Marketing strategy and board games: CBA students help support CMich Press

This article was written by Samantha Hall, a College of Business student, as part of a course-based project.

The Center for Learning Through Games and Simulations partnered with the College of Business to update its marketing strategy for CMU's in-house tabletop board game publishing company, Central Michigan University Press. CLGS is a faculty-led academic center located in Anspach Hall that promotes the use of games, simulations, and play in learning.

Kurt Baringer and his class, MKT 360: E-Commerce and Marketing Strategy, learned to optimize the CMich Press website and advertise to a broader audience. Students gained hands-on experience in the field of marketing, allowing them to engage in skills that will translate directly into their future careers. 

“I always think that it’s better if the students have something real to work on because that makes it more concrete in the students’ minds. I think that if you’re just using theory all the time and you don’t get to actually practice what you’re studying, it’s not quite as good as being able to take a real client, real issues, and real problems that you can solve,” said  Baringer.

CLGS has recognized a need to increase awareness of who they are and what they do, as there is limited advertising for their organization, and the faculty has limited experience in marketing. This is why they have collaborated with CBA students, who are learning search engine optimization, content creation, and audience engagement.

To practice content marketing, students collaborated to come up with ideas on how to photograph the game in a way that captures its main concept. For example, the group visited CMU’s Botanical Gardens and positioned the game Hydrologic Cycle in front of the stream to capture the theme of water and nature. Hydrologic Cycle is a fast-paced board game based on learning about the Earth’s water cycle and fighting to control portions of it.

To capture the concept of their next game, the marketing class went to Saint Mary’s University Parish. Monumental Consequence is a role-playing game that enables players to develop their persuasive and debate skills and revolves around a village that values its church. The game focuses on the conflict between preserving art and tradition and going against ideals to defend one’s community. The group positioned the game against the stained glass of the church, using the light and the colors to properly display what the game represents.

Lastly, the students practiced content marketing on the game Eyeball to Eyeball, a case-study game that focuses on the Cuban Missile Crisis. This game is a role-playing activity where players explore a disastrous period of the Cold War and learn the complexities of diplomacy and governance. The students went out to the wooded area next to the botanical garden and placed the game on a large boulder, using a crumpled piece of paper and a pencil to capture the strategic outlook of the game.

By helping CLGS promote its organization, the students will gain hands-on experience with different aspects of marketing that they will use in their careers. These skills include developing a marketing strategy, optimizing owned media, and developing content to engage target audiences.  The partnership represents the values of CMU, helping students grow through active learning outside the classroom.