Classes in the Marketing Pathway
PURPLE COW:
What kind of a class is called Purple Cow? A marketing class. One that strives to follow the principles found in the book by the same name. A Purple Cow is something remarkable, unique, something that makes a statement.
Forget learning marketing by just reading a book. How about developing a new product for the Jones Soda Company product mix? What about learning business by doing the marketing for a local company? Learn how to use your mobile phone, Facebook and Twitter to market products and services. Sound a little different? It should, this CLASS is a Purple Cow! Purple Cow is about the unexpected and unconventional; maybe even the interactive or the viral. Purple Cow is about smarter marketing not just spending more money. It’s about being creative and innovative. It’s disruptive and game changing.
Remember: one of every five college graduates has a degree in Business and a lot of them are in the field of Marketing. Students can get a head start on the competition while in high school. Even if college is not in their plans, over half of all jobs are marketing-related.
A practical, hands-on approach, the support of industry experts and emphasis on student-centered discussions highlight the instructional approach used in all Marketing classes. Topics of study include determining how to effectively advertise a product; development of professional sales skills, understanding the purpose of packaging and labeling; and why one brand succeeds and another fails. In all cases we focus on the purple cows of marketing.
LEADERSHIP IN THE MOVIES
Leadership in the Movies is for students who are past, present or future officers in clubs, organizations or teams and for any individual who wants to learn about leadership so they can use these skills their personal or professional life.
You will view movies and clips that teach principles such as Setting The Course/GoalSetting, Building Others / Building Dreams, Facing Crisis, Sacrifice/Servanthood, Battling Injustice/Leadership Courage, Commitment/ Integrity, Rescuing Others, Building A Team, Conflict Resolution, ProblemSolving, Arrogance/Cruelty, Empathy vs. Sympathy, Accepting Others/Building Diversity, Taking Action, and Communication.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
No, really. What is The Point? The Point is the school-based retail store operated by members of this class. Students will ask how much should we charge? What should we sell? Why isn’t this selling very well? Should we mark these down? They will say I have an idea for a new product, my staff won’t listen to me and I have no idea how much to order. They’re in the real world now, where decisions have real consequences.
Students in WHATS THE POINT? will learn about the world of business by operating The Point; the convenience store at Davis. Students make all operating decisions including selecting the items to be sold, determining how they are priced, and implementing promotional efforts.
MORE THAN THE SCORE
When injury or age puts an end to a sports career, there are still several opportunities to make a living in sports. We will examine the business side of the industry and you will learn sport is about MORE THAN THE SCORE. Sport is a business. Students will have the opportunity of learn how teams market and promote themselves and how a business uses sports to increase their profitability.
Why are Super Bowl ads so expensive? What makes having your company name on a sports arena worth so much? Who is the best athlete when it comes for being a corporate spokesperson? Is King James the king of endorsements? Who does a better job marketing sports-- BYU, WSU, USU or the U of U? Why do the most expensive tickets sell before the cheap seats?
Class discussions as well as opportunities to work on a variety of projects create a balance between traditional class work and hands-on activities. Topics covered include how teams effectively sell tickets; why companies want to be involved with the sports industry; how to make a sporting event entertaining; methods of advertising and promoting a team or event and the use of the web as a marketing tool.
GETTING NOTICED
Everywhere you look you see an iPad or an iPhone. How do they do it? How does a new product or service become an overnight success and go from nowhere to everywhere? How have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, podcasting and mobile marketing changed the world of advertising? Can newspapers be saved if all the advertisers go elsewhere? Are we seeing the end of newspaper, TV and radio as we know it?
Students will learn about promotion and advertising from every angle. Topics covered include buying media, strengths and weaknesses of the various media, creativity, designing ads, brand development, publicity, public relations, web sites, and more. Students will be divided into small groups and form their own Advertising Agency. They will then select a company or product and develop a promotional campaign. Although traditional forms of advertising will be studied, so will the new media including social media.
YOU, INC.
You don’t have to work for somebody else. you can be your own boss. In YOU, INC. students learn how to start and operate a business and will become aware that there are countless opportunities even for teenagers. Starting and operating an Internet business will be emphasized.
We will discuss how to select a business to start, the key character traits and attitudes of a successful entrepreneur, whether you should go it alone or have a partner, how to market and promote your business and product/service, and more. Projects are personalized to meet the interests of individual students.
YOU, INC. is designed for students who have completed PURPLE COW and have an interest in being their own boss.
Everyone watches movies. Now you can watch them with a purpose! In Leadership in the Movies we watch clips from Hollywood blockbusters and use them to jump start our discussions.
BEYOND PURPLE COW
Beyond Purple Cow takes you to the next level. To actually creating purple cows. Beyond Purple Cow is an in-depth course for those with a serious interest in the field of Marketing and Business. Students will develop an individual marketing project based on their personal interests.
This is about real marketing; creating a true Purple Cow-- a project that will reflect the student and their interest in business. Students will select from an extensive list of projects that will require them to research, plan, implement and evaluate a variety of topics.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Mail? Forget it. TV commercials? Meet the DVR. Email? Old school? It’s all about Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, QR codes, Pinterest, Google+ and apps. Many students already use some or all of these tools in their personal life. Now is the time to learn how to use these new digital and social media tools in the world of business.
This new course will provide students with a foundation and skill set in the new, evolving world of social media tools and strategies.
Topics covered include:
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What social media is and why it is important
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How to use social media tools to build relationships and increase productivity
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The importance of building an online community
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Creating and executing social media campaigns
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Trends in mobile applications
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Real world case studies of the effective use of social media within business-to-business and business-to-consumer settings
This is truly a hands-on class as students will create QR codes, develop mobile apps, launch Facebook Pages, begin building their resume on LinkedIn, and use their spare time to tweet, tweet, tweet.
NEW . . . Students will also have an opportunity to join the Davis Social Media Team!
