Many small business owner have great ideas, but they sometimes fail because they don’t know how to bull-horn those ideas to the public. Ditto for local governments, which frequently struggle to drive tourism to their city and promote local events.
For the last five years, Bob Kolt, owner of
Kolt Communications in Lansing and an adjunct PR professor at
Michigan State University (MSU), has used his students as a mouthpiece for the area’s small business and local government innovators, helping them turn up the volume on their million-dollar ideas.
Each semester, Kolt has his upper-level PR undergraduates
—the ones often headed out to first jobs in mega-markets like Chicago
—to develop a PR campaign for a local Lansing-area community or small business, free of charge.
“They’re not huge, million-dollar clients, but they need something to promote themselves,” Kolt says. “They really can’t do it themselves. It would be like a doctor saying to patient, ‘It’s a minor surgery, you can do it yourself.’ You still need some professional guidance and direction."
"Most people who are good in business don’t have a communications background," he says.
Kolt’s students develop press releases, pull together media lists, host events, and help businesses reach their target markets through advertising. As a result, the communities, businesses and students increase their visibility—which sometimes extends beyond Michigan’s mitten.
In 2007, Kolt’s PR class developed the
GM Chevrolet Kids Safe Buckle Up program; it finished fourth in a national
Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) campaign, beating 72 other schools.
“I think it makes the program a nationally recognized program,” Kolt says.
Small Town TalentsTwo MSU students, Danielle Ray and Sarah Moule, helped develop campaigns for two smaller Lansing-area cities: Charlotte and Eaton Rapids.
Though
Charlotte has its own marketing team—a coveted asset for a small community—it needed help driving local tourists to the area.
“We just went to the city ourselves and got our own perspective about what needed to be enhanced in the community, and what we should talk to other communities about to get them to visit Charlotte,” Ray says. “Charlotte used some of our press releases and our ideas. It’s generating a buzz around the city.”
Ann Garvey, executive director of the
Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, says the students, who arrive at MSU from all over the state, bring a unique perspective to the city.
“They thought this was going to be some little hick town, but they were really impressed with what we had to offer,” Garvey says. They also told Garvey that the city should take advantage of the younger generation by putting computers and w-fi in area coffee shops.
The students did the standard press releases, media calls and suggested event planning, but they also went a step further.
“They thought, ‘Who is the most credible person we could use to talk about jobs and industry?’” Kolt recalls. “Then they went to John Sztykiel, president and CEO of
Spartan Motors, and said, ‘Look, would you consider doing a testimonial on the air so we can tape it and put it on TV?’"
Even though Sztykiel is busy—in addition to his high-powered job, he just got back from adopting a daughter in Ethiopia—he agreed. He even ad-libbed the spot, which will run on local stations for the next couple of months.
“It’s sort of a unique thing that he’s promoting development in the community,” Kolt says. “Corporate executives don’t really have to do that type of thing.”
The students put together a media list, planned events and sent press releases to different news outlets. These tactics have garnered excitement for the touring Vietnam War memorial wall that’s coming to Eaton Rapids, and the opening of the aquatic center.
Moule, whose family lives in
Eaton Rapids, didn’t have a marketing team at her fingertips, yet they developed a slogan for Eaton Rapids: “Small Town Charm Nearby.”
“We wanted to emphasize that it’s still a small town, but it has all of the amenities of a big city,” she says.
Moule’s team developed a Web strategy for Eaton Rapids, suggesting that the city update the site by adding a community list and community calendar. They also discussed which Eaton Rapids amenities to highlight, and where they should advertise.
“For example, there are a lot of people know about the
English Inn, but they don’t relate it to Eaton Rapids,” says Moule. “And if they could tie it to Eaton Rapids, it would be a benefit to the community,” she says, emphasizing the proximity to Lansing might encourage people to stop by for dinner or a weekend getaway.
Networking East Lansing The father and son team at
The Refinery in East Lansing, Dean and Ryan Miller, knew they were taking a risk when they opened their independent, high-end clothing store within a block of
Urban Outfitters—a national chain carrying some of the same clothing brands, and with access to a corporate marketing budget.
One of the Refinery’s employees, a PR student at MSU, suggested the Millers take advantage of Kolt’s program.
Kolt’s students suggested that The Refinery aggressively pursue its market—largely high school and college students who spend a lot of their time on social-networking Web sites like
Facebook—by putting together a
Facebook page of their own.
“We’ve seen some immediate results, especially with the Facebook advertising,” Dean Miller says. “It’s very effective and allows us to target very directly the people we want to make aware of what’s going on.”
Now the Refinery puts sales ads, store information and product information on its Facebook page.
“What’s nice about this campaign is that it was successful in bringing quite a few first-time buyers into the store,” says Miller.
You Give What You GetKolt’s students work all semester to improve publicity for local governments and business owners, but it’s not pure altruism. The experience gives them first-hand experience—and an edge in the job market. Moule was recently offered a job in Birmingham, an offer she believes her portfolio helped her get.
“I’ve lived here my entire life, in the same house with my family. I came to MSU. I wanted to venture out while I’m young,” she says. “I took the first good opportunity that was offered to me.”
Ray, who has wanted to live in Chicago for years, is packing up her car and heading out to her Windy City advertising job.
“Many companies want experience, and it’s hard to find internships that give you that experience. So being able to pull experience from school definitely helps,” she says.
Ivy Hughes is a Lansing Eastsider and managing editor of Capital Gains.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
PR students Mary Kate Raminski, Kristen Hough, Sarah Moule and Alison McHugh
Danielle Ray in Charlotte
The students' report on Eaton Rapids
Bob Kolt
The Refinery in East Lansing
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie