(Kathleen Strauss/The Daily Campus)

SMU hosted a special guest for the Advertising Campaigns class in front of the flagpole Thursday. Two Mini Coopers drove down The Boulevard and parked right in front of the flagpole.

Each semester, the Temerlin Advertising Institute’s advertising campaigns course takes on a client and builds an ad campaign.

This semester, the client is Mini Cooper. The class will participate in researching, strategic planning, media planning, career development and report preparations throughout the semester.

Advertising campaigns professor Carl Thompson secured the client through his connections to the executive agency in San Francisco.

The students walked over to the flagpole for the big reveal of the client, where they were met by Helen Limpitlaw, the market area manager for Mini Cooper, and two new Mini Coopers.

“I’m thrilled to be working with SMU students,” Limpitlaw said. “Mini is hoping to gain awareness of a younger demographic. We had a great year in revenue but hope to expand the demographic to the college demographic.”

The class, divided into five teams, will create a digital advertising campaign targeted to an 18 to 24-year-old age range.

“The students will do a full campaign, including research, media and creative, throughout the semester,” Thompson said. “

They will then present their plans to Ms. Limpitlaw and other Mini Cooper executives in a formal presentation in April.”

The campaign is meant to be extremely progressive, especially since it will be meant for social media, websites, blogs and more.

“Mini Cooper drivers are big participants in the digital world,” Limpitlaw said. “That’s the reason why we’re asking for a digital campaign.”

“We’re really lucky here at SMU,” Dr. Patty Alvey, director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, said. “There are all of these remarkable companies here in Dallas for classes and students to take advantage of. Mini Cooper said they expect SMU to provide them a template on how to reach the college market nationwide.”

Students got a chance to inspect each of the Mini Coopers, a two-door and the newest four-door.

They will also have the opportunity to test-drive the cars during the semester.

“I’m really excited about Mini Cooper as our client because it’s a concept I’m familiar with,” senior advertising major Kenna Foltz said. “Mini Coopers are fun. Fun is what its brand represents. It’s a great opportunity.”