A team composed of graduate and undergraduate students at EKU has finished third in the General Motors Marketing Internship national competition.

The team, which dubbed itself the EKU Pride Advertising Agency, developed and presented "Summer Vacation - The Ultimate Pontiac Road Trip," a promotion designed to increase awareness among Eastern students of the Pontiac Vibe product line and the Sid Adams Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership in Richmond.

"Considering this was the first time Eastern had ever participated in this contest, winning third place was absolutely phenomenal," said Dr. S.J. Garner, professor in the Department of Management, Marketing and Administrative Communication, who taught the two classes that joined efforts for the project. "It says our students are extremely hard-working and creative, and that our marketing classes are successful."

The highlight of the spring semester-long effort was a 4½-hour on-campus event where the Pontiac Vibe, Grand Am and Aztek were displayed in creative situational themes so students could enjoy an afternoon of fun and learn more about the products. Games, contests and special music added to the festive atmosphere.

If the judges were impressed with the effort, the dealership's owner, Sid Adams, was ecstatic about the results.

"My expectations were greatly exceeded," Adams said. "(The students) showed a level of professionalism seldom experienced on a student level and only achieved by a few top professional advertising agencies."

Bottom line: thanks to an event attendance of almost 1,100 prospective customers, student awareness of the local dealership jumped from 41 to 74 percent.

After establishing a theme, the students - 19 undergraduates in an Advertising Campaigns class supervised by seven MBA students in a Promotional Seminar course - were split into teams and spent a considerable portion of the semester conducting research and creating an advertising strategy not to exceed a fixed budget of $2,500.

The internship "provided a learning experience that many graduates do not usually undertake before graduation," said Audra Wray, a May graduate who's now a marketing associate with the Lexington Clinic. "The class and internship exposed me to situations that are comparable to that in the workplace. It was valuable in that it allowed me to apply textbook material to real-work situations. I learned to strategically plan, carefully organize and closely interact in a team-type setting."

In promoting the campus event, the group utilized print, radio, television and on-line
advertising; direct mail; and public displays consisting of banners, fliers and sidewalk art.

"They got a real feel for the kind of details that go into organizing a marketing event," Garner said, "and they had to think about what's feasible and cost-effective."

Edventure Partners Inc. served as the liaison between the students and General Motors. Edventure partner Karen Fonte visited the class five times during the semester.

"We are extremely impressed with the high-quality research, advertising and public relations work that the students produced," Fonte said.