Innovations in Teaching

“Who Am I? Marketing Myself” Project

Matthew B. Lunde, Ithaca College, USA
Pretty much every marketing professor has taught or is teaching an introduction-level marketing class. For many
business students, including marketing majors, the marketing introduction class is the first class they take in the
business school. Many of these students are nonmarketing majors; many must take the introduction class to check a
box on their list of classes to graduate. I tasked myself to create an innovative assignment that challenged students,
made them think and get excited about marketing in a new way, made them “learn by doing” through creating
something tangible, and had the nonmajors question if marketing could be a path they could do as a career. The
innovative assignment I created is called “Who Am I? Marketing Myself.” This overview will 1) summarize the
innovative project, 2) provide project objectives/components, 3) provide an execution synopsis, and 4) discuss the
project findings, feedback, and future ideas.
Introduction to the Project
Teaching “Principles of Marketing” or at other universities, “Introduction to Marketing” can be a challenging
task even for the most seasoned professor. In the past eight years of teaching, I have taught an “introduction-level”
class 14 times, with teaching the marketing introduction class six times. According to the American Marketing
Association (AMA), marketing is the “activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large” (AMA
2019). Introduction to Marketing is a class about introducing the “exchange of value” through all the subject areas of
marketing: the “4 Ps” of marketing (price, product, promotion, and place), target marketing and segmentation, the
marketing environment, marketing management, sustainability and ethics, and consumer behavior, among others. To
excite students about marketing, stay interested in marketing, and to learn by doing—through creating a tangible
artefact, and help them understand marketing, I found that students first need to know how to market themselves
before they can understand how to market products and services. This innovative project also helps nonmajors
appreciate marketing. This project is an individual project, assigned during the first day of class. The project is
normally due about four to five weeks into the semester. There are four parts to the product: students 1) create/update
their resume, 2) create a business card, 3) create a “4-Ps” marketing tangible artefact about themselves, and 4) give a
45-60 second “elevator speech,” marketing themselves to their peers. To many students, the project seems simple;
however, after reading the project objectives, it can be challenging for many students.
Objectives/Components of the Project
1. Produce a resume that illustrates your unique “value” a student
The core objective in any marketing class is for students to gain real world experience. Since it is difficult for
students in an introduction-level class to work with a real business, for example, another way to gain real-world
experience is for students to create a resume they can use for job fairs, internships, summer jobs, and future full-time
employment. First, I challenge students to create a graphically designed resume, that is unique from their peers and
that can be a template as they continue through their college careers. I ask students to include their name, objective,
education, experience, volunteer/community service/ activities/awards, skills/honors, and references. I state they can
update an existing resume; however, they need to make sure their resume shows their uniqueness and their ‘value.’
2. Create a memorable business card
Second, they need to create a business card that is memorable, graphically designed, coordinates with their
resume, and can be used for future jobs. While this step is least challenging for many students, I explain that business
cards are still necessary at many job fairs and interviews (even with LinkedIn used heavily nowadays).
3. Illustrate through the “4 Ps” your “exchange of value” by creating a tangible artefact
Third, students create a tangible ‘artefact’ that illustrates their uniqueness as a professional through the four Ps of
marketing: product, place, price, and promotion. This component is the most challenging part of the project. I
challenge students to think innovatively about themselves, to develop a “new product” (artefact), while simultaneously
learning the 4 Ps of marketing. While students struggle with this component of the project, they start to think critically
about themselves, what they want in life, why they are in college, what makes them unique, what their motivations
are, and how do they market their abilities and skills. They create a “new product” through their tangible artefact, and

21
“market” themselves through that artefact. Students have created brochures, flyers, websites, poems, videos, games,
and even song lyrics, among others. Below are the instructions for the 4 Ps component:
• Product: What is your “product?” What are you achieving? Why are you a marketing, management, etc.
major? What makes you unique compared to others with the same GPA, same degree, same skills? Why are
you the best, most qualified?
• Place: Where do you want to live? Why do you want to work at a particular company? If you want to work
at Amazon or Google, for instance, why is that the best place for you? What makes the company or industry
your chosen one? What makes the place unique?
• Price: What price do you demand? Is it $50,000 per year? Is it $100,000? Whatever you demand, why are
you worth that price? Will you be willing to accept a lower price for a better place? Can the way you promote
yourself lead to a better price?
• Promotion: How do you market yourself, promote yourself to others in a few years on the job market? How
do you stand out among your colleagues? Is it your smile? Is it a certification you want? Is it your experience?
Is it your innovative ideas? etc.
4. Present an “elevator speech” of who you are to your peers
Finally, just as marketers present their ideas of innovative products and services to their colleagues, board
members, and the public, this project calls for students to present by introducing themselves to their peers through
presenting a 45- to 60-second elevator speech. They present to the class who they are, what makes them unique, what
their goals and motivations are, and their “4-Ps” component of the project. This small speech inspires students to open
up to their peers, to creatively speak about themselves, to be held accountable for producing quality work, and to
prepare to present later in the semester for other class projects. Finally, it helps me, as the professor, to better know
my students in the class.
Semester-long Synopsis of Project Implementation
This project takes about a month to complete, with one class period to introduce the product and another—for
class of about 50-60 students—to present their elevator speeches to their peers. After introducing the project during
the first week of the semester, students have about 4-5 weeks (depending on the semester) to innovatively create their
project. While many students want more time for the project, I make them complete it quickly so we can use
themselves as an example when I am teaching about the marketing environment, targeting and segmenting, pricing,
promotion, and place, among others, when marketing products and services. Many students stop by my office hours
for suggestions/ideas on their resumes, business cards, and 4-Ps’ artefacts. When the projects are due, they turn in the
first three documents, and then present their elevator speech during class. With the class having 1000 points, 100
points (10%) is devoted to this project: the resume, 4-Ps artefact, and elevator speech are each worth 30 points, while
the business card is worth 10 points.
Findings, Feedback, and Suggestions
After completing this project in the fifth class (as of Spring 2019), I find it to be highly successful. Students were
more engaged in understanding the topic areas of marketing, enjoyed the project immensely, and were excited to leave
the class with something tangible for the job market: a resume, business card, and an elevator speech. Many students
commented that they understand marketing much better after realizing that as students, they “market” themselves for
internships, job fairs, and future employment. Since this project was not just “another worthless project” as some
students have stated in the past about other projects, students have the drive and motivation to do well. They wanted
to provide quality work not only for their own personal satisfaction and classroom grade but also for promoting
themselves to future employers. However, I also have a few suggestions. The first semester I completed this project,
I did not have them do elevator speeches. While it takes more time during class, it is worth the time. Students get
practice making a speech, presenting in front of their peers, and are held accountable for creating a quality project.
Additionally, active integration in class is paramount in providing a quality learning environment. Second, I have
toyed with dropping the business card component of the project (since it is 2019 and most have a LinkedIn account).
However, after speaking with many professionals, business cards are still used at job fairs and during interviews.
Finally, I thought about adding a LinkedIn component to the project; however, I have found LinkedIn to be better
suited for a Digital Marketing class. Overall, “Who Am I? Marketing Myself” is a highly successful and innovative
project. I plan to use the project in future Introduction to Marketing classes.

22
Copyright of Society for Marketing Advances Proceedings is the property of Society for
Marketing Advances and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted
to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may
print, download, or email articles for individual use.