Lindner Business Students Compete to Create TruMoo Advertising Campaign

Students in Elaine Skeldon’s marketing class got a taste of the real world when they partnered with Curiosity to manage the advertising agency’s campaign for their TruMoo client.

“The campaign goal was to beat the Halloween promotion numbers from last year as well as deliver positive ROI (return on investment),” says Skeldon, adjunct instructor of marketing in UC's Carl H. Lindner College of Business. 

Students competed to build a 360-degree promotional ad campaign surrounding TruMoo’s new special orange “screamsickle” to attract young moms who want a nutritious milk-based treat for their children. The campaign had to generate both trial and repeat purchase, particularly during Halloween.

So students went to work, creating a campaign that used print, television, as well as digital advertising such as Facebook and Twitter. Six teams competed over the spring semester and presented their campaigns to the ad agency and TruMoo executives who served as judges.

The Ghouls team surfaced as the winner. Team members Matthew Highly, BBA ’15; James Schwyn, BBA ’14; Allyssa Price, BS ’14; Katie Dolan, BBA ’14; Jarred Campbell, BBA ’14; and Caitlyn Gillespie, BA ’14, created a campaign that was highly strategic, spoke directly to the target audience and utilized both traditional and non-traditional media, Skeldon says.  

Their campaign “A Truly Ghoul Thing” – a play on the TruMoo tagline, “A truly good thing” – was built around a 30-second TV spot, print advertising and creative in-store applications. Additionally, the campaign utilized peel-off coupons and e-coupons to drive trial. Finally, a social media component supported the campaign using Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Skeldon says both client and agency were excited about the results and plan to use some of the ideas for TruMoo's marketing campaign.