SARASOTA – As the cost of living in Florida continues to skyrocket, catapulting the state to the title of least affordable place to live in the nation, some marketing students at the USF Muma College of Business have found a way to promote a little-known program that helps people keep their lights on.
Students in Associate Professor Kelly Cowart’s Promotional Management Marketing course — a featured class among graduate-level marketing and MBA students in the Weekend Professional MBA program on USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus — were recently tasked to come up with a marketing plan to promote TECO’s Share program.
“This was a great opportunity for 360-degree learning. Students took a deep-dive into developing marketing research through well-written surveys and used the results to recommend real-world marketing solutions,” said Cowart, an associate professor in the School of Marketing and Innovation. “It was a good learning experience for them.”
The class project gives students hands-on experience creating a multi-pronged marketing plan and then outlining how to implement it. The marketing plan could include elements for social media, a commercial, as well as in-person fundraising events to raise awareness. The goal was to encourage more people to participate and donate to the worthy cause, Cowart said.
Each year, the class takes on an experiential project and this year, the class was able to partner with TECO, she said.
TECO’s Share program allows utility customers, as well as employees and business partners, to contribute either a one-time or a set monthly amount as a charitable deduction for the program. The funds are matched dollar-for-dollar and are distributed to customers who need help paying their electric or natural gas bills.
In 2020 and 2021, the program, administered by the Salvation Army and the Catholic Charities Diocese of St. Petersburg, helped nearly 5,700 customers.
“It was a pleasure to take part in this process and to see these students completely immerse themselves in the program,” said Ginain Grayes, manager of Channel Management for Tampa Electric. “They provided some innovative and creative ideas to raise awareness and donor participation for Share. TECO truly values the opportunity to collaborate and work alongside USF’s future leaders to uplift our community through the Share program."
Alyssa England, a student both in the MS in Marketing program and MBA program, said the class was one of her favorites she has taken throughout her time at USF.
England, who earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from USF in 2021, said the project was a great opportunity to explore the practical applications from both graduate degrees. She said her team developed an integrated marketing communications plan that centered around the tagline “A little change for good.”
England said their plan included a mix of traditional marketing ideas with some innovative ones. Some suggested marketing tools included developing partnerships with USF and the Tampa Bay Lightning to cross promote the program, creating blog posts for a new public relations campaign, and filming a one-minute public-service-type commercial.
“My biggest takeaway from the project was how important the analytics piece is in assessing campaign success,” England said. “After presenting to TECO, the class did some data analysis using Qualtrics and SPSS Statistics. It allowed me to become confident pulling, assessing, and discussing data. The MS in Marketing program is advertised as the crossroads between creativity and business, and it truly is. It allows students to be creative, but we must back up those creative decisions with how they achieve business goals.”
Marianne George, another student in the class, echoed England’s enthusiasm for the class project.
“This kind of project was new to me, but I really loved how a local company could partner with college students to address real needs in our community,” she said. “This project had a lot of moving parts because Share is sort of like a nonprofit wrapped inside a big company, and we were not trying to sell a product but rather create a movement to make a difference by helping others.”
George said her team’s integrated marketing plan included creating a logo for the program, which included changing the program’s name into an acronym for Share Hope And Restore Energy. The team also recommended using QR codes on e-statements, blog posts, and social media channels to build awareness to customers.