For Dr. Roy Philip, teaching marketing is about more than theory—it’s about experience. This fall, students in his Advertising Management class took that to a global level, developing a full-scale advertising campaign for Nazarene Theological College (NTC) in Brisbane, Australia.
Philip, an associate professor of business with more than 25 years of teaching experience, has built his classes around real-world projects. “We’re like an ad agency,” he said. “A company approaches us and says, ‘Can you help us rebrand or reach our customers?’ Then students work in teams to create strategies, designs and campaigns that make it happen.”
In nearly two decades of these partnerships, Trevecca students have served both nonprofit and for-profit organizations across Middle Tennessee—from local gyms to small businesses and community nonprofits. But the NTC project marked a milestone: the class’s first global collaboration.
After an introductory meeting via Zoom, students spent several weeks researching the college, brainstorming creative concepts and pitching ideas to NTC’s principal, Dr. Joseph Wood. When Wood later visited Nashville, he attended the students’ final presentations in person, something that Philip believes created a real understanding of the work they were doing.
“It leaves such a good impression in the minds of our students that this is a serious real-world project,” he said. “The students came dressed professionally with full presentations. It was a real representative sitting there for a real company they worked for.”
Philip says projects like this embody Trevecca’s mission of integrating faith and learning through service. “It gives us an opportunity to be servant leaders to a not-for-profit, providing free services to these small businesses,” he said. “We’re using our God-given creativity helping a company grow. So in that way I believe we are espousing the values of our university.”
For students, the benefit is tangible inside and outside the classroom. The class project counts toward their academic credit but also functions like an internship—offering hands-on experience, client interaction and portfolio work that they can include on their resumes.
“I believe in implementing real-world projects in my class,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to create an environment where students graduate from Trevecca already having years of experience behind them.”