News

UWF business students awarded for social media marketing project

Dec. 07, 2017

The Florida Small Business Development Center Network awarded student project of the year to a team of six students from UWF’s College of Business. The students, taught by Dr. Sherry Hartnett, professor of social media and digital marketing, were recognized for their successful social media marketing strategy, plan and campaign for the Tin Cow, a Pensacola restaurant.

Elizabeth Blixt, Erica Gary, Nancy Patton, Brittany Rock, Andrea Zelic and Shujie Zhang received the regional award for UWF as one of the 2017 performance excellence winners at the network’s annual conference in St. Augustine. The conference recognizes top personnel, volunteers and partners for their contributions to the network’s mission of helping Florida’s small businesses grow and succeed.

“I am incredibly proud of my students,” Hartnett said. “This award is wonderful recognition of their hard work, thoughtful consideration of the business client’s needs, strategic marketing expertise and creativity. These students are smart, enthusiastic and passionate about marketing.”

The students completed the project in four months as part of a live case study for Hartnett’s class. After the students were divided into teams, each team was assigned a different local business and tasked with providing an objective assessment, a plan with recommendations and a social media campaign to be presented to the client at the end of the semester.

“Over the course of my studies, I have learned many valuable marketing plans, strategies and tactics to assist my decision-making as a future marketer,” Rock said. “However, I was able to implement all that I learned while working for an actual client through live case studies with Dr. Hartnett.”

Live case studies highlight how the UWF College of Business continues to create mutually beneficial experiences that improve outcomes for students and small businesses.

For more information on the UWF College of Business, visit uwf.edu/cob.