Marketing Guidance from University of Montana Marketing Students Inspires Gift to School from Karl Tyler Chevrolet

University of Montana marketing students recently helped develop strategies to help Karl Tyler Chevrolet http://www.karltylerchevrolet.com/ in Missoula reach 18- to 25-year-olds. In return, Montana’s top-selling Chevy dealer was inspired to give $15,000 to the UM School of Business Administration http://www.business.umt.edu/ .

“We feel the 18- to 25-year-old market is the future of the economy and therefore the future of our business,” said dealership owner Karl Tyler. “The strategies UM marketing students presented to us will help us relate and communicate to this very important marketing segment.”

Tyler presented the check to business school Associate Dean Mike Harrington.

Three teams of UM students from Assistant Professor Simona Stan’s marketing classes met with the dealership’s management team, interviewed customers and visited other car dealerships to develop marketing plans, which included the dealership’s advertising on radio stations that appeal to the young adult market and sponsorship of the “Fare-Free Fridays” on Mountain Line buses last summer.

Based on their findings, the students presented their marketing ideas in formal presentations to Karl Tyler Chevrolet management and staff.

“They spent 60 to 90 minutes with each student team and really quizzed them about the concepts they presented,” Stan said. “I believe they appreciated the creativity and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking presented by the students, who are representatives of the car-buying market Karl Tyler is reaching out to.”

Providing hands-on experience in the business world is an important aspect of the UM business school experience, Stan said, and the school welcomes opportunities for students to assist local businesses under faculty supervision.

“These projects benefit our local business community and also provide our students with real-world experience,” she said, “which is enormously valuable as they prepare to launch careers as marketers and managers.”

Karl Tyler Chevrolet leads the Northwest in the sale of GM-certified used vehicles and exceeds the combined new Chevy sales of all other Montana GM dealerships.

http://news.umt.edu/index.asp?sec=1&too=100&eve=8&dat=11/27/2007&npa=1910