Project Proposal
My BA 355 Marketing class covers a standard set of topics on market analysis, strategic planning, and marketing implementation. The course has included a major project involving a marketing campaign for a local profit or non-profit organization. Past organizations have included Habitat for Humanity, Presco, Women’s Crisis Center Thrift Store, and Starr Aircraft. The organizations almost always request a significant digital component to the plan, such as creating or improving the 0rganization’s webpage, creating a Facebook presence, or improving the organization’s email and Twitter marketing effort. I have allowed student groups to work on these projects, but I have provided no formal support for these efforts. Some students create excellent output, but many students are not ready to create professional digital marketing content, and need more formal exposure to digital content and production techniques commonly used in business, nonprofit, and political marketing.
With the Mellon grant, I would be able to significantly improve the digital component of the course. By collaborating with another faculty member in a course with similar goals and methodologies, there is an opportunity for considerable synergy on the new digital technologies. What I propose specifically is that I would team the class with Nate Bigelow’s campaign course in Spring 2014, and let the project focus on a marketing program for a political candidate in the first year. Nate and I would work together to provide more exposure to new digital media used in both political and marketing campaigns, and students would collaborate to develop a new media marketing campaign in the form of an e-portfolio for a political candidate. In future years, we may continue to collaborate, but we could work independently as well.
- Present a very carefully constructed marketing campaign plan (using PowerPoint or a similar program)
- Use statistical software to develop an elegant presentation of demographic and economic data related to a target marketing area such as a congressional district
- Develop marketing campaign implementation plans for a candidate or other “product”
- Use new media as well as direct mail and event marketing to raise fund and “sell”
- Create a collection of carefully produced digital marketing campaign ads appropriate for either television or Internet.
Unrelated to digital pedagogy, the course would combine with Nate Bigelow’s course to provide a richer interdisciplinary experience by looking at the commonalities and differences between business and political marketing.
The learning outcomes for the simulation part of the course are:
- Gain an understanding of how modern marketing campaigns operate, and the similarities and differences between business and political marketing
- Learn to use technologies such as data analysis, social media, and digital production techniques to create a multimedia portfolio.
I would use the time provided by the Mellon stipend to research and develop appropriate formats for student e-portfolios. I would also research and develop improved class presentations on the use of social media like Twitter and Facebook in marketing campaigns. Finally, I would enhance my understanding of digital video editing techniques so I can help students create more professional marketing presentations.
