On Thursday, January 24, 2008 the Sports and Entertainment Marketing and the Marketing classes from Park Center took a field trip to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to participate in a T.V. commercial. Not only were they able to take part in the commercial, they were also able to meet former Park Center Pirate and Minnesota Twins pitcher, Pat Neshek.
Former PC Pirate and MN Twins Pitcher Pat Neshek.
The commercial was designed by Periscope Advertising for the Minnesota Twins. Periscope provides advertising, public relations, design, and graphic services for clients nationwide and is also a partner of the Minnesota Twins. Periscope has won several awards for their Twins commercials over the years using the "Twins Territory" theme. In addition to Pat Neshek's PCSH connection, the Periscope creator of the ad was 2000 Park Center graduate Brian Boord. The commercial was called "Neshek Day"; therefore Park Center students were chosen and given the opportunity to be a part of the commercial. For those of you who don’t know, Neshek played baseball for the Pirates and graduated from Park Center in 1999 and is now playing Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins.
Members of the Sports and Entertainment class thought that the class was really enjoyable because it has to do with two of their favorite things: sports and entertainment. Most students like the marketing element of the class because they believe it is fun to try different marketing ideas. Not only do they enjoy the concept of the class, many also said, "Ms. Hamre is a great teacher."
Many students that attended the trip knew a lot about the Minnesota Twins, so they were very excited about being able to be in the Twins Clubhouse. While waiting for the commercial to shoot, students sat in the Visitor’s Clubhouse and then transferred to the Twin’s Clubhouse when the commercial was actually being shot.
The "Burns Crew".
Shooting a sixty second commercial takes a lot longer than you might think. The students found this out when they attended the field trip. Filming a sixty second commercial took approximately eight hours. Those eight hours consisted of setting up the film equipment, filming, lunch, and even more filming. The students who were not being filmed were able to sit and watch or go back to the Visitor’s Clubhouse and watch television. Out of the eight hour day, six hours consisted of filming so it was nice to be able to sit and relax for a while.
Not only did it take about eight hours to film the sixty second commercial, the editing process comes next and can take about a month or two to finish and make it ready for television. The commercial will start to air on T.V. during the Twins season, so everyone should watch out for the commercial. Most of the students in the commercial attend PC, so there is a very good chance of recognizing somebody you know in it.
Taking part in the filming of a commercial was enjoyable for some while others not so much. The ones that enjoyed going said that it was exciting to be in the commercial because the Minnesota Twins are their favorite professional baseball team. While others said that they did not have much fun because there was too much down time and not a whole lot to do. Although many said that they would take part in it again if the opportunity was given, some wouldn’t because of how long the process of the commercial had taken.
Students during the down time.
Fun or not, the chance to see what it took to make a commercial and be in one was a great experience for the marketing students. The students were able to see how a market was targeted using a Park Center 'celebrity' and students. The hometown theme was further developed using Joe Mauer(St. Paul, Cretin High School) in the story line. You will have to wait for the commercial to see how these two local stars are used, however the "burns crew" picture above may give you a hint. This opportunity was obviously a win-win situation: students were able to have fun while being in a commercial, but also taking the experiences of marketing and bringing it back into the classroom.
