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Marketing class gives real experienceBy Barbara Brown Adam Lamoureuxís marketing class, the first of its kind at North Branch High School, has been learning about marketing strategies since the beginning of the year and got a chance to test their skills on a real event. After spending the first trimester of the year teaching from a textbook, Lamoureux decided he wanted to challenge his class of 10 young men to market an actual event. He contacted the North Branch Chamber of Commerce and the two groups soon were working to advertise the upcoming Community Connections Expo at the high school. The event, planned for Saturday, will feature enrollment for activities for youth and adults, food and community networking with more than a little fun thrown in. First on the list of things to do was choosing a theme for the event and for the marketing campaign. That may have been the toughest decision the group had to make because they all had to agree, said senior Josh Boley. He said the class debated for about two weeks and finally agreed on a patriotic theme featuring ìUncle Samî and the ìI want youî slogan. The class agreed that playing up the areaís increased feelings of patriotism may draw more to the event, Boley said. Different marketing tasks, from planning the best ways to attract people to different activities at the expo ñ like a fashion show, youth sports sign-ups and golf lessons ñ to designing posters and making connections with area businesses were divided. Senior Jake Sykes said he plans to be a business major when he goes to the University of Minnesota, Duluth, next year. ìIím thinking that this class will help me be prepared for my business classes,î he said. ìI want to own my own business one day and I think this will help.î Senior Wes Haugan said he was a bit baffled at the beginning of the class. He wasnít sure the group would be able to agree on marketing strategies and get all the work done. ìWe really worked well together,î Haugan said he came to realize. ìI though it was pretty unbelievable that we could do what we do with so little money,î he said. The class will spend the rest of the week cranking out advertisements and directional signs for use in the school during the expo. The expo is scheduled on March 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ©ECM Post Review |