DECA Teams Create Projects in Preparation for State

Photo by Grace Goldman

One hundred thirty-eight Marketing students represented East at the DECA State competition at the Overland Park Marriott this past weekend.

In order to compete, student groups created projects in a variety of categories from community service projects to advertising campaigns.

These students have been working on their projects since the beginning of the year and some were started over the summer. Marketing teacher Mercedes Rasmussen has been supervising them and has seen the real world application of creating DECA projects.

“DECA is beneficial to students because it allows for them to see if they are interested in going into the business world,” Rasmussen said. “It allows them to have hands-on experiences and actually conduct business presentations and puts them in professional settings and how to present themselves well.”

When planning their DECA project, seniors Caroline Blubaugh and Caro Bush wanted to make their ad campaign something “meaningful and uplifting” according to Bush. After their week-long brainstorming process, the pair landed on their final idea, a campaign for Burt’s Bees Natural Products titled “Bee Yourself.”

“It focuses on beauty through simplicity and having a positive self-image,” Bush said. “With this campaign, we wanted to mass market to fully carry out the idea of all-encompassing and natural beauty, while promoting the Burt’s Bees brand.”

As part of that focus, they created a commercial that starred Joe Webster, a male ballerina, and assistant principal Susan Leonard, who plays the dance judge.

“Before the show, he is at first really nervous and then puts on his Burt’s Bees chapstick and does well in his dance and ‘is himself,’” Blubaugh said. “We finished the commercial with the company’s logo and a screen that says ‘Bee Yourself’ to highlight the importance of self-love, confidence, and individuality in natural beauty.”

Bush and Blubaugh also created promotional materials and print advertisements along with a detailed, 11-page marketing plan. When they arrive at State in March, Blubaugh and Bush will have a 15-minute presentation in front of a group of judges that will critique them on their advertising schedule, budgets, creativity and a variety of other requirements.

Seniors Sydney Pearson and Sophia Barreca chose to bring koalas to the Kansas City Zoo for their Sports and Entertainment Promotion project for DECA state. Most teams chose to create marketing strategies for the Royals or the Chiefs, but these girls went a different route, promoting the Kansas City Zoo.

The goal of their hypothetical proposal is to bring two koalas to the zoo through a series of fundraising events throughout the summer. They wanted to stray away from the typical projects but still promote something they were both very familiar with.

The project included “Kick it for Koalas,” a summer program where parents can work out while their children tour the zoo. They also created ZooVenture KC, an app based off of Pokemon Go – but with zoo animals. Pearson and Barreca also create ZooPals, similar to WebKinz, with an online counterpart.

“We think it would be successful because the special events will raise money and the amount of people who come to the zoo,” Barreca said.

Barreca and Pearson participated in State last year as well and enjoy the applicable skills that could transfer to the business. These include interview etiquette and thinking outside of the box like they did when brainstorming for their project.

Seniors Max Maday and Alyssa Vuillemin put together a workout on the East turf field with the goal of raising awareness for mental health and its correlation to exercise. On Nov. 4, they raised $650 through donations at the event and through a GoFundMe page. All of the research they did and the details about their event will be part of their presentation on the day of state.

Maday and Vuillemin partnered with Julia Harkleroad, a local fitness instructor, and You be You, a city-wide campaign to raise awareness for mental health. Vuillemin and Maday donated the money they raised to the branch of You be You that provides therapy for children who can’t afford it.

Vuillemin came into contact with Harkleroad through her photography business and decided to use her previous event planning experience as a SHARE executive, applying it to her senior DECA project.

On the day of the event, an estimated 60 people came to participate in the workout and enjoy the free Chick-fil-A provided afterward.

To prepare for their project, Maday and Vuillemin researched the benefits regular exercise can have on overall mental health and found that the brain releases endorphins,  or “happiness hormones,” when you work out.

Maday and Vuillemin aren’t nervous to present their project at state because for them it is just like another competition.

“State is honestly not too much different from a regular competition,” Vuillemin said. “It’s just a lot bigger and longer. To me, it’s not more stressful or anything because, at the end of the day, I do DECA because I think it’s fun. So if I don’t do well, it’s not a big deal.”