Heights Marketing Group Brings Hondapalooza to Campus

Spring at BC has arrived, and with second semester starting to reach the homestretch, the normal classroom routine can start to feel kind of dull.  This is definitely not the case, however, for students of Professor Maria Sannella’s Marketing Principles class, who have been given the opportunity of their undergraduate careers: a chance to create their own marketing campaign and apply it in a real-world setting.

Thanks to a collaboration with Honda and EdVenture Partners, students will participate in the Honda Civic Coupe Marketing Competition, competing against 19 other schools to create a campaign that will appeal the most to car buyers of our generation.  The top three schools will be flown out to California to present their ideas to Honda, and the winning team will win $5000.  The stakes are especially high since BC won a similar competition in years past, when Professor Sannella’s class partnered with Chevrolet.

The project has come along well so far, but the task of creating a working marketing agency from the ground up and assigning class members different roles has proven to be more difficult:  “We’ve done group projects before, but working with everyone has been a challenge,” said Debbie Fanfan, A&S ‘12.  Led by two coordinators, Caila Quinn and Taylor Stockton, both CSOM ‘14, the class formed the Heights Marketing Group (HMG) and divided into different departments including research, finance, and advertising.

One tactic the Heights Marketing Group is using to get a leg up in the competition is taking to Facebook and Twitter to reach a broader audience.  “We’re trying to use social media to our advantage since that’s what most college kids are comfortable with,” Fanfan explained.  “We grew up with that stuff.”

In order to capitalize on this approach, the HMG decided to put a face to the campaign by creating “Mr. Civic Coupe,” a fictional character who encourages fans to check out the car’s features for themselves.  His Facebook and Twitter pages have gathered over 300 likes and 80 followers, respectively, and with tweets like, “I don’t need a pick time.  All I need is my #civiccoupe,” it’s hard not to want to see what all the fuss is about.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the campaign for students here on campus will be Hondapalooza, taking place April 3rd in O’Neill Plaza.  The event will include raffles and giveaways, not to mention three booths highlighting the Civic Coupe’s coolest and most technologically advanced features.  So whether you’re in the market for a new car or just want to enter a raffle and enjoy a DJ’s music, you do not want to miss out on this fun event!

For Fanfan, being part of the Honda Civic Coupe Marketing Competition has done a lot to increase her brand awareness, especially as someone who is looking to buy a car after she graduates.  “Before, I wasn’t really thinking about Honda as an up-there brand that I would consider cool, but after seeing all the different features and how you can personalize them, it has really changed my perception.”  

As a communication major, Fanfan has also come to appreciate the amount of work that goes into creating a marketing campaign, and hopes to use the knowledge she learned from this experience in her future career.  “[The campaign] taught me that there’s way more to marketing than you would think,” she said.  “Before, I just thought marketing was all about having a product.  Now I know that there are tons of different departments that work together to conduct research and make marketing a bigger success.  The best part is evaluating your campaign at the end to see how far you’ve come from where you started.”

To show support for the Heights Marketing Group and their Honda Civic Coupe Marketing Campaign, be sure to “like” Mr. Civic Coupe on Facebook and follow @mrciviccoupe on Twitter.  And don’t forget to stop by Hondapalooza, happening Tuesday, April 3rd (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) in O’Neill Plaza for your chance to win cool prizes and see HMG’s hard work in action!