Eight student teams made presentations to City Club of Corvallis members Dec. 1, outlining strategies and tactics for the club to increase its membership by 30 – or roughly double it – over the next seven months.
The students are in Prof. Jason Stornelli’s Marketing 493 class, Advertising Management, and made their pitches in the Robert Family Events Room in Austin Hall.
Stornelli said the City Club was chosen as the focal point of the students’ work because the club had approached the College of Business’ Close to the Customer Project for marketing assistance.
Among the recommendations was building membership by tapping into Oregon State’s Greek community “due to their tendency to be more involved in the community” and because fraternity and sorority members are “required to be involved in some sort of community service each month.”
The same group of students – Dayne Lee, Gillian Benoit, Mike Hanson and Gabby Kelly – also suggested targeting Corvallis’ over-65 population, which the team said exceeds 5,000, by working on ways to alleviate any transportation issues they have that might prevent them from getting to the club’s monthly noontime meetings at the Boys & Girls Club.
Other suggestions included changing the meeting location and time to make it easier on potential members to attend, providing child care for parents who wished to be members, and ramping up the club’s presence online and on social media.
“They were great,” board member Nick Houtman said of the students’ presentations. “Lots of useful ideas based on an understanding of what this organization can do. We’re having a board meeting this afternoon, and their ideas will definitely help fuel discussion.
“Among our thoughts will be doing some ongoing work with the Marketing Club,” Houtman continued. “The leader of that group seemed interested in continuing to work with us and develop our presence in the community.”
