Samohi students double as marketing executives
SAMOHI With a guilty look plastered across their faces, a pack of cigarettes hauled butt down Palisades Park, chased by police officers attempting to apprehend the delinquents for blatantly disregarding City Hall’s ban on smoking in outdoor dining areas.
It was a comedic scene straight from the imaginations of a group of 11th grade AP English students at Santa Monica High School, illustrating an idea to produce a video that would educate the public about the various smoking restrictions that have gone into effect the past few years.
The 32 juniors were all participants of the high school’s first AP Challenge, a Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce sponsored event which pairs a local business with an advanced placement class to solve a specific problem.
The challenge is the third educational initiative sponsored by the chamber this year, previously hosting a job fair and a new internship program.
The program has been popular in high schools across the country, pairing a new business with a different AP subject every year.
“One reason we thought this was a great opportunity for students is because we had a PR firm looking for viral marketing (ideas) and students know better than any of us about MySpace and Facebook,” Samantha O’Neil, the director of government affairs for the chamber, said.
The firm is Santa Monica-based Southard Communications, which was recently hired by City Hall to coordinate a $150,000 educational campaign on the smoking ordinance, which restricts lighting up in most outdoor areas, including ATM lines, bus stops, the Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier.
Southard was assigned to serve as the business partner in the first AP Challenge, calling on students in Pete Barraza’s AP English class to come up with a marketing campaign around the smoking ban, including logos, slogans, commercials and events.
Those ideas were presented on Melody Hanatani PITCH: Students at Santa Monica High School present their idea for a new marketing campaign to educate residents and visitors about the city’s smoking restrictions as part of a program sponsored by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce that pairs local businesses with students.
Wednesday to a panel that included board of director members with the chamber and business owners.
Some of those ideas could very well be incorporated into the actual campaign.
“We hope when the campaign launches at the end of summer to see (the students’) creative ideas in it,” O’Neil said.
Among the proposals was a short humorous video about a pack of cigarettes that attempt to evade police in a pursuit that begins at a local cafe and ends at the foot of the pier.
The video would conclude with the cigarettes jumping into the ocean and swimming back to shore where officers await.
The elaborate proposal included a production budget, the students estimating that the video could be shot in three days for less than $2,450.
Several of the groups focused on the public relations aspect of the marketing campaign, rebranding the existing materials available about the smoking ordinance by using a new logo and slogan, and hosting annual events at the pier.
To foster positive PR for City Hall, the students suggested using a portion of the revenues collected from the smoking violations and donating it to cancer-related causes, showing the public the government agency did not pass the ban just to make money.
The students spent approximately three weeks devising the marketing campaign, beginning soon after completing AP exams.
The AP challenge allowed students to apply classroom knowledge to real world experiences, Barraza said.
“It’s allowed me to work with them on a different level,” Barraza said.“It’s not just the students listening to my ideas, but pitching ideas to me.
“It’s the epitome of collaborative work.” The students reported similar experiences.
“I learned how to be open minded about everything and that is how we approached AP English essays,” Samohi junior Saba Hamedy said.
Hamedy was among the students who was unaware of the plans to unveil a campaign about the smoking ordinance, gaining a new appreciation for marketing as a result of the project.
“It’s been an exciting experience because PR is intense,” she said. “It was cool pitching (ideas) to a group of people.”
Roxana Janka, the vice president of Southard Communications, said she plans to present the students’ ideas at an upcoming meeting with the marketing committee. The company could employ some of the smaller tactical ideas from the students, she said.
“When you work with kids, you assume they’re going to be creative and have no bounds to their imagination,” Janka said. “What was surprising was to see how their ideas actually have legs and could be implemented.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 19, 2008. Read the original PDF.