(London, Ontario)—A team of recent graduates from Fanshawe’s Lawrence Kinlin School of Business is on top of the world after winning the 2014 Google Online Marketing Challenge’s (GOMC) Social Impact Award. The global award secures their partner organization, Museum London, a $15,000 USD donation from Google.
“Museum London has been very fortunate to partner with Fanshawe students and faculty for a number of years now to strengthen our online presence and we were pleased to be able to do so again this past year,” says Brian Meehan, executive director of Museum London. “The financial donation that has resulted from the work the students have done is unexpected, but very much appreciated and is a testament to the high calibre of the work being done at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business.”
The team of Kaitlyn Krause, Hanna Macdonald and Amanda Tadgell, under the direction of instructor Liz Gray, developed a search engine advertising campaign aimed at boosting reservations for Museum London’s event space and enrollment in adult art classes and children’s programming.
“I remember getting excited about the first few clicks our campaign generated,” says Tadgell. “At the end of the campaign, knowing we made a difference was a huge win for us. Winning the $15,000 donation for Museum London is just the cherry on top.”
Like all GOMC competitors, the team was challenged to use a $250 credit provided by Google to create a three-week campaign, running from March 22 to April 9, using the AdWords platform. For non-profit clients, like Museum London, teams were given the option of submitting a social impact statement detailing the impact of their work on the organization. An independent global academic panel assessed the statements.
“This is an exciting win for Fanshawe, our students and the city of London,” says Mary Pierce, chair of the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business. “It’s always rewarding to see our students apply what they’ve learned in class to make a difference in the community. This competition is a great hands-on experience that gives them confidence as they continue down their chosen career pathway.”
Each year over 30 organizations approach Fanshawe to be assigned a team of graduate-level students taking a dedicated course in search engine marketing, in which GOMC is the central project, as a means of improving their online visibility and gaining traffic to their websites.
Google’s financial donation will go towards adopting new technology at Museum London, including the digitization of its Visible Storage collection.
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For further information, please contact:
Kyle Rooks
Corporate Communications Officer, Fanshawe College
519-452-4430 x5059
krooks@fanshawec.ca
Matt Thomas
Marketing Coordinator, Museum London
519-661-0333
