Greenville students ‘Design An Ad’

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GREENVILLE – During the next couple of weeks, Daily Advocate readers will find advertisements created and designed by high school students, who participated in the newspaper’s Design An Ad project.

For the past three years, students in Kristi Homan’s marketing classes at Greenville’s Career Technology Center, have worked alongside advertising representatives from the Advocate to learn the ropes of selling and designing ads for local businesses.

“The students get real world experience they are typically not getting,” Homan said of the 25 students enrolled in the marketing program.

The school’s marketing program, Homan said, also gets a “little kickback” by participating in Design An Ad – so it becomes a fundraiser, with monies going to support marketing activities and Business Professionals of America events.

Senior Rachel Unger recently returned from participating in the Business Professionals of America 2019 National Leadership Conference, held May 1-5 in Anaheim, Calif. earning a 13th place overall with her project.

Job shadowing with sales rep Denise Good, Unger met with Flaig Lumber in New Madison and worked to update an advertisement the company ran last year.

“It took me about a week,” Unger said, between meeting with the company and completing the advertisement.

Unger plans to attend Wright State University to major in marketing and fine arts.

“I hope to be able to apply art and marketing skills I’ve learned to hopefully design ads as a career,’ she said.

Junior Mikayla Miller worked with sales rep Bill Bixler to design an ad for Tribute Funeral Homes.

“I learned it was a target audience,” she said. “And that communication is key,” to a successful relationship between a business and an ad rep.

Miller’s ad focused on the “quality they provide,” she said of Tribute “and the celebration of life – the care they have for the family” they are serving.

Following graduation next year, Miller said she plans on attending Sinclair Community College to study interior design.

Senior Makayla Murphy’s account was Farmer’s State Bank in New Madison.

“They are celebrating their 100th year,” in business Murphy said, noting she was charged with creating an advertisement to target young people.

Working with ad rep Candy Ullery-Helm, Murphy said “the communication process” between the rep and the client “really surprised me.”

Murphy plans to attend Sinclair to study business administration and human resource management.

She believes her experiences with the marketing program at Greenville CTC will benefit her future plans, due to learning “time management and getting an overall feel for the attitudes of businesses.”

After job shadowing the Advocate’s representatives, the students used graphic design programs to create preliminary advertisements, which were reviewed by the business they were working with. Changes were made and the ads were approved for print.

“We look forward to working with the students and local businesses each year on the Design an Ad program,” said Christine Randall, advertising manager for AIM Media Midwest, owner of the Daily Advocate and The Early Bird Newspaper. “It’s a great learning experience for both the students and the sales reps here at the Daily Advocate and Early Bird. The students get to execute the beginning to end process of designing and publishing an ad with area businesses.” Randall said the sales reps are very involved from start to finish, preparing the students for each appointment and follow-through with the student’s design and approval process.

“The entire project takes three to four weeks to complete,” Randall said. “It’s a lot of time invested for both Mrs. Homan’s class and our sales reps, but everyone seems to enjoy it and wants to do it all over again when the next school year rolls around. “

Randall also credits support from area businesses.

“We can’t thank them enough for giving these students the opportunity to meet with them and learn from the entire process,” Randall said.

Greenville CTC marketing students, left to right, Makayla Murphy, Rachel Unger and Mikayla Miller hold advertisements they designed for area businesses for the Daily Advocate’s Design An Ad project.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_GDA-Ad-girls.jpgGreenville CTC marketing students, left to right, Makayla Murphy, Rachel Unger and Mikayla Miller hold advertisements they designed for area businesses for the Daily Advocate’s Design An Ad project.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_GDA-Ad-reps-with-kids.jpg

By Susan Hartley

DarkeCountyMedia.com

Reach Managing Editor Susan Hartley at 937-548-3330 or email [email protected]. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.

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