News-Letter

Media Credit: Shiv Gandhi [Click to enlarge]

Cell phones are becoming multi-functional figurines. Think of the time we spend using them each day -- they are a very integrated part of our daily lives. Compare this to the clunky cell phones we were used to in the `90s for the simple purpose of mobile communication. It has gotten to the point where people can manage their MySpace accounts on their phones, or purchase $30,000 extravagant "jeweled up" Vertu cell phones (check them out!).

With Apple's new iPhone approaching its release, who knows when these little gadgets will put away telephones into your grandma's antique collection. In the ever-changing cell phone industry, some Hopkins students are happy to advertise a new network banking service, dubbed PHIRE, which allows you to access your bank accounts and transfer money to different locations with the touch of your cell phone keypad.

Sapphire Mobile Systems, the company behind PHIRE, claims their product is "secure" and "easy to use".

This idea and service is similar to the concept of online banking, but more conveniently, someone can use his or her cell phone as the medium.

The company expects the main target market to be people who are in between the ages of 18 and 30 -- young adults and college students who are more used to cell phones and are in need of making small transactions such as paying cell phone bills or receiving spending money from parents. For this appeal of their product, the company decided to budget college marketing classes to implement a strategy to get out their name. Hopkins was one of the six institutions that was selected.

The course is called "Advertising and Promotion," and is offered in the Entrepreneurship & Management department of the University. Under the supervision of professor Leslie Kendrick, EdVenture Partners, a company that sponsored the Sapphire Collegiate Marketing Challenge, had approached the students in the class with the opportunity to help design the advertising campaign for an up-and-coming product. The students accepted, and worked as though the class were an internship, forming an organized marketing agency and performing two main duties of conducting promotional events and rendering advertising presentations. The ultimate judgment day for the group will be the presentation for the Sapphire Mobile Systems' executive board. The six schools that are budgeted by the company are responsible for their presentation, and the winning institution receives scholarship funds which will be given to the business/marketing department of the school.

The Hopkins agency is divided into five divisions of subcommittees: Research, public relations, advertising, budget and campaign committees. As a group, they collaborate to come up with the plans they implement to promote PHIRE network.

On April 2 on the upper quad, the marketing group had their information visit to talk about PHIRE network's convenient service by interacting with the students.

During the day, the entrepreneur threw an intense wings-eating competition, where fraternity and sorority members participated representing their Greek organizations. Joseph Vidalus, a Pi Kappa Alpha brother, dominated the men's eating contest, while sophomore Emily Renneberg of Alpha Phi prevailed in the women's eating contest.

Members of the marketing group entertained the crowd in order to foster a friendly environment that would interest students in the new service. Junior Alyson Hettrick, a behavioral biology major, said, "It was fun planning all this. It is difficult on campus getting people involved. I liked that challenge a lot."

The students involved have shown their shrewd sense of marketing through creative events such as making commercials on http://www.youtube.com and performing the commercials by the members of the Buttered Niblets, a Hopkins comedy group.

The participants have handed out promotional ping-pong balls to advertise their product, and have conducted survey research for improving their marketing strategies. With good ideas to back up their plans, the aspiring entrepreneurs will present a formal and innovative presentation for Sapphire's executive board in late May with the hopes of securing the national prize.

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