BUSINESS STUDENTS CREATE MARKETING STRATEGY FOR POLICE ACADEMY
When Angelina College Police Academy coordinator Bob
Christiansen decided he needed some help in putting out the word for his
program, he didn’t need to seek out one of those ultra-expensive
marketing agencies.
He found all the help he needed less than 100 yards away from his own
office.
Pitching his idea to fellow AC instructor Jim Kennedy, Director of the
Business Division, Christiansen asked for help in developing a full
marketing strategy designed to spread the word regarding the police
academy and, ultimately, increase enrollment. In turn, Kennedy used the
situation as a potential project for some of his Business students –
specifically those who had taken Marketing classes. At first, he thought
he’d only have enough qualified students to form one team. Instead, he
found enough for two full teams. With this, he was able to create what
he called “a friendly competition that would generate more ideas.”
Ideally, the collaboration would help both the Police Academy and the
students themselves.
The results, according to Christiansen, “far exceeded my expectations.”
“I approached Jim (Kennedy) and told him what I needed,” Christiansen
said. “At that time, I had only some bare, basic facts. What I brought
these students you could have put on a sticky note.
“But they took it and ran with it, and the result is far beyond my
expectations. This is a professional, high-dollar marketing campaign
designed by our own students; there are some very exciting suggestions
in here.”
Two groups of students in the Business Division’s Management Development
Degree program who had consequently taken Marketing classes took on the
project. Group 1 consisted of D.J. Mark and Deneice Marshall of Lufkin,
and Mallary Sanders of Huntington. Group 2’s members included Jennifer
Allen, Rebecca Miller and Deanne Shepherd – all of Lufkin.
“I was looking for students who had been through a couple of marketing
classes,” Kennedy said, “and who knew marketing terminology and the
requirements for an actual proposal. We discussed all the requirements,
and I knew I’d found students who didn’t need a lot of supervision. They
were all very motivated, very independent people, and I knew they’d do
good work. Still, they blew me away with their response. I wasn’t really
surprised, but I’m definitely pleased with everything they put into
this.”
“When we first started it, we didn’t really know what we were going to
do,” Rebecca Miller said. “But we took it very seriously; to us, it was
a reflection of our own reputation as well as that of the Business
Division. We wanted it to be something that someone would actually be
interested in using. It was a challenge, but it was also a lot of fun
just trying to see what we could do with it.”
D.J. Mark said the key was listening to the needs of his “customer.”
“Mr. Christiansen said they were having issues with enrollment,” Mark
said, “and to reach out to individuals, you have to have something that
stands out, but reaches different groups at the same time.
“We wanted to put something together that would separate our project
from the average, everyday college project.”
The result was a pair of highly polished, professional presentations
consisting of several ideas designed to help further market the police
academy. Included were written public service announcement scripts –
pre-packaged in the required 30-second format – along with various
flyers, posters (“Heroes Wanted!”) and brochures. Some of these were
designed separately to reach various target markets, from high-school
age students to older students to returning military veterans eligible
for GI benefits. There were even radio rate cards to assist in designing
a radio advertising budget – indications that these students had indeed
done their homework.
All of which Christiansen believes will help his program immensely.
“Every one of these ideas has merit,” Christiansen said. “And it wasn’t
just the ideas themselves; it was the way these students presented it,
in full presentation mode, that made me see how all of this could work
in a real-life setting. They managed to meet all criteria for a
professional proposal.
“I believe that what these Business students have accomplished will help
establish Angelina College as a central hub for East Texas law
enforcement training.”
