As the final assignment for the fall semester, students enrolled in Principles of Advertising devised a marketing campaign for the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Mixers, Elixirs & IMAX series.

The series is a six-week summer event at the museum featuring various live music acts, mixed drinks and IMAX viewings.

"Our main objective was to try to get a fresh perspective," Ivan Perez, marketing manager for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and a UH alumnus, said.

Perez and Latha Thomas, the museum’s director of marketing, presented their current marketing strategy to the class near the end of the semester intent on enhancing their plans with student perspectives.

"Essentially, what we want to do is attract younger people to the museum, and MEI is the perfect vehicle to introduce them to us," Perez said. "2006 was huge for MEI; we broke attendance records almost every night and were asked to extend it past the summer season."

The students split into groups to create an original marketing strategy, complete with billboard designs, print advertisements and media arrangements.

They were granted a hypothetical $250,000 to finance whatever approach they selected for their campaigns. Some groups chose more conventional routes like radio or print advertising, but others developed their own form of guerilla, or non-traditional, advertising.

"It wasn’t the project itself that was hard, but working ... with eight members (was challenging)," David Huerta, a communication senior, said. "Meeting on a schedule, thinking on the same page and staying on track was the most difficult part."

The groups then offered presentations to the museum representatives.

"They found the ideas very insightful," communication professor Larry Kelley said. "They plan on moving into the online venue more aggressively as a result of the presentations."

For more information concerningor the Houston Museum of Natural Science or Mixers, Elixirs & IMAX, visit www.hmns.org.