Spring 2010 - Arizona Daily Wildcat - University of Arizona

By Liz Warren-Pederson,
Eller College of Management
University of Arizona undergraduates
in the Eller College of Management placed
fi rst in a competition to develop a peer
promotional plan for the Honda Insight,
a hybrid electric vehicle, beating out 20
other schools nationwide.
Th e UA team was one of three fi nalists
– including Georgia State University and
California State University, Fullerton
– to present to a panel of judges from
American Honda Motor Company and ad
agency Ruben Postaer and Associates in
Los Angeles, culminating a semester-long
project sponsored by EdVenture Partners.
“Th e students knocked it out of the
park,” said Edward Ackerley, the team’s
faculty adviser. “Th ey did a phenomenal
job of representing the marketing
department and the UA.”
Five students from Ackerley’s
MKTG 425 Advertising
Management class –
marketing seniors Todd
Lane, Shiloh Miller, Chelsea
Robinson, Brandon
Schempp and Evan Singer
– traveled to Los Angeles to
present the results of their
promotional campaign,
which they developed
and executed over the fall
semester with a $2,500
budget.
“Th e class takes a case
study approach to help
students understand how
advertising works in the
marketing mix,” Ackerley said.
Th rough an arrangement with
EdVenture Partners, the students were
assigned to a project, in this case, to
The University of Arizona Spring 2010 11
Eller Undergraduates Top Honda
Insight Marketing Challenge
Students placed fi rst
in national competition
to market hybrid
Insight to Gen Y
“Th e students
knocked it out of
the park. Th ey did
a phenomenal job
of representing
the marketing
department and
the UA.”
Edward Ackerley,
team faculty adviser
(L-R): Evan Singer, Todd Lane, Shiloh Miller, Brandon Schempp, and Chelsea Robinson.
Tatiana Mia Photography
promote the Honda Insight to university
students between 18 and 24 years of
age. Th e class formed an ad agency
with a director and divisions including
operations, public relations, creative,
marketing and fi nance. “It’s completely
self-directed,” Ackerley explained. “I
started each class with
a brief lecture and then
turned it over to Evan
Singer, the agency’s
director, so that he could
manage the ongoing
project.”
Th is was the fi rst year
that the UA participated
in an EdVenture project
that concluded with a
national competition. In
previous years, the UA’s
participation ended with a
presentation to EdVenture
representatives.
Th is year’s UA team
– Four 2 Five Advertising – focused its
on-campus promotional eff orts around
UA Homecoming weekend. “Each school
was given a new 2010 Honda Insight for
the designated event date,” says Singer.
“We want to do the extraordinary, so
we negotiated with Dobbs Honda and
Chapman Honda to get two more Honda
Insights for our event.” Th ey used the
cars to create what Ackerley called a
“promotion with commotion,” which
included the UA mascot, Wilbur, the UA
marching band, games, giveaways and
more.
Th e team also developed a Facebook
contest in which students were challenged
to come up with a phrase using movie
titles and no more than 140 characters
to explain why the Insight is “cool.” Th e
winner was awarded $100. In all, Ackerley
said, the students wrung an estimated
$28,000 in value out of their $2,500 budget.
“Th is program allows students to work
on a project with real clients, real goals,
real budgets and real outcomes,” Ackerley
said. “Evan really summed it up best at the
competition when he told the judges that
the experience is one that the students will
never forget.”
Th e win included a $5,000 prize from
American Honda that will fund student
activities in the UA marketing department.