Note From Tongal: “Marketing Lesson Planning with Tongal” is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
--
Tongal, you saved this tired Marketing teacher, and I don’t know how to thank you. I have three side jobs besides teaching, and yet I feel like I should almost pay a monthly fee for everything I steal from the Tongal website for my classroom. No need for other websites, Tongal is my new go-to girl (or boy if you prefer), my new teaching assistant, my own personal lesson planner.
I have searched the internet for years as a teacher secretly hoping to hit the lottery and land on a resource that would do my work for me. I just wanted somewhere I could go to when I took two hours to help my 2nd grader with her math homework, somewhere to go when I was tired, and somewhere to go when my 4-year-old threw up all night and I had to make sub plans at 4:30 am. I just wanted a marketing lesson plan search that did not come up with the cereal box project once again. Then, one month ago I found Tongal, and I almost cried . . . it changed everything. Tongal is my somewhere.
As a teacher in a newly International Baccalaureate (IB) school, we have been tasked with providing students with authentic assessments. Pretty much, teach them something that matters; something that is worth their time. Crazy enough, we should give them assignments that they have to create entirely from their own intellectual capacity. Tongal brings industry and IB design together seamlessly without even trying. Below you will see how to easily use the Tongal project briefs and create a marketing lesson plan for use in any classroom.
1. Search for Open/Past Projects that spark students’ interests
Search through Open Idea and Open Pitch Projects for companies that your students are familiar with and care about. It is difficult for students to create for a brand they have never experienced. It’s like buying a birthday gift for a stranger. They must have a connection to care. It is a part of the design process. For my first Tongal experience in the classroom, I chose to use the Kool-Aid TV Commercial Project (found in “Past Projects”). In order to immerse my students in the brand, I brought in Kool-Aid to the classroom to get their instant feedback. I had them create a mind map of the smells, flavors and memories of when they drank Kool-Aid as a child, and their perceptions of the brand. This starts the process of empathy design. The MTV Awards Show Video Project in “Past Projects” is also a great starting point for any secondary classroom.
2. Use the Brief and Assets description as your text
The Brief and Assets section on Tongal Projects are a great way of teaching students how to read industry language. Instead of always reading about Nike and Apple, students can learn what other companies want right now. Good annotation exercises can include: highlighting all the requirements requested by the company, underlining the target market, drawing images in margins next to five sections, placing question marks next to confusing terms or legal language, and creating a summary of the intent/purpose of the project at the end of the brief. Students can share their annotations with partners in class and add at least two ideas from their partner that they did not have. Then, students can develop three questions that they must have answered about the company or project before moving forward in the design process. This assignment could potentially fill a 60-minute class period depending on the level of your students.
3. Use the Templates section of Tongal to help students create and be inspired
In Tongal 101 you can find templates for storyboards, production budgets, casting boards, shot lists, and music cue sheets. Print and go! These templates take all the guesswork out of how to set-up an assignment for students using Tongal. For the Kool-Aid Project, I required students to complete the storyboard template for their commercial ideas and they had to explain all audio and visual content in writing. Even if their art was non-award winning, at least they could describe their pitch and still get an A on the assignment. Of course, you could take this project a step further by requiring a video file depending on the level of your students.
4. Utilize the Objectives and Requirements for your project rubric
I am not sure if it is just me, but I hate making scoring rubrics for student assignments. When looking at a Tongal Project, I typically evaluate the briefs and identify the key non-negotiables that the company wants for their project (often called “Executional Mandatories”) to create a grading rubric. Let students know up front that if the company does not get what they want, no money will be made. This lesson goes beyond the grade -- in real life, the fine details are what matters. Within the Kool-Aid Project, their target market was for 12-year-old kids in Canada. I had 5 out of 50 students who completely missed the Canada detail but had a great pitch. In the advertising industry that would mean missing out on cash, $65,000 to be precise in that project. Students need to know what matters after they leave our classrooms, and a rubric tied with Tongal requirements can provide them with a glimpse into the real world. As an extension, I also have students score each other’s pitches with the rubric and give feedback. I must admit, peer feedback is much more like the cutthroat advertising industry than my filtered don’t hurt their feelings teacher advice.
5. Give students time to struggle and create
Struggle is a pivotal part of the ideation/design process. Have extra templates available to remind students that it is perfectly normal to start over. Provide hints at project non-negotiables as you glance at students’ work and see them missing it. Give space and thinking time for true creative freedom.
6. Submit the Pitch!
For most Projects on Tongal, Ideas and Pitches can be submitted by anyone 13 or over. Take a risk and encourage students to submit their pitches. What is the worst that could happen? They might win! Students come up with ideas that amaze me daily. Simply put, they are the competition -- they know social media more than many of us ever will, and in today’s marketing world, this is their advantage over old marketing teachers like me.
7. Create a design/portfolio section in their notebook
I have a design section in each student’s notebook where they showcase all of their project ideas. Within IB this is a requirement, but in any classroom, this is a fantastic way to show growth of students’ skills in the advertising and marketing sector. This is a great tool to use at parent-teacher conferences or in a review with your administrator to profile what students have learned and what they are able to do.
Teachers need a break. Just because we have the summers off, doesn’t mean that teaching is always a dream job. Those of us in education know that the best-made plans are crafted at 12am or on a Saturday night when you should be out to dinner. Tongal, I am so glad I found you! You have made my late nights fewer and my lesson plans richer. My students can now say they participate in marketing/advertising in real-time, create ideas for top brands, and collaborate with peers on trending industry projects. Maybe other teachers and even students will see Tongal as their somewhere. Somewhere to dream, somewhere to create, somewhere to get one step ahead.
