Class gets a unique lesson in marketing

Not many students start off their Monday mornings with discussions about butts in seats, but… Not many students start off their Monday mornings with discussions about butts in seats, but Pitt’s Projects in Marketing is also not a run-of-the-mill class.

Students in this semester’s Projects in marketing class have spent their time designing and executing a marketing campaign for the new Chevrolet Cobalt. The class, which takes a different client each semester, is run like a real marketing firm. Students divide into different departments, and groups deliver departmental briefings to inform everyone about progress.

“This class has taught me a lot about management, delegation and a hell of a lot about teamwork,” class member Alison Hindman said.

Hindman, a senior, volunteered to serve as project coordinator. She runs a tanning salon in the South Hills, but she was amazed to find how different business marketing is from business management.

“I’ve learned that marketing is a lot of hard work,” Hindman said. “It’s not just sitting back and letting it happen.”

Members of the class have been doing everything but sitting back. Working non-stop since the beginning of the semester, class members had to present a marketing campaign to representatives from Chevrolet on Feb. 28. Since then, they have worked hard to spark an interest in the company’s newest model among college students, the target audience.

Students have tried to generate impressions, which form any time anyone comes into contact with the Cobalt. This could occur when a student has her picture taken while sitting in the car, visits the Web site designed by members of the class, www.itstimecobalt.com, or puts her butt in the seat.

Most recently, the students headed an event at Bigelow Bash, holding an auction for prizes ranging from Velvet Revolver concert tickets to tanning packages from local salons. Participants could also fill out a quick questionnaire to enter a drawing for an iPod. Each drawing entry and each ticket in the auction counted as a single impression.

The class has been at Pitt since the spring of 2004, when EdVenture Partners, the program responsible for finding companies willing to let students market their products, approached the University. Bob Gilbert, an associate professor in the College of Business Administration, is the only one to have taught the course.

“This is a great opportunity for students to combine what they learn in the classroom to a real world application with a real world client,” Gilbert said.

The course proved to be such a success that it is now offered as an elective in the marketing curriculum in CBA. Gilbert is excited that the course is offered regularly because he believes it enhances the CBA curriculum greatly and serves as a resume builder by giving students real world experience.

Deena Loomis, a member of the public relations division of the class, has learned a lot about the field of marketing from the course.

“There is a necessity for persistence and following up in the business world, and importance of double checking,” she said.

Though it may seem stressful to some, Loomis said she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

“This is totally unique in all my four years at Pitt,” Loomis said. “It’s nice to go out with something so unique. It’s a capstone, you could call it.”