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Athletics as Roberts Wesleyan University's Front Porch: Ideas “Beyond the Game” from Marketing Students
Last week was finals week, during which Marketing students presented their strategies for using athletics as a 'front porch' - a welcoming entry point - for the university. Drawing inspiration from another institution's successful experience a decade ago, the students decided to harness the momentum of our rising Athletics program to enhance Roberts' visibility and appeal.
The project, led by Associate Professor of Marketing, William Todd and student lead Jenna Zoyack, revealed that student-athlete stories serve as powerful tools for showcasing Roberts' unique value proposition. The following students worked on this project – Amanda Fordham, Donovin Jones, Gunner MacMillan, Nathan Magaw, Derrick Martin, Ryan Prine, Abigail Sindoni, Nicholas Tammaro, Elliot Weisbrod, Sydney Yanak and Jenna Zoyak.
The team looked at the broader implications of this work using a “Beyond the Game" approach. This means looking at life lessons that can be learned from participating in a sport, going beyond just the score or winning and focusing on developing character, teamwork, resilience, and other transferable skills that can be applied.
“The project was completed by a strong group of senior marketing students. They accomplished the goal of developing the framework of the “Front Porch” marketing plan for Roberts Wesleyan University and the Redhawks which will serve as the basis of this marketing plan. Under the leadership of Professor Todd and student project lead Jenna Zoyack, the class split into several teams to fully develop the strategies to be used. The research they did, both internally and externally was well done. Their final presentation summed up the project perfectly and the Q&A led to many discussions about “next steps.” It is always a pleasure to work with our students and this project was no exception.”
- Executive Director of Athletic Director, Bob Segave
Let’s hear more from the students who worked on this project.
What inspired the team to explore athletics as the “front porch” of Roberts Wesleyan University?
Brynn King had recently gone to the Olympics, and even though she didn’t win a medal like her coach, Jenn Suhr, had done in the past, it resulted in tremendous media coverage for Roberts. With the example from Butler University having gone through similar circumstances about a decade ago, we decided to seize this moment and figure out how to promote Roberts via our rising athletics program.
After completing this project, how has your view of collegiate athletics' role changed?
Athletes, particularly the best of the best, have many different options to choose for college. Hearing their stories and why they chose our institution can convey to other prospective students what makes us special and unique.
What recommendations would you make to university leadership about leveraging athletics as the "front porch"?
Never underestimate the power of stories and testimonies! When prospective student-athletes hear them, they get a snapshot of that student’s life and think to themselves “That could be me someday.”
What were the biggest challenges with the project?
The limited time that we had was a big challenge and we realized that it takes months to plan big events. Given we met twice a week for 90 minutes in class, engaging more with admissions would have made a difference. That said, we were able to get a turn-out for the event to hear from athletes which also included a prospective student.
What is the opportunity for the next steps?
Ideas include creating student testimonial content for Instagram and YouTube. We also know where we need to collaborate with Admissions and Athletics and plan months ahead so this event can draw more students.
There is a great opportunity to continue to bring an event such as our “Beyond the Game” event we hosted this semester back to campus.
It provided us all with heartfelt and inspiring testimonies from some of our current student-athletes where you can learn more about Roberts, but also appreciate the significance of each other’s stories and overcoming setbacks, which also reflects our core values.
This project team presented insights and ideas for leveraging athletic programs as a marketing tool. Through their “Beyond the Game” approach, the team identified opportunities to enhance campus visibility and boost student recruitment while maintaining alignment with the university’s core values and mission. The project demonstrates how athletic programs can serve as a foundation to support and promote broader campus initiatives.