NH’s Business: Digital strategy & marketing

DAYLIGHT HOURS. MUCH MORE WITH TEAM COVERAGE COMING UP. WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BUSINESS I’M FRED KOCHER. THERE’S AN AMBITIOUS GROUP OF GENERATION Z STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE HELPING NEW HAMPSHIRE’S SMALL BUSINESSES TO MARKET THEMSELVES, WHILE THEY ALSO EARN THEIR DEGREES. AND HERE THEY ARE. PICTURES OF STUDENTS ON THE STAIRWAY WITH A BANNER VOICE Z DIGITAL. THAT’S THE STUDENT GROUP. AND HERE ARE THE SERVICES THEY’VE ALREADY OFFERED AND PERFORMED FOR 100 BUSINESSES. VOICE DIGITAL SERVICES, DIGITAL AUDIT, SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY. WITH ME IN THE STUDIO ARE THE INDIVIDUALS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADING THE STUDENT BUSINESS INITIATIVE, AND ONE OF THEIR CLIENTS, JENNA SMITH, STUDENT INTERNAL MANAGING DIRECTOR OF VOICE Z DIGITAL. ERICA HALABY, CO-OWNER OF ROOTED ROSE RECREATION AND WELLNESS IN ROMNEY AND ATKINSON, NEW HAMPSHIRE. ALEX LIEBRECHT, WHO IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MARKETING IN NEPAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS. WELCOME TO YOU ALL. THANK YOU. ALEX, YOU’RE RUNNING THIS PROGRAM AS PROFESSOR, RIGHT? YOU’RE PROFESSOR OF MARKETING. THIS IS MORE THAN AN INTERNSHIP. THIS IS THE THESE STUDENTS ARE GETTING INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS AND HELPING THEM FIGURE IT OUT. RIGHT? RIGHT. YOU’RE EXACTLY RIGHT. SO IN A TYPICAL INTERNSHIP, STUDENTS ARE THERE TO SUPPORT, OBSERVE AND REALLY SERVE IN A PASSIVE ROLE WITH THESE SMALL BUSINESSES. THEY’RE TAKING ACTUAL OWNERSHIP, ACTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY, AND REALLY DRIVING REAL RESULTS AND REAL CHANGE FOR THESE BUSINESSES. AND HERE’S THE STUDENT, JENNA, CLASS OF 26, GENERATION Z, RIGHT. YES, SIR. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. AND YOU HAVE BEEN HELPING BUSINESSES AND IN PARTICULAR WORKING WITH ERICA. I ASSUME I WAS NOT ON YOUR TEAM. WHAT? YOU’RE A SOCIAL SERVICES. I’M A SOCIAL WORK MAJOR. SOCIAL WORK MAJOR? BUT YOU’RE NOW DOING MARKETING. WHAT MADE YOU GET TO GENERATION Z? I HAD A FRIEND THAT WAS IN THE AGENCY, AND I STARTED DOING SOME MARKETING FOR SOME CLUBS AND ORGS AT UNH, AND I DON’T KNOW, I’VE REALLY JUST FOUND A LIKING TO IT, DOING SOME GRAPHIC DESIGN AND DOING SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT. I REALLY FOUND LIKE THAT WAS ONE OF MY CALLINGS. AND THEN I HEARD ABOUT BOISE, I APPLIED, I GOT IN AND THEN BEFORE I KNEW IT, MANAGING DIRECTOR. I’M THE MANAGING DIRECTOR. IT HAPPENED REALLY QUICK, BUT I LOVE THE POSITION THAT I’M IN. WHAT IN PARTICULAR DO YOU LIKE? WHICH FUNCTION DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN THE MARKETING PHOTOGRAPHY? I LIKE TO DO SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE MARKETING IS, ISN’T IT? IT IS SOCIAL MEDIA. YES, SIR. YEAH, OKAY. ERICA, YOU’RE THE BUSINESS. ROMNEY AND ATKINSON AND RECREATION AND WELLNESS. THAT’S RIGHT. WHAT’S THAT ABOUT? SO WE DO OUR BEST TO OFFER THERAPEUTIC EXPERIENCES IN OUTDOOR ADVENTURES THAT GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE. AND ALONGSIDE LIFE’S NATURAL GIFTS. RIGHT. SO RECHARGING FROM OUR TECH AND OVERSTIMULATED WORLD WITH COMMUNITY CONNECTION AND GETTING OUTDOORS AND GAINING SKILLS THAT HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN. WHAT MADE YOU GO TO THE STUDENTS FOR HELP? WHAT WAS IT THAT YOU NEEDED? YEAH, SO I WAS IN THE THREE AND A HALF YEAR MARK OF MY BUSINESS. KNEW THAT THAT’S WHEN YOU MAKE IT OR YOU BREAK IT. AND I NEEDED HELP IN A TEAM. SO I HAD A COLLEAGUE, JANELLE LAWTON, THROUGH THE STATE OF OUTDOOR REC OFFICE, CONNECTED ME WITH NEW HAMPSHIRE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER. AND OVER A MONTH OF WORKING WITH MY MENTOR, THEY TOLD ME ALL ABOUT BOISE, AND I APPLIED RIGHT AWAY. YEAH, ALEX OPERATES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT UNH. RIGHT? YES, SBDC YEAH. SO WE’VE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THEM SINCE OUR INCEPTION, AND WE FOUND THAT IT WAS A PERFECT MIX OF STUDENTS NEED THIS REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE. AND SMALL BUSINESSES REALLY NEED THIS HELP. YEAH, RIGHT. ERICA, THIS WOULD HAVE COST YOU THOUSANDS FOR THE HELP THAT JENNA AND HER STUDENTS WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU. IT DID GIVE YOU. THAT WOULD HAVE COST YOU THOUSANDS FOR THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING AGENCY OR CONSULTANT. WHAT DID IT COST YOU TO HAVE THESE STUDENTS COME IN AND HELP? SIMPLY BEING A MENTEE WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER. FROM THERE, IT WAS ALL FREE. RIGHT, JENNA, YOU GET THE LAST WORD. WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE STUDENTS WHO ARE LISTENING TO US OVER AT UNH RIGHT NOW TO DO WITH THIS DIGITAL Z? BECAUSE YOU’RE THERE ARE SOME MORE Z’S IN UNH RIGHT NOW. RIGHT THERE ARE I WOULD SAY IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN MARKETING, DEFINITELY APPLY. GET INVOLVED WITH BOISE. IT IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH THESE SMALL BUSINESSES AND GET THAT REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE. AND IF NOT, IF YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED IN MARKETING, FIND WHATEVER YOUR NICHE IS, WHATEVER INTERESTS YOU THE MOST, AND PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE. BECAUSE I WOULDN’T BE IN MY POSITION. MAYBE THEY HIRE YOU. EXACTLY. YOU NEVER KNOW. OKAY, JENNA SMITH, A STUDENT INTERN, INTERNAL MANAGING DIRECTOR OF BOISE DIGITAL. ERICA HANLEY, CO-OWNER OF ROOTED ROSE RECREATION AND WELLNESS, AND ALEC LABRECQUE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MARKETING AT THE PAUL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANKS FOR HAVING US. IF YOU WANTED TO LISTEN TO THAT AGAIN AND WE CAN GET YOU MORE INFORMATION ABO