Three Cars to Debut at Florida Tech April 12 as part of Chevrolet Campus Promotions Campaign

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Students at Florida Institute of Technology will introduce the Camaro, Equinox and all-new 2011 Cruze to their campus and community at a Fun in the Sun event April 12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The campaign is designed to increase awareness and excitement for these Chevrolet vehicles as “must-haves” in the minds of Generation Y.

Nathan M. Bisk College of Business Panther Promotions students will host the event and provide interaction with the vehicles, a scavenger hunt, giveaways, barbeque and beach games. The event will be held at Panther Plaza, which is centrally located on Country Club Road.

The Fun in the Sun event is the culmination of a program Panther Promotions students have participated in this term. The project, Chevrolet Campus Promotions, is designed to give students a unique, real-world business experience creating a marketing campaign for a global company.
“I think this program has been very challenging thus far. We get to look at real-world simulations as opposed to examples in our textbooks,” said Jennifer Reid, the team’s agency coordinator and finance manager.

Each of the 20 colleges and universities competing across the country are vying for performance awards at key milestones during the term. The three milestones provide three chances for each member of the class to win prizes and cash from Chevy to promote their campaign. Each milestone releases $1,000 in funds to the students.
Prizes for the top two teams in the competition are camcorders, GPS systems and netbooks.

“Though there are three opportunities to win, these students are winning even now. They are getting a chance to show their freshly minted marketing skills, learning to work with others as a class and creating something important and real,” said Andrew Cudmore, Nathan M. Bisk College of Business faculty member and marketing principles class instructor. “This has already resulted in some impressive work and dedication,” added Cudmore.

Chevrolet is a global automotive brand, with annual sales of about 3.5 million vehicles in more than 130 countries. More information is available at www.chevrolet.com.

The team’s support organization, EdVenture Partners, is dedicated to developing innovative industry-education partnership programs. The objective of such programs is to provide “hands-on” real-world experience to students while providing marketing solutions and facilitating recruitment at colleges and universities for clients. EdVenture Partners has designed and managed programs at over 1,000 campuses in North America and internationally. More information is at www.edventurepartners.com.

For more information, contact Michael Blackiston at (443) 480-2181 or send e-mail to mblackiston2009@my.fit.edu.