For their final project, students in Andy Campbell’s marketing management class faced a double challenge. Their client, NBA D-League team Iowa Energy, asked them to sell tickets for the team’s home opener, then pitch a marketing plan for executives to attract millennials to attend games.
With target markets including students, staff, alumni and prospective students, three teams embarked on research, brainstorming, sales and creating their pitch. Senior Kelli Kerr said her team filled walls with more ideas than they could ever need. “We worked many days in Weller, scribbling out ideas on the whiteboards,” she said.
Campbell, assistant professor of business management, said he was most impressed by the group’s ability to readjust quickly when new challenges arose — as they did continually. “Nothing goes entirely to plan, and that’s just life,” Campbell said. “I want to see how they bounce back.”
After completing projects for real clients, students are more than ready for challenges after graduation, Campbell said. “I think they’re starting to realize that and take a little more interest and pride in how sharp they are and what they’re capable of doing.”
