The 2011 summer interns at Omaha-based marketing company Bozell, worked with Husker legend Matt Davison to rebrand and develop a strategic plan for his nonprofit, Creating Captains.
The Bozell internship program offers college students an opportunity to gain real-life marketing experience. Each intern worked in the departments suited to their interest and skills. As part of the annual program, a nonprofit client is assigned to the intern team. Throughout the summer, interns worked directly with the non-profit client. This summer, they worked with the program, Creating Captains.
Creating Captains is a youth football program designed to teach positive values and build character, both on and off the playing field, regardless of athletic ability. Davison created the program to share his experiences as an athlete and leader. The profits from Creating Captains go directly to the Food Bank for the Heartland’s BackPack Program. The BackPack Program provides food to students in need of healthy meals on the weekends and is an effort to eliminate the child hunger crisis in Nebraska.
“I was not sure what to expect going into this,” said Matt Davison. “We were just really excited to see what the Bozell interns could do for Creating Captains.” Davison had some goals laid out for the program, and he left it up to the Bozell interns to decipher a way to carry them out. There was a need to increase overall awareness of the program as well as increasing donations and camp attendance.
The interns took Davison’s goals into consideration and came up with two major goals. There was a goal of increasing camp attendance as well as one for increasing donations made to Creating Captains to benefit the Food Bank for the Heartland’s BackPack Program. The pieces designed to increase camp attendance, such as the camp brochure, had a more youthful feel to grab the attention of a younger audience. Those designed to increase donations, such as the donation book, were designed with a “high-class” feel to attract a more well-established audience. Every piece was designed to increase overall brand awareness.
“I was really pleased with the outcome,” said Davison. “It is so amazing to have all of these great pieces to use for our program.” Davison plans on implementing the ideas presented by the interns as he moves forward with Creating Captains. To compliment the new look and feel of Creating Captains, Davison has signed on with Bozell to create a new website for his program.
About Bozell
Bozell is a creative marketing communications company in Omaha, Nebraska. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients.
About Creating Captains
Creating Captains is a nonprofit foundation started in 2008 by former Husker football player Matt Davison. Through the platform of athletics, Creating Captains teaches youth across Nebraska about showing great character, having the courage to stand in the face of peer pressure, becoming a leader in their community and promoting respect for their peers.
