AMA Flips!

Did AMA "Flip your Perception" over Honda New Model?

Sporty. Fast. Modern.

The American Marketing Association at Cal State Long Beach welcomed Honda's 2008 Accord EX-L V-6 Coupe model to campus on Monday, steering closer to the nationwide conclusion of Honda's marketing competition for universities, called Accord Coupe Marketing Challenge: New Car, New Generation.

Honda's new speedster was created with Generation Y in mind, explained one AMA participant. And defining the generation was only one major part of the mission in this marketing campaign.

Generation Y is an under-30s group that likes to spend, and it's a generation heavily influencing the following generations coming up, said the AMA marketing student.

And though college students (one of the more obvious sub-groups) seem to be almost always broke, the Accord Coupe will help with its moderate price (starting at about $21,000) and generous fuel-efficiency.

The 50-plus group of AMA hosted an array of activities, luring hundreds of CSULB students onto the USU North Lawn. The AMA ran an acceleration lounge, hosted a bungee jumper and invited professional salsa dancers and breakdancers to their 4-hour event. The goal being to heighten students' awareness of the coupe's special features, like the ones mentioned above and like its 268-hp engine and aggresive center of handling.

They underwent such an extensive preparation they ended up giving themselves a professional title, "The Agency." They included research, financing and publicity into the forming of their campaign, all while on a $2,500 budget. Presenting their campaign to the rest of the school was one thing; they will now develop a post-event analysis of their unique interactive campaign.

Results of the competition will be announced by Honda on Dec. 17.

Vroom! Vroom!

(Above: An AMA member dresses up for the fun occasion; Center: CSULB students fill in the blanks—why they find the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe so appealing; Below: The V-6 engine nicely lays out under the sun. Photo at very top: Jay Moon, an AMA rep, shows off glittery ads created for this special event. All photos by Barbara Navarro)

To read more on Honda's 2008 Accord Coupe:
NY Times Likes the Coupe
Honda's homepage:
2008 Honda Accord Coupe

Monday, Monday

The American Marketing Association at CSULB is showcasing its pivotal performance as Honda's exclusive campaign-maker for the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. "Flip Your Perception of Speed" is the name of the campaign that marketing students of the AMA developed for Long Beach's Generation Y. The group's campaign name plays off Honda's current campaign "Reverse Your Thinking." And while becoming the pros at developing the campaign, which included loads of research, teamwork, and creativity, the AMA students gave themselves the working name The Agency. They are in competition with other universities across the nation to win a prize from the Honda company. In order to fulfill all sides of the marketing aparatus, however, AMA needs your help. They want to know how you absorb their presentation and how much more aware of the new Accord Coupe you become from the exposure of their "Flip" campaign. Below are the details of the event.

What: AMA (The Agency), present the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe
When: Mon., Nov. 19, 11a.m.3p.m.
Where: North Lawn, just outside of USU Games.
Why: Along with games and vents, there will be free food and prizes given away during the event.

Another Event on Monday...

Occuring just slightly later than AMA's is SAM's (or Society for Advancement of Management) continuation of their Speaker Series. Shaun Tan, founder and director of the Entrepreneur Mentor Society, is Monday's speaker. According to the EMS Web site, Tan, a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA in business and economics, has suceeded in entrepreneurship many times (and millions) over. Currently, Tan is head of an aerospace manufacturing company, Solara Engineering, and the managing partner of Avid Capital, a buyout firm. Here's SAM's flyer with the details of Tan's visit.