POPPY GAROFALO
Staff Writer
If a picture speaks a thousand words then what can be said of a collage of pictures consuming an entire wall. Images of countless Pepperdine students interacting, learning and sharing in a clearly stimulating academic environment overlap with one another. Each photograph represents an individual student in a specific moment in time. But, taken together, the pictures speak more strongly to the force that unites them, a professor deeply invested in her students.
For the past 13 years, Dr. Ginger Rosenkrans, assistant professor of Advertising, has played an integral role in shaping the future of her students. Recent Pepperdine graduate Jenny Yang credits her current position as a graphic designer at Newman Grace as being “a direct result of Ginger herself.”
Yang recalled the chain of events following a friendly conversation between teacher and student regarding the post-college job search. Rosenkrans followed up by recommending Yang to executives at Newman Grace who, in turn, hired her.
Another Pepperdine graduate, Heather Brehmer, is also employed by Newman Grace as an account manager. Again in this hiring, Rosenkrans proved a guiding force. Brehmer’s relationship with her professor began the first semester of her freshman year during the required Speech 180 course.
Brehmer was struggling to decide on a major and contemplated studying sports medicine. “She was actually one of my mentors,” Brehmer said of Rosenkrans. “One afternoon she sat me down and went through all of the communication majors and suggested advertising.”
Ultimately, Brehmer’s placement at Newman Grace fused her original love of sports medicine to her newfound passion in advertising. Brehmer described her thoughts when two representatives from the firm spoke to an advertising class taught by Rosenkrans, “I saw it as a good avenue that would allow me to apply advertising to health and fitness.”
Besides working at Newman Grace, Yang and Brehmer have another experience in common. While at Pepperdine, both girls created actual advertising campaigns for outside businesses, the main project of Rosenkrans’s Advertising 475 course.
The creative ad campaign for the advertising copywriting and layout class goes through several drafts that are reviewed by the clients and then revised by the students. The final product includes print ads for a newspaper and magazine, a radio spot, a television storyboard, a direct mail piece, a point-of-purchase ad, a billboard ad, a bus shelter ad, a bench ad, Internet advertising and two advertising pieces of choice.
Past clients include Habitat for Humanity, Community Conscience and Much Love Animal Rescue, as well as businesses such as Manhattan Beach Cruisers and Beverly Hills Fitness Group. “It is so rewarding to pour in work from both the professor and students and then to see the end result,” Rosenkrans said. “Every single client has actually used the work produced for them.”
At the end of the semester, each student group pitches its campaign to the client and a winner is chosen. Rosenkrans routinely invites her contacts in the advertising community to attend this ceremony. Last fall, students created campaigns for the Shae Foundation, a media group concerned with global issues, and Velocity, a sports performance company.
“We had 20 executives show up last semester to recruit for jobs and internships,” Rosenkrans said. “Word is getting out that we have a really good advertising program. I’ve had students attend interviews and be hired on the spot when they show their work from our advertising classes.”
Tristan Hack was a member of the winning team for Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County. He brought his campaign book to an interview with Deutsch Advertising and was subsequently hired as an intern. “Their executives saw it as a really credible piece of my portfolio,” Hack said. “I think it turned out to be the main hiring point.”
Rosenkrans also applies hands-on learning in two of her other classes. In Mass Communication 371: Communication Graphics, students learn the basic concepts of print and web design. However, they also create print ads and a full website, directly applying design concepts and website tools. In Advertising 275: Fundamentals of Advertising, each student selects a product or service to which they apply all the different areas of advertising.
Rosenkrans relates how important an understanding of theory is for her students, but describes the actual application of these theories as the “truly great experience.” Brehmer agrees, describing the projects as “very real to life”, as well as being “great preparation for working in advertising.”
Fulfilling another aspect of her profession, Rosenkrans is constantly involved in research. Her main areas of interest are Internet advertising effectiveness, online advertising metrics and Web analytics, online ad design and interactivity, and newspapers’ use of online advertising.
Currently, the professor is working on three separate projects which is, surprisingly, fairly routine for her. “I usually have three studies going on at the same time, but I keep them all in different stages,” Rosenkrans said. “I complete one during spring break, one during Christmas break and one over the summer.”
“Web Design Concept” is a textbook chapter written by Rosenkrans that was just accepted for publication.
Another research project nearing its end stage is “Online Auctions and bidders’ purchase preferences and Branding.” This study deals with a sub-category of metrics, measuring user preferences.
Rosenkrans describes the Internet as one of the most measurable mediums. “It is a sizzling area that moves quickly,” Rosenkrans said. “I really have to keep abreast. Daily, I make sure I do some research or read something.”
“Online Rich Media” is in its middle stage of study. Rosenkrans is working with the Ventura County Star, which has volunteered its website as a host for her research. Rosenkrans will design an interactive ad that will be placed on the site. She will then compare its results with those of other ads.
While Rosenkrans does declare a love for her area of research, claiming she will never tire of it, the professor still acknowledges the influence of an outside force.
“I see God’s hand in it and I thank the Lord for equipping me,” Rosenkrans said. “Before I even start a research project, I take time to pray on it.”
Ginger Rosenkrans’s passion and love shines through every snapshot proudly displayed on her office wall.
Expressing her feelings toward Rosenkrans, Yang puts it best; “She would die for her students. She really cares that much.”
02-15-2007