{"id":76781,"date":"2026-01-13T09:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=76781"},"modified":"2026-01-13T09:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:21:16","slug":"marketing-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/marketing-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing in action"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s rapidly evolving job market, true career readiness comes from experience. A marketing class at NAU\u00a0provides students with the opportunity to collaborate directly with entrepreneurs and organizations in need of innovative marketing strategies, equipping them with the skills necessary for success after graduation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

McKenzie Cassens<\/span><\/b>, assistant professor of practice at the W. A. Franke College of Business, believes in bridging the gap between theory and practice by giving students in her\u00a0<\/span>marketing and communication strategies<\/span><\/a>\u00a0class the opportunity to work with local businesses\u00a0where they can\u00a0apply the concepts they have learned in meaningful ways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe work\u00a0on\u00a0four projects throughout the semester,\u201d Cassens said. \u201cStudents are\u00a0divided into groups and\u00a0assigned\u00a0a client. During the first project, students work on a pitch based on their\u00a0clients\u2019\u00a0needs using integrated marketing communications.\u00a0They meet their clients during that second pitch\u00a0and after that, they\u00a0come up with\u00a0a budget and act as investors to study the feasibility of the project.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The final\u00a0pitch\u00a0is the culmination of everything they have learned and how they have adjusted their plan through the semester.\u00a0This is where their ideas and work\u00a0come to life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting\u00a0technical<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cornelia Steen<\/span><\/b>\u00a0is a senior majoring in business administration and marketing. She\u00a0represented\u00a0Beta Bouldering Gym, a local rock-climbing gym in Flagstaff. Her group focused on building a loyalty and membership retention program, which they hoped\u00a0would help the\u00a0gym reach its\u00a0retention goals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we actually inspired them to be a little bit more\u00a0technological,\u201d Steen said. “We came up with the idea of using an app to inspire their current members to come back and do more. They have a lot of members, but\u00a0they were not coming back. We wanted to provide more awareness and inspire them that way.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Steen, coordinating meetings with busy schedules was one of the many learnings she took from the class; however, she said public speaking was\u00a0probably the\u00a0most\u00a0important one. \u201cIt was amazing because it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0just one project, but four of them. My first time\u00a0presenting,\u00a0I was\u00a0very nervous,\u00a0but by the fourth pitch,\u00a0I knew I got it,\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Telling a story<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her classmate, senior\u00a0<\/span>Hailey Preus<\/span><\/b>, agreed\u00a0with Steen and said that learning how to tell a story during a presentation\u00a0will be\u00a0key to\u00a0career\u00a0success.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe class was one of the most real-life projects I have experienced in college,\u201d said Preus. \u201cThe kind of collaboration was a lot more in-depth. Being prepared to present,\u00a0not just with a script, but in a conversational style, is a skill that you can take with you when you start working outside of the school arena. You are not repeating a script or reading off a board but capturing your audience. It is something that will take me\u00a0pretty far\u00a0wherever I choose to take my marketing degree.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Preus\u00a0and her team worked with a local luxury tour company.\u00a0One of their project\u2019s ideas\u00a0included partnering with Airbnb to list\u00a0their\u00a0tours on their website.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the most important aspects that I have seen while teaching the class is that when students have the chance to practice in a safe environment, they\u00a0can\u00a0apply the things they’re learning in other classes,\u201d Cassens said. \u201cForget all\u00a0the definitions, the theory, the research, just letting them get to play with it has been\u00a0really helpful.\u00a0Making sure that they\u00a0retain\u00a0the content that\u00a0they’re\u00a0learning\u00a0and also\u00a0think bigger and more critically about\u00a0what’s\u00a0going on.\u00a0Making\u00a0sure that they\u00a0have\u00a0the opportunity to\u00a0practice and for it to feel high stakes without it being high stakes is important.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crafting an image<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of her students have taken this practice\u00a0opportunity to another level\u00a0by\u00a0continuing their project outside of class.\u00a0Such is the case of\u00a0<\/span>Alycia Stewart<\/span><\/b>, an advertising senior who plans to continue working with Michael Greenwalt, a local author who launched his book in December with the help of Alycia and her team.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMike was working as a financial advisor and wanted to pursue more of a life coaching space, connecting with people on a larger scale,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cThe challenge for the group was how to promote his book when he had no real establishment. It was fun because,\u00a0in comparison to the other groups, we had to\u00a0start from scratch\u00a0by\u00a0establishing\u00a0his brand. The project for the class culminated with the launching of his book.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stewart plans to continue working with Greenwalt\u00a0by supporting his advertising efforts, hoping to get more work experience under her belt before graduation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like this was the first time the work I was doing in a class had a real purpose and impact outside of just a classroom assignment,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt was\u00a0a great way\u00a0to solidify what I wanted to do,\u00a0kind of getting\u00a0a taste of what I would be doing after I graduate. The skills I have learned and the work I am doing can transfer into different areas and I can\u00a0use\u00a0this experience on my resume when I graduate.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Painting the future<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This kind of work experience is exactly what\u00a0<\/span>Amaya Lee<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0a former student of Cassens who is majoring in\u00a0marketing, was looking for when she\u00a0contacted\u00a0the faculty member\u00a0in hopes\u00a0of being\u00a0connected with a local business for an internship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0met with\u00a0McKenzie to get some guidance and see what I could do to get more marketing experience because I am so passionate about it,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI had taken two classes with her where I gained confidence in my abilities and wanted to gain experience in brand strategy. She put me in contact with Christine Snyder Studios, a local artist\u00a0in Flagstaff.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After conducting a marketing assessment, Lee started working on ways to increase attendance at\u00a0Snyder\u2019s\u00a0workshops by implementing the theory she had learned in class,\u00a0reviewing\u00a0the studio\u2019s social media\u00a0activity\u00a0and designing a website.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to work with Christine has instilled the confidence in myself that I feel I have been preparing\u00a0for\u00a0in\u00a0college,\u201d Lee said. \u201cBeing able to use the tools I have learned has built up so much confidence in my professional and personal life.\u00a0Having practical experience by doing the work and building networks and connections, just having the ability to reach out to people and get my name out there. I would not have\u00a0accomplished\u00a0this before graduation without this opportunity.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee said the project has reinvigorated her passion for her chosen career and is thankful for the guidance Cassens has provided.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope\u00a0that the class pushes students into a professional sphere, stepping outside of just being a student and more into a consultant role,\u201d Cassens said. \u201cIn marketing and communications, there is no right answer; it is not black and white, so they need to be able to own their work and piece together everything while being pushed in different directions. A student once told me projects changed too much, and they do. This gives them something practical where they can see their ideas in action.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/a>Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In today\u2019s rapidly evolving job market, true career readiness comes from experience. A marketing class at NAU\u00a0provides students with the opportunity to collaborate directly with entrepreneurs and organizations in need of innovative marketing strategies, equipping them with the skills necessary for success after graduation.\u00a0 McKenzie Cassens, assistant professor of practice at the W. A. Franke…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":76782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1829],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","category-student-edition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}