FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Kristen Walker [email protected] CSUN students create social media marketing plans for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Los Angeles to increase brand awareness and donor/volunteer engagement December 20, 2017 – CSUN’s community partner, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a nonprofit organization of dedicated volunteers helping abused and neglected children in foster care, worked with the fall 2017 Social Media Marketing class (MKT 459) to create social media marketing plans. Led by Dr. Kristen Walker and working with Robert Smith, the chair of the National CASA Marketing Committee, the class was divided into five teams to research the organization’s current situation, focusing on social media presence. The students competed to prepare and present marketing plans aiming to assist CASA L.A. reach their organizational goals using social media. Dr. Walker described the class efforts overall, “the class worked hard to develop social media marketing strategies that fit both the client’s needs and the interest of current and potential markets on social media. I’m incredibly proud of the results.” One student, Joao Jaeger, concluded that he, “…loved the experience in general. I believe it was the class that taught me the most at CSUN. We were literally doing what we would be doing if we were in an agency.” Throughout the Fall 2017 semester, students analyzed CASA L.A.’s current situation, including their existing brand exposure and competitors on a local and national level. Teams gained realworld experiences by donning their own professional brand image while conducting thorough research, creating and administering surveys, interviewing CASA L.A.’s stakeholders, including CEO Wende Nichols Julien, and testing social media marketing strategies through an online social media simulation, Mimic Social (part of Stukent offerings). Jesse Martinez (team Three Marketeers) reflects on the process of the project: “I thought it gave a real life hands on experience, going through every stage of the marketing process...I learned a lot about how it’s like working for a client and formulating a formal social media marketing plan.” Through this research, students learned the meaning behind the nonprofit organization and its community contributions, even taking a trip to its location in Monterey Park, CA. It is through these experiences, that the teams uncovered the full scope of the project and needs of the client. With the guidance of Dr. Walker, each team used findings from their research to prepare social media marketing plans, unique from the other, drawing on the strengths of each contributing student. Ozzy Molina described the class as “like no other,” finding that the project was a constant challenge that ultimately brought out the best in his team, BLINC.