Chris Segal
News Assistant
Photo courtesy Jason Valles
The class is very optimistic about their
chances of winning the Crest Boardroom
Challenge.
“Money, money, money” are the first few lyrics of the theme song used by billionaire Donald Trump in the NBC show “The Apprentice.” But a group of Pepperdine students in an advertising research class are hoping Trump will remember a new tagline: “What does your smile say?”
“The Apprentice 2” aired an episode Sept. 23 in which the contenders were asked to create and implement an advertising campaign for a major company.
The teams were given $50,000 to execute a new campaign for Crest toothpaste, a client of Proctor & Gamble, a $50 billion company. The teams worked to launch Crest Vanilla Mint Toothpaste, using Trump’s advice to “think big.”
According to the show’s synopsis on NBC’s Web site, Proctor & Gamble executives said the winning team did a great job, creating a fun and interactive experience while promoting the product.
But Debbie Wideroe, professor of advertising at Pepperdine, thought her students could do a better job. She made a phone call to a former colleague and friend at Proctor & Gamble. As a result, Crest has created a challenge called the Crest Boardroom Showdown to challenge “The Apprentice” teams’ ideas.
The female team on the show decided to use a celebrity to promote the toothpaste. Mike Piazza, a catcher for the New York Mets, stood on a Manhattan street corner brushing his teeth and signing Crest toothpaste boxes.
The team paid Piazza $20,000 for the appearance. According to Senior Jason Valles, who watched the episode, the team’s campaign was effective to the extent that it reached the audience around them, but it was not cost effective considering the total budget was $50,000.
The male team on “The Apprentice” crafted an idea to have a $1 million giveaway, and have an insurance agency back the contest in case someone actually won. The million dollar backing fell through, but the team still managed to win the task by giving away three $5,000 prizes in a circus-style launch party, complete with fire eaters, stilt walkers and jugglers who entertained and handed out tubes of the toothpaste.
Now, the students will have their turn.
According to the contest description, “the challenge is in 100 words to describe an innovative launch event that generates a high level of buzz, excitement and awareness of vanilla mint.” The description goes on to set some vague guidelines: “Ideas should be highly visible, product specific and fun for all participants, viewers and passer-bys.”
Wideroe’s advertising class has studied the college market and is submitting a proposal under the tagline: “What does your smile say?” which, she believes reaches everyone from cradle to grave.
“We are trying to get recognition for students working on the [proposal],” Wideroe said. “They are all senior ad students. The students aren’t looking to go to New York as a reward, they are looking to get recognition and put on this event.”
Members of the winning campaign will receive two tickets to fly to New York and see “The Apprentice” finale. There is a bigger venue for the finale this year and we are looking forward to giving away more tickets, said Jim Dowd, the public relations spokesman for “The Apprentice.”
The students working on the special advertising event are requesting a recognition letter from Trump and the chance to implement the proposed event created in lieu of the prizes, if they win the competition.
“We wanted to be more creative and reach more people,” Valles said.
The students have formulated an event within the $50,000 budget that “The Apprentice” contestants received.
“I think it is cool Debbie gave us this opportunity,” senior Michelle Witteveen said. “We are going big. It is an important opportunity for us to show that advertising is valuable.”
Members of the advertising class said they want to keep all their ideas secret at this time.
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