Students in marketing professor Don Sciglimpaglia’s Customer and Consumer Insight course this summer tackled a number of vexing challenges North County arts agencies are facing in growing their audiences, and their work is leading to new approaches already making a difference in building their customer base.

The class was offered through the Fully Employed MBA Program, and this was the first time it has been available at CSUSM. Clients have provided nothing but rave reviews.

“We received a very impressive, elaborate and very detailed report that has given us some ideas on expanding our social media presence and out-of-the box approaches we hadn’t thought about,” said Nancy Richards, director of marketing and public relations at the North Coast Repertory Theatre. “There was so much information. They delivered exactly what was asked.”

Sciglimpaglia, who previously taught in the College of Business at San Diego State University, was also pleased.

“Overall it worked well,” he said. “Our students worked hard, learned a lot and gained a lot of experience.”

Twenty-one students in the class were divided into seven, three-person teams matched with clients that included the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach, New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad, and Moonlight Stage Productions in Vista, along with the City of Encinitas and others.

Teams employed marketing research tools such as Qualtrics for online surveys and cutting-edge data analysis through SPSS Statistics.

Among the challenges presented to the group working with the North Coast Repertory Theatre was attracting younger audiences. After meeting with Richards and others, students surveyed more than 7,000 customers. More than 900 responded, nearly 600 of whom said they discover their entertainment options via Facebook. The team also contacted and interviewed three advertising and marketing professionals for insights into how others in the industry are dealing with similar challenges. The sessions yielded suggestions such as making the Rep’s social media presence more compelling. “Likes” are not enough, said Ian Beavis, chief strategy officer at Automotive Marketing Consultants, Inc. Instead, provide content that people want to share and talk about.

“It was an excellent opportunity to get a hands-on, real-world application,” said Elaine de Neef, who led the North Coast Repertory Theatre team. “Working with a client such as the North Coast Repertory Theatre was an invaluable experience and offered a chance to do something I might not otherwise be able to do.”

Lorraine Ryglewicz led the team tackling challenges facing the New Village Arts Theatre. Their project included surveying previous patrons to determine what led them to see a show. That helped them see what marketing channels worked and what strategies had not been tapped.

“The process taught me to know your audience,” Ryglewicz said. “At New Village Arts, you have an older audience and you’re working with an older demographic that is using more traditional forms of advertisement.”

A not insignificant percentage of patrons, Ryglewicz said, have discovered the theatre while strolling to a nearby restaurant. That led to suggestions of enlarging the signage on a theatre wall facing a parking lot and collaborating with local eateries to advertise upcoming shows.

“We really wanted them to focus on, ‘How do we get more people to know about us and get them to look into what we have to offer?’ ” said Kristianne Kurner, executive artistic director and founder of New Village Arts Theatre. “They came up with some really interesting marketing ideas that will be fun to play with.”

The Fully Employed MBA program is named so for a reason. It is open only to working professionals, and it requires 41 units of coursework that can be completed in 18 months. De Neef is an accounting manager at AMCI Global in Oceanside. Ryglewicz is the director of sales for a tech startup.

Ryglewicz said she was drawn to the program to gain the skills that could help further her career.

“I wanted to be a more rounded leader and prepared for opportunities that may arise in the future,” she said. “I could not be more impressed with the program. It is well resourced and the caliber of professors is remarkable.”

Companies or organizations interested in participating as a client in this program can contact Sciglimpaglia at dsciglim@csusm.edu.

When Lori Holt Pfeiler, the president and CEO for San Diego Habitat for Humanity (SDHFH) and Cal State San Marcos MBA alumna, spoke to CSUSM’s Fully-Employed Master of Business Administration (FEMBA) cohort about leadership and challenges in professional environments, they were inspired to team up with SDHFH for a group build day. Not only was volunteering the perfect opportunity to give back, but they were also aligning themselves with the College of Business Administration’s vision to build civic-minded, community engaged business leaders of tomorrow.

“Lori is an inspirational woman who has so many great business and educational lessons to share,” said Nicole Smith, a current FEMBA student who coordinated the CSUSM FEMBA Group Build Day. “Her stories about the families they’ve helped and how important Habitat is for the local community really made me want to volunteer.”

It was a sweltering day in August when the students arrived at the project site to build a home for an Escondido family. Although the temperature had exceeded 100 degrees, it didn’t stop them from getting to work.

“We did various projects on the home, from constructing cabinets to landscaping,” said Smith. “Several of the volunteers spent the day installing siding on the outside of the second floor of the house while others were painting and hammering.”

After almost nine hours in unforgiving heat, the 10-person team, including business professor Rajnandini “Raj” Pillai, completed what they set out to do: give back to a family in need.

“What I like about Habitat for Humanity is they are not offering handouts, they are providing families with tools to improve their situation,” said student Rosemary Reed. “By requiring work hours from each family, it truly gives the family a sense of pride of ownership in their home.”

The focus of Habitat is to create homes for ownership by low-income families in need. As part of the process, the families that partner with Habitat for Humanity are expected to repay through ‘sweat-equity’—volunteering 250 to 500 hours of labor in the construction of their own home—and via a zero percent interest, 25 to 30-year mortgage loan.

“Some people may not have the same capability to really advance in the workforce for a variety of reasons,” said Krista Samples, FEMBA student. “Programs like Habitat For Humanity understand that and help those who are not as capable.”

Habitat for Humanity relies heavily on volunteers, but their unique program allows people with no prior construction experience to assist in the process of building.

“I'm sure there is a dollar value you could put on the work we did,” said Smith. “If there were no volunteers, workers would have to be hired and that can be incredibly expensive. It felt great to just give back. We got to meet the family who was getting the house next to the one we were building, and that really made the project personal and more rewarding.”

Since 1988 SDHFH has built more than 200 homes throughout the county. A dedication ceremony for the house the students assisted with took place on November 22. Meanwhile, the cohort is expected to graduate from their 18-month program in December.

“Being able to share this experience with my classmates made it so much more meaningful as we had been through so much in terms of studying and gaining knowledge together in the MBA program,” said Samples. “It was very rewarding as we were able to see the efforts of our labor as we were doing it.”