Business marketing course takes learning beyond the classroom ...

Posted on 16 February 2012.

DESIREE TOLI

For most students learning begins and ends in a scheduled timely manner.
It begins the first day of instruction to the last final of the semester. In the hours a student spends in the classroom, the recommended two hours outside the classroom studying a subject to really learn it, are often hard to come by.
The students in Professor Thierry Bruselle?s Business Marketing 55 advertising class have not only dedicated outside classroom time, but have also taken a classroom assignment beyond the requirements.
Business Marketing 55 is a course specialized in the historical, social, and psychological appeal of advertising. The course teaches practical and psychological packaging of trademarks for advertising media, campaign, budgeting, and career trends. Advertising and marketing professor Thierry Bruselle teaches the course once a year.
As an interactive assignment, Professor Bruselle assigns his students to break into groups and strategize innovative marketing ways to promote certain company projects, media, and resolve budgets.
In the past, classes have worked with companies such as General Motors and have fundraised $7,500 for certain budget deficits. For the fall 2011 class, the participating client was the city of Rancho Cucamonga.
The project was to provide situation analysis, advertising objectives, advertising strategy and action plans for several events and special projects for Rancho Cucamonga.
Francie Palmer, CSD marketing manager for the city, and Chaffey?s director of marketing and public relations, Peggy Cartwright, partnered as the student?s clients to whom they would present their work to.
The five groups for the project were chosen by the students the second week of class.
?It was a little difficult because we didn?t really know each other yet,? advertising student, Justin D. Nelson, said.
City project, such as ?Freedom courtyard? a proposed tribute to all veterans construction at Central Park, was assigned to ??a group. They then had to come up with a strategic advertising plan to bring awareness to the city for the project. Though some advertising was already in place for it, the group created innovative ways to raise awareness for the project.
One of the ideas was Good Search, a search engine powered by Yahoo that donates 50% of its search revenue to charities and schools was implemented as a potential advertising campaign to bring awareness of the cause and raise money simultaneously.? Student?s made flyers to raise awareness and utilized the city?s Veterans Day Ceremony to promote the site.
Multiple groups, including ?Team Promo? found other innovative ways to fundraise and bring awareness the group. Bass Pro Shop and the city are currently working in ways to utilize the concept of selling an item that would be sold at 100 percent profit.
The groups worked together on concepts that would create awareness for Freedom Courtyard.
?We had to find a lot of information, and it led us to step outside of the classroom, a lot, there was no room to cut corners. We had to work together,? group member Casey Cranford shared of his experience.
Group projects are usually notorious for conflict and disagreement. ?Fortunately for the five particular groups, group collaboration worked in their favor.
Advertising student, Bret Scroggins found the positive in working in a group,
?With a good team, you can really get a lot accomplished,? Scroggins said.
The final task of the groups was to package and professionally present their advertising strategies to Francie Palmer of the city and director of marketing Peggy Cartwright.
?The caliber of these students was unlike anything I have ever seen,? Cartwright, said.
Impressed with the prestige of work for the projects, the city?s marketing manager Francie Palmer wrote a letter of recommendation for all the participating students.
Palmer stated in the letter, ?Of all the classes I have participated with at Chaffey College, this class has truly proven to be a stellar group of innovative and focused students who have approached their group projects with enthusiasm. It has been a pleasure working with this group of students.?
Other group ideas including a courtyard dodge ball fundraising event, have been taken into consideration, and may be in the works to be implemented by the city.
?Not only did we get the credit, but we also got the experience,? Cristhian Moreno, international business and management major, said.
The hands on experience forced students to get a feel for real-life marketing.
?It made it real. It can be translated into a real career someday,? Moreno said of the project.
Bruselle, a CalPoly graduate is familiar with hands-on classroom experience.
?I want to share with the students, what I learned, learn by doing. Face real problems, and find real solutions,? Bruselle said.
The work of the students impressed the marketing professionals beyond what anyone had expected.
?It made me very proud to see our students work as hard as they did,? Cartwright said.

Source: http://thebreezeonline.com/2012/02/16/above-and-beyond-the-classroom/

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