Contact: Phil Hearn
Brian Engelland
A group of Mississippi State marketing students is working on a plan to polish up the FBI's image among university and college students as part of a national campus recruiting effort by the U.S. law enforcement agency.
Twenty-one seniors enrolled in Brian Engelland's capstone marketing management class are gaining practical experience this fall while designing and implementing a plan designed to influence FBI recruitment strategies.
The MSU students will manage a $2,500 advertising and promotion budget provided by the federal agency. They will be among 30 student "marketing consulting agencies" on college campuses around the country working on separate plans for their respective schools through the FBI's contact organization, EdVenture Partners.
"During the semester, EdVenture Partners will assess the performance of each university's team," said Engelland, head of MSU's department of marketing, quantitative analysis and business law.
Other participating schools include the universities of Arkansas and Texas, and Georgia State and Miami universities, he noted.
"You will manage a $2,500 budget, conduct market research, design a marketing campaign, write a comprehensive marketing plan, pitch your project to the client in a formal presentation, implement the marketing and promotional plan developed, conduct post-event research, and develop a post-campaign report detailing the implementation and results of your campaign," Engelland advises in his course syllabus.
Emily T. Keith, recruiting and advancement coordinator for the College of Business and Industry of which Engelland's department is a part, said students will benefit from the hands-on experience of working on a real-life marketing project, while helping the FBI do a better job of recruiting agents and support employees.
"At the successful conclusion of the project, the class will receive a $500 consulting fee that can be used as the class chooses," she said.
EdVenture Partners is a leading marketing education consulting company based in Berkeley, Calif. The firm develops innovative industry-education partnerships by blending academic theory with practical, hands-on application for students and educators. Clients include the FBI, General Motors and Citibank.
According to EdVenture promotional literature, "Reaching the college market can be difficult, as today's student has developed a keen aptitude for processing good and bad advertising and communication strategies. The FBI faced the same challenge many of our clients are forced to tackle: Where can we find the next generation of employees when traditional outlets don't seem to bring in qualified candidates from the 18-36 age group?" the company literature adds.
Engelland, an associate professor, said his three-hour undergraduate class "investigates marketing from a managerial perspective" and is designed primarily for graduating senior marketing majors or minors in their final semester of course work.
"This project should provide an effective learning opportunity to integrate the objectives of the course," he added. "Furthermore, it will provide a significant addition to students' resumes."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, telephone Dr. Engelland at (662) 325-8649.