product that they previously may not have known anything about. There’s a lot of that in a marketing career.”
The teams were judged based on several criteria, such as budgetary limitations, creativity, market identification and development, use of a media mix, professionalism and personal appearance.
The NMU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) had a different experience with promotional work. Members wrote and produced two radio public service announcements—one for the Upper Peninsula Health Plan that focused on child immunizations, and one for the NMU annual wellness run.
“The U.P. Health Plan contacted us a year and a half ago to ask if we’d help them with it, and we thought that it would be a great way to publicize it and get experience with the media at the same time,” said senior public relations major and PRSSA President Colleen O’Reilly. “We wrote the public service announcement for the wellness run this year, and got various radio stations to run it for 60 seconds two to three weeks before the race for free. These projects really taught our members how to go about interacting with the media, and it’ll be a great addition to their resumés,” she said. |
