On Tuesday, June 4th 2024, we were back with one of our favorite events of the year - the annual FATE Student Showcase! Our 9th graders developed marketing and advertising campaigns for Merit and our 10th graders designed a Merit product collection.
Videography By: Eli Sider
INTRODUCTION
Each year our 9th and 10th grade FATE cohorts participate in an end-of-year capstone project where they put their skills in business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and design-thinking to practice! Six 9th grade teams were asked to create a Marketing and Advertising Campaign for Merit (our cause-based fashion brand) which included a 60-second commercial, a print advertisement, and a pitch presentation. A panel of expert judges in the PR and marketing field was tasked with declaring the winner - securing them a $200 cash prize and their campaign will be promoted by Merit! Our 10th graders were split into four teams and developed a Merit Product Collection. These collections were on display trade show booth style and available for presale at the Student Showcase. The team with the most pre-sales is declared the winner, awarding them a $300 cash prize and their collection will be produced in full and sold by Merit!
Grade 9: Marketing & Advertising Campaign for Merit
Just a few months ago, our 9th graders were put into 6 teams to work on their Grade 9 Capstone Project: Creating a Marketing and Advertising Campaign for Merit. Each team was responsible for creating a 60-second commercial and a print advertisement.
Let’s meet this year’s Grade 9 Project Teams:
Bubble Guppies
Team Members: Navia, D’Andre, Makalani, Jai-Lynn
Theme: “Empower The Future”
What They Learned: “We learned that it takes a lot to record the perfect shot, how to work as a team and use different ideas to create ideas we can all agree on, how to collaborate in a group and come together to create a vision, and how hard it is to keep up with time when it comes down to making films.”
Dreamers & Changers
Team Members: Jaidyn, Isaiah, and Jason
Theme: “Follow Your Passion”
What They Learned: "We learned that working together doesn't mean we have to agree on everything and we may have different opinions, everything isn't perfect and some things will be flawed, and it's good to contribute to group work because it can help bring different ideas and views into the work"
Fantastic Fabulous 5 (FF5)
Team Members: Jordynn, Kadeem, Marie, Ariyale, and Elijah
Theme: “Inspire Those You May Never Meet”
What They Learned: “We learned to work together and about how much Merit gives back to the youth in the community”
God’s Greatest Destiny (GGD)
Team Members: Jadah, Travis, and Malachi* (not pictured)
Theme: “Motivate Your Meaning”
What They Learned: “We learned that working with a team can bring out the best in you, that God always gives you the ability to do something even when you feel as if you can't, and that working with new people can be challenging but also fun."
Intelligent Driven Kids (IDK)
Team Members: Jaylen, Chaniah, Makayla, and DeAngelo
Theme: “Where Community Meets Family”
What They Learned: “We learned how to work with people, be open to our teammate's ideas and how to share our own ideas, and the importance of trying something new"
Passion, Bonding & Justice (PB&J)
Team Members: Jaden, Armontia, Carter, and Payton* (not pictured)
Theme: “Made For The Future, By The Future”
What They Learned: “We learned it's important to be in agreement but also have your own ideas, how to work in a team and communicate with others, that shooting a commercial is cool, and how to communicate our ideas and be innovative leaders."
ABOUT THE GRADE 9 CAPSTONE PROJECT
1. Creative Concepting
To begin developing a marketing and advertising campaign, each team needed to go through the “creative concepting” phase. With professional support from a variety of industry leaders including: Quikly, Woodward Original, KM Creative, Tierra Kelly, and our Creative Team provided by Creative Circle, students applied what they learned about the Merit brand to their brainstorming sessions. Each team first thought of words that came to mind when thinking about Merit, which were then narrowed down into a few campaign theme ideas. For example, the phrase that really stuck out to Dreamers & Changers during this brainstorm was “meaningful motivation” and they wanted to focus on how people should follow their passions and what they truly want to do. This eventually led to their theme of “Follow Your Passion - Be the Best Version of Yourself”. With a campaign theme established, teams began to storyboard their commercial, develop a script, and decide the locations, props, costumes, and cast for their commercials and print ads.
2. The Creative Team
Before production begins, each team has to pitch their marketing and advertising campaign idea to our Creative Team that is made up of professionals from Creative Circle who are tasked with bringing each team’s vision to life. This year’s creative team included:
- Allison Farrand, Photographer- Eli Sider, Videographer
- Jeff Martin, Graphic Designer
- Paige Merritt, Producer
- Stephen Timblin, Copywriter
- Stevie Ansara, Producer
One of the most exciting days is each team’s film day! Each team has the opportunity to travel throughout Detroit to a variety of locations to shoot their commercial scenes. This year’s locations included: the Wayne County Courthouse, MLK High School’s football field, Coleman A. Young’s basketball court, Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, Tolan Park, Wayne State University, and the FATE Space on Cass Ave.
4. Pitch Preparation
With their commercials and print ads complete, each team is tasked with creating a pitch presentation that describes their project goals, creative process, campaign theme, why they picked their theme, target customer, details about their commercial, details about their print ad, where they will advertise their campaign, and what was learned. These pitches were shared during our annual FATE Student Showcase event!
2024 STUDENT SHOWCASE - GRADE 9
On Tuesday, June 4th 2024, we held our 6th annual FATE Student Showcase at The Riverside! All 6 teams pitched their marketing and advertising campaigns for Merit and premiered their commercials and print ads for the first time. In order to pick a winner, each team was evaluated by a panel of judges who are experts in the PR/Marketing field. Our expert panel of judges included:
- Dr. D’Wayne Edwards: Founder, Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design
- Shy’Niya Eddins: FATE Alumni & 2019 Grade 9 Project Winner
- Phil Pirkovic: Director of Brand and Partnerships, Shinola
- Jesse Hayes: Owner, Skinphorea Facial Bar & Acne Clinic & Give Merit Board Member
- Akil Alvin: CEO & Global Chief Creative Officer, Digital Detroit Media
- Hajj Flemmings: Founder, Modern Athlete & Rebrand Cities
The judges were asked to score the overall presentation (criteria included: participation, content, innovation, planting feet, focusing on the audience, projecting voice, and finishing each sentence strong) as well as the commercial and print ad (criteria included: quality and visual appeal, relevance and usability, and innovation).
We heard so many positive reviews of the 9th grade presentations this year - each student stood with confidence as they presented their lines and engaged with the audience! When it was time to announce the winning team and everyone was in anticipation of the news - we saw students sitting together holding hands with their fellow teammates and family members. They all cheered so loudly when both the people’s choice award and official Grade 9 Capstone Project was announced! We are just SO IMPRESSED. SO PROUD. AND IN AWE. of each and every student and the hard work they put into these capstone projects.
Check out their incredible campaigns below:
PRINT ADS & COMMERCIALS
Bubble Guppies - “Empower The Future”
Commercial
Print Ad
Dreamers & Changers - “Follow Your Passion”
Commercial
Print Ad
Fantastic Fabulous 5 (FF5) - “Inspire Those You May Never Meet”
Commercial
Print Ad
God’s Greatest Destiny (GGD) - “Motivate Your Meaning”
Commercial
Print Ad
Intelligent Driven Kids (IDK) - “Where Community Meets Family”
Commercial
Print Ad
Passion, Bonding & Justice (PB&J) - “Made For The Future, By The Future”
Commercial
Print Ad
Videographer: Eli Sider, Sider Mill Video
Graphic Designer: Jeff Martin | Photographer: Allison Farrand & Shelby Dubin
The Winning Team!!!
Once the judges were done deliberating, the scores were calculated and the winning 9th grade team was chosen! Additionally, we asked the audience to help us determine a “People’s Choice Award” for who they thought had the best presentation and campaign!
This year, our “People’s Choice” vote went to “Dreamers & Changers” with their “Follow Your Passion” campaign.
But who was crowned the OFFICIAL winner of the Grade 9 Capstone Project, securing a $200 cash prize and Merit utilizing their campaign??? The WINNER OF THE 2024 STUDENT SHOWCASE COMPETITION was…
GOD’S GREATEST DESTINY (GGD)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God’s Greatest Destiny (GGD) took home the big win with their “Motivate Your Meaning” campaign and incredibly professional and impressive presentation skills! We are so incredibly proud of all six teams and the hard work they put into these campaigns the past few months. We are constantly inspired by their dedication, creativity, leadership, and teamwork! We hope you enjoyed them as much as we did!
We want to give a special thanks to our Creative Team from Creative Circle and Woodward Original who helped bring these visions to life:
- Allison Farrand- Eli Sider (Sider Mill Video)
- Jeff Martin
- Paige Merritt
- Stephen Timblin
- Stevie Ansara (Woodward Original)
We also want to thank our creative partners (some of which were brand new partnerships this year!) that supported our students through the creative concepting process which included:
- Quikly (Kristy Sharrow)- KM Creative (Kate Bacheller and Mike Hunter)
- Tierra Kelly
As well as a special thank you to our event sponsors:
- Creative Circle- Quikly
- Creative Solutions Group
- Jet’s Pizza
And of course our FATE Mentors & the Give Merit Board, our panel of judges, and all of our incredible volunteers for the day!
Photography: Allison Farrand, Shelby Dubin, Sydney Verlinde and Emily Lynn