Fighting Cancer in the Classroom

LSU partners with MBPCC

  (Baton Rouge, La.) As part of a marketing communications class at Louisiana State University, students in the E.J. Ourso College of Business recently partnered with Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center to develop mock campaigns for a class project. Eli Jones, Ph.D., dean of the E.J Ourso College of Business, looked at the project as a great experience for the students. “We want our business students to not only expand their knowledge in the classroom, but also build leadership skills at LSU and apply those skills to different areas of work within their communities,” Jones said. Nine groups of students produced comprehensive marketing campaigns that included 30-second commercials, print advertisements and brochures about the various cancer services Mary Bird Perkins has to offer. After receiving direction from professionals at Mary Bird Perkins, students used skills they developed during the semester to create effective and memorable campaigns. “Throughout this project, the students realized how non-profits truly help the community and they became passionate about telling their story,” said associate professor Judith Folse, Ph.D., who teaches the class every semester. After seeing the students’ work, members of the communications department at Mary Bird Perkins identified Group Five as having the most creative and strategically constructed campaign. Group members included Stephanie Riemer, Jayme Broussard, Leslie-Anne Francinguines and Celeste D’Arcangelo. A link to the group’s engaging commercial about the many different communities Mary Bird Perkins serves is below. The commercial will be featured on Mary Bird Perkins’ Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. “We are very excited to share the results of this project with the community,” said Amy Benton, vice president of communications and governmental affairs at Mary Bird Perkins. “Seeing the creative ways the students chose to communicate Mary Bird’s fight against cancer in southeast Louisiana was fun and inspirational.” See Group Five’s commercial here: http://www.youtube.com/marybirdperkins Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been fighting cancer for over 40 years with locations in Baton Rouge, Covington, Gonzales, Hammond and Houma. It has comprehensive cancer programs with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge and St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington. These programs are accredited by the American College of Surgeons — the gold standard for community-based cancer care. For more information visit www.marybird.org