• by Karl Greenberg , December 11, 2008

It's not a musical, but Toyota's Scion division is running a high-school marketing program in rural Midwest and Northwest regions. The effort, "High School Marketing Competition," has high school students from eight cities vying for $5,000 worth of school supplies by putting together a marketing campaign.

Competing teams have to create proposals outlining ideas they think will appeal to young customers in their local areas.

The program is open to high school marketing and business classes and business/marketing clubs in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Wichita, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Frankfort, Ky.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Spokane, Wash., and Bend, Ore.

The competition will be carried out in a bracket-style format with both Scion and marketing executives judging each presentation.

Eight schools will be selected from the initial submissions pool in each region to move on to local competitions in Portland, Ore., Kansas City and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Out of those 24 schools, the top three in each region will be chosen to advance to the final competitions in each market with the top three schools in each market competing against each other for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes.

Owen Peacock, Scion's national manager of Scion field operations, says the company created the competition to give high school students the experience of putting together a marketing campaign for a major brand. "It shows our dealers in the smaller markets that this is a great opportunity to be a part of the community and enhance local education systems, plus it demonstrates that you do not need to have a nightclub or a major attraction in your market to connect with young buyers," he says.

Sales and Promotions Manager Jeri Yoshizu adds that HSMC lets Scion explore new target markets and reach young buyers who are creative and have an entrepreneur sensibility.

She says the company won't use the entrants' work directly. "This is a learning exercise on the high school mindset, in combination with the smaller city lifestyle. The ideas will give us a better gauge on the market so we are looking forward to the creative submissions. With these findings, Scion will be able to strategize and execute from a more targeted point of view."

Peacock says the company has typically focused on urban areas, "but we have dealers and customers in smaller markets. Every area has something that is 'cool' to the younger buyer, and we want to explore what types of marketing ideas would appeal to young people who do not live in an urban market."

He adds that hitherto, such programs have only been done by Scion dealers. "This is the first time Scion has carried out an initiative with this broad of a reach and involving multiple schools."