PRSSA Students Tackle National Competition
March 6, 2014
Last October, five public relations students participated in the Public Relations Student Society of America’s (PRSSA) annual Bateman Case Study Competition, where students around the country compete in teams to create a campaign for an assigned client.
This year’s team consisted of Dodge College students (Danielle Luchetta’14, Isabel Lluch’14, Kiersten Krog’14, Jenny Grich’14, and Vaughn Ryan’14) who took on the challenge of working to promote
Popmoney
, a send, request, and receive money mobile app. Every team participating in Bateman promotes the same client, and one winner will be chosen after the finalists are brought together in New York City in April.
“Popmoney is a great way for college students to pay their roommates for rent, split utility bills, and pay their friends back instantly,” said Krog. “You can directly send money from your bank account to someone else’s account and it takes away the hassle of cash and checks.”
Sophomore Vaughn Ryan, junior Jenny Grich, and senior Isabel Lluch riding the famous orange helium balloon.
From October to January, Chapman’s Bateman team researched their client, its competitors, and designed a public relations campaign to cater to Popmoney’s target audience, people between 19 and 24 years of age. The next step of the competition was the implementation stage. Throughout the month of February, the team put their plan into action, reaching out to the Chapman University and Orange County communities.
A part of their campaign was the Panthers Pay Your Bills Facebook contest. These students created a Facebook page where students could message their funny roommate horror stories to be posted on the page anonymously. Each person who submitted and signed up for the Popmoney app was entered to win $50 towards his or her next bill. The contest went on for three weeks.
Chapman University’s Bateman team helped people “pop their problems away” on February 18 in the Attallah Piazza. Students who signed up for the Popmoney app were able to pop a balloon filled with prizes including Starbucks gift cards, Foodie Call coupons and t-shirts. Over 100 students came out for the event and learned about the benefits of Popmoney.
The team also partnered with the Great Park in Irvine to host an event at Irvine’s weekly farmer’s market. A replica of the famous orange helium balloon hung at the farmer’s market with the Bateman Popmoney sign. The students partnered with the food trucks at the farmers market to give coupons to people who sign up for the Popmoney app. This event reached over 1,500 people and made them aware of the benefits of Popmoney.
Senior Danielle Luchetta holding one of the balloons given to people attending the farmers market.
Beginning in March the team will be evaluating the success of their campaign, compiling a book with their work. The students will receive class credit for being a member of the Bateman team, but are learning more than they ever would in a classroom.
“In the public relations campaigns class, students just research and come up with a plan for a client. The Bateman team took it to the next level and actually executed their ideas to evaluate their success,” says Lluch. “I have learned more from implementing the plan than I ever would just sitting in a classroom.”
