Lynn students learn to create ad campaign through marketing firm

Instead of sitting around watching commercials during their summer vacation, 19 Lynn students learned how to create an advertising campaign through the Digitas Eternship program, a marketing boot camp.”Staying home is boring,” said KIPP Academy junior Ricky D’Leo, who traveled to Boston every day to take part in the program. “I enjoyed it. It felt good.”D’Leo was one of eight KIPP Academy students, who were joined by 11 Lynn Classical High School students, who took part in the Boston marketing firm’s boot camp that taught 30 students how to create an ad campaign from start to finish.D’Leo said they spent the first two days learning about every type of advertising out there, what works and what doesn’t. At the end of day two the kids were given a marketing problem and asked to solve it based on what they had just learned.D’Leo said his group had to figure out how to sell a particular item for a “quick service” restaurant between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. when the item typically didn’t sell well.”I think we did well but I feel we could have used a little more time,” he said. “But we came up with a plan that would be really successful with a little more time.”Friday, the group made their client presentations before a panel of judges comprised of Digitas executives and Nakia Navarro, the New England Director of Let’s Get Ready. Let’s Get Ready, Digitas’ partner in the Eternship program, is a non-profit organization that guides low-income high school students through the process of applying to college.D’Leo called the presentation nerve wracking, since public speaking is not his strong suit, but he also said he felt quite at home making his pitch.”It was really good and they gave really good feedback,” he said. “They also laughed at all the jokes.”D’Leo said he became involved in the program after his college counselor suggested he give it a try. He did it, he said, to broaden his skills and was surprised to learn that marketing wasn’t just about getting people to buy things.”It’s about building relationships,” he said. “You have to connect with the customer.”According to Digitas, Lynn students have been participating in Digitas since its inception 14 years ago.He said he also enjoyed simply getting up and commuting into Boston each morning. In fact, he liked it so much he got a job at a frozen yogurt shop right down the street from Digitas.”Tuesday I stopped and filled out an application, and I actually got the job,” he said.When asked why Digitas has dedicated so much time to the yearly endeavor, Vice President/Group Director of Account Management Melissa York, who is chairman of the program, said the kids are an inspiration.”Eternship is one of our favorite weeks of the year,” she said. “It’s incredibly rewarding for us to work with these students, and see how excited they get by the advertising industry.”York said she likes that they get to open students’ eyes to a world that they wouldn’t have typically thought of or known about.”And not only do they get to learn about these different career paths, but by the end of the week, they can see themselves doing it,” she added.Students each received an award of some type for their presentation. Honors included Most Innovative, Best Use of Social, Best Use of Media, Best Presentation Delivery, Best Use of Technology, and the one D’Leo said he was proud to take home, Best Creative Idea.”Our idea was great,” he said. “I’m glad that they saw behind what we were doing and whoever it was received the message.”Amber Phillips contributed to this story.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected]. Amber Phillips can be reached at [email protected].