This story was originally published in Vol. 34, Issue 4 (December 2023)
Communications Professor Nanu Iyer’s Advertising Principles and Practices class this semester has been working on marketing pitches to help WSU Vancouver advertise in the face of low enrollment. The students will present these pitches this month to Brenda Alling, the director of marketing and communications for the university.
“The primary goal was always to make sure that the students get a good idea of what advertising is, and to give them some client experience that they can apply the concept of design,” said Iyer. “It’s happenstance that the university is the client for this particular semester. And that if something comes out of it, which helps the university, I’m more than happy for it but that was never the main goal as such.”
Iyer originally planned for his students to hone their advertising skills by working on a campaign for high schools to spread awareness about misinformation about climate change. Largely due to the project requiring the students to spend more time outside of class to visit high schools, they voiced their concerns about the feasibility and efficacy of the project.
“Going to high schools, that takes up a lot of time outside of class,” said student Caitlyn Krueger, a DTC major taking the class as a requirement for a social media certificate. “I also think people kind of get fatigued hearing about climate change because it’s everywhere and it’s a very stressful thing once you really kind of get into it and stuff. And for stressed high schoolers, I mean, they’re just trying to get a job and graduate. They don’t want to think about the ice caps melting.”
Iyer then came up with other potential projects, including making marketing pitches for the university. He approached Alling with this idea and she accepted the proposal.
Alling then visited the class and gave a presentation on the state of enrollment in higher education, with the goal of helping the students frame their projects and get a better idea of how to appeal to what students are looking for in colleges.
“It was a very interactive session,” said Alling. “I think almost every student, you know, raised their hand at one point and had a question. I had such a good time in that class. I was super excited when I left because they were so participative. They have the perspective of having gone through selecting a college very recently, and so I’m super excited to see how this plays out through their perspective… Who better to learn about Gen Z from than Gen Z themselves?”
Iyer put together a workbook for his students to fill out sections week by week, in which they put learned concepts to use in planning out their pitches and doing the work. Divided into five teams, the students had to come up with marketing strategies feasible within the immediate vicinity of campus within a hypothetical budget of $100,000.
In particular, he expressed enthusiasm for seeing his students practice interpersonal skills in working in teams and seeing the projects develop from ideas to fully-fledged pitches.
“The workbook helps with understanding what needs to be done, and how it needs to be done, and what my expectations [are],” said Iyer. “…The students are learning from it, and they see it in action, and they get a feel for, okay, this is what he mentioned in class, and this is how it’s applied. So, that part really excites me, to be able to make those connections. Beyond that, seeing them work in teams, right? With group projects, you know, how a person might be shy and reserved in the larger settings of the class, but seeing them thriving within a smaller group really helps with that. They learn by doing it, and they’re learning all of these things about how to handle different personalities, and how to talk to a client, and all of those kinds of things.”
Krueger also works on the Student Activities Board, her experiences from which have informed her group’s ideas and decisions for their pitch. She expressed some doubt that inviting a popular artist would be approved or effective at increasing enrollment.
“Working at [the Student Activities Board], it’s kind of hard to be a little realistic with this project,” said Krueger. “We have some really great ideas, but I know it’s almost like the same things we’ve tried to do, and it’s been kind of stopped by the higher-ups, whether that’s budget, safety, COVID reasons, I don’t know… I mean, there’s been talks that Ice Spice is $10,000 to bring here, but that’s about it, and I don’t think that’s gonna work out.”
Sophia Baumann, an international student and senior strategic communications major, expressed some doubts about the chosen project but has enjoyed working on it overall.
“To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the university but working on the project has given me real experience with marketing,” said Baumann. “I’ve had lots of ideas and learned how much thought goes into planning [for marketing], it’s very meticulous.”
Alling will also be acting as the client representing WSU Vancouver for the DTC program’s next senior seminar in January, which will work on a similar project.