Canadian cosmetics company Cheekbone Beauty is the latest local business to serve as a real-life project piece for about 100 Integrated Marketing Communications students.
In early December, four teams of students from the two-year Business-Sales and Marketing Program and the three-year Business Administration-Marketing Program were selected to present their marketing campaigns to representatives from Cheekbone Beauty, including founder and CEO Jenn Harper.
“Real-life projects are a fantastic way to incorporate experiential learning into a course and to give students real-world context and exposure to a professional environment,” said Terri Champion, the coordinator of NC’s Sales and Marketing program, who taught the course with School of Business and Management Studies professor Patti Aubry.
“Four groups were selected to present their campaign ideas to Jenn and her team, and they all did a phenomenal job,” Champion said. “They were polished yet enthusiastic at the same time, showcasing their creative ideas and also their technical skills in creating visuals and mock-ups to illustrate what their campaigns would look like.”
The assignment called on students to work in groups of up to four and assume the role of a marketing communications agency charged with the responsibility of developing an integrated marketing communications plan for Cheekbone Beauty for Indigenous Peoples Month.
Teams were required to cover three key areas: Provide an overview of the challenges presented in the client brief; discuss the mix of promotional tools that will be used and why; and describe the campaign’s big idea, including visuals and mock-ups. The project was worth 25 per cent of their final grade.
More than 100 students divided among 30 teams presented their campaigns in class, while four groups were selected for the finals–the chance to present to Harper and her team.
“The students were very professional and prepared,” said Breann Rogers, one of four Cheekbone Beauty team members who visited NC. “You could tell that they really took the time to research the values of our company and deliver a well thought out campaign pitch. It was a pleasure to see the outcomes of four very different campaigns from the same brief.”
Rogers said giving the students an opportunity to complete a project for a real company allows them to do more thorough research and ask questions. “It is also a wonderful way to get real-life feedback from the company, rather than textbook scenarios that can sometimes [miss] full detail.”
Harper, too, was impressed with what the students had come up with.
“Working with Niagara College was an absolute pleasure,” she said. “It was refreshing to see ideas for an Indigenous Peoples Month campaign through the eyes of the next generation entering the workforce.”
Elora Morrison-Burgess was among the students who delivered their marketing campaigns to Cheekbone. She said working on a project for a real company–in addition to theoretical case studies in class–pushed her learning to the next level.
A panel of representatives from Cheekbone Beauty, including CEO and founder Jenn Harper (left).
“We got very specific feedback and it was good that some of the feedback was constructive,” said Morrison-Burgess, who came to NC from Keswick, ON. “The most fun part was creating the creative visuals like the mock-ups of the PR box and visuals that would be used for promotions. I would say that presenting to the Cheekbone team was 100 per cent the most rewarding part. It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to do that and it was wonderful to hear their feedback and even more amazing to hear them building off our ideas.”
Keith Guevarra, who’s originally from Bacolod City, Philippines, said it was a challenge to think through the voice of the message, but he enjoyed learning about the Indigenous communities of Canada through the project.
“As an international student from the Philippines, I have always done advocacy initiatives that would help a specific segment in today’s society,” he said. “Creating the campaign for a possible idea was the trophy itself, but the experience overall was the reward.”
Guevarra worked as an art director in Philippines prior to coming to NC, and created multiple campaigns for big companies like Coca Cola, Nescafe and Shell. When he moved to Canada, he said, he had to learn the culture and the nuances of Canadians in order to tailor fit his ideas. After graduating, he hopes to return to advertising and work as an art director or creative director.
“It makes me feel good to create campaigns that are not only creative, but also support a cause.”
Cheekbone Beauty does just that.
As the first Indigenous-owned and founded cosmetics company, Cheekbone Beauty supports educational opportunities for Indigenous youth through donations totalling more than $300,000 to date, and aims to create an inclusive space in the beauty industry where everyone feels represented and seen.
The brand is known for its sustainable and high-quality colour cosmetics that are clean, vegan and cruelty-free.
