Public relations students learn from Pop-Tarts Bowl sponsor
On Feb. 14, Allie Schmitt, senior advertising and social media manager at GE Appliances, held a Zoom meeting from her base at Louisville’s GE to talk with public relations students at Carthage about the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl has become the most watched bowl in college football in recent years. During a meeting in summer 2024, GE spotted a social media post done by a couple in the Midwest whose house had been destroyed by a tornado. In the video, the couple showed themselves getting Pop-Tarts out of the still-standing GE dishwasher. From that, a partnership was born! The two companies found an opportunity to make a collaboration in support of the Pop-Tarts Bowl for December 2024 — with the creation of a working toaster trophy!
Ms. Schmitt explained how GE, a 100-year-old company, is always on the lookout for ways to connect with new, younger audiences. “It’s great being a trusted brand of 100 years,” Ms. Schmitt said, “but the downside is younger audiences might not know you.” So when GE saw that the trophy for this bowl had a football “toaster” on top, they immediately knew they needed to make that toaster work!
Not only did they do this and blend their appliances in with popular culture, but they used the opportunity to build and create social media content that appealed to audiences of all ages, with a focus on the platform TikTok and younger audiences. Ms. Schmitt spoke with PR students about creating goals, rebuilding relevancy, driving traffic, and creating new audiences. “Our PR team was instrumental,” Ms. Schmitt said.
This semester, the PR Campaigns class is working on creating a new campaign for Three Harbors, the Scouts of American organization that oversees Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha. “We are examining many similar things that Schmitt discussed,” Professor Colleen Palmer stated. “Things like rebuilding relevancy and creating new audiences are important to the growth and sustainability of all companies, particularly nonprofits like Scouts of America.” The class will begin working on ideas for these very things for their client, and are grateful to Ms. Schmitt for her insight in a real-world campaign!
Sponsoring Department, Office, or Organization:
Communication and Digital Media Department