There’s a COWamongus!

Finding COWamongus! on campus is nearly as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. COWamongus! is a creamery and meat company located inside the Animal and Food Sciences building. However, not many know it exists, due to campus regulations on signage and no advertising budget. To help with marketing efforts for the eatery, a partnership has been formed between COWamongus! and a retail promotion class in the Department of Nutrition, Hospitality & Retailing in the College of Human Sciences. “COWamongus! opened its doors more than three years ago but 80 percent of the campus doesn’t know it’s there. Without being able to put a sign on the building, this is a way to help solve that problem,” said class professor Valerie Hlavaty. “The restaurant gets free promotion, and my students get hands-on experience in advertising, event planning and promotion.” Different groups of students in the class received different assignments. Some gave out samples of ice cream and meat to passersby at the Student Union Building. Another group created the visual design of the décor in the restaurant. Others worked to develop newspaper advertisements, design a catering menu and plan basketball tailgating events. COWamongus! manager Kim Cannon is excited for the students and the assistance they give to the operation. “When they come in and present their ideas to me in class, they get so excited because I’m actually using their ideas in the store,” said Cannon. “We don’t have a marketing person, so I’m trying to run the store, do payroll, do marketing, make sure everything is going smoothly and their ideas really do help me with the marketing aspect.” COWamongus! makes its own ice cream, but it also is a retail center for meats produced and processed in Texas Tech’s meat lab. And with more than one product to sell, many marketing ideas are needed to make the business successful. “We tell them that this is definitely something they can put on a resume.” Hlavaty said. “You can’t get that from a book.”

Featured Video COWamongus! Students receive first-hand advertising and marketing experience. More Video>>

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