Michigan Tech students are known for working with real clients to develop their professional skills and bring fresh perspectives to clients. That’s what Soonkwan Hong’s capstone course in marketing strategy is doing for a local construction company branching out into the small homes market.
Hong, associate professor of marketing in the Michigan Tech College of Business, locates the client for the course. His choices are aligned with the learning outcomes he wants for his students: “to provide an experience that will equip them with practical knowledge and a competitive edge as they enter the professional world.”
This year, he chose a mini home construction company. Students began working with Wuebben Construction of Dollar Bay on its new Brockway Mini Homes marketing plan as spring semester kicked off in January.
“This hands-on marketing project offers a unique and multifaceted learning experience,” Hong said. “While students are developing essential marketing and business skills, they’re also gaining valuable insights into a growing industry that is focused on sustainability, affordability, and a different way of life.”
To get the lay of the land, the class toured the manufacturing site and a finished model. They formed five teams, including PR and events, market research, social media, tech, and management.
The PR and events team worked on trifold brochures and flyers to help with advertising. They also spent time researching national mini home expos and events for the company to attend, as well as exploring how the company could increase awareness by sponsoring local events. They worked within the Canva content creation platform to create promotional products to share with potential customers. Their next step was to help Brockway Mini Homes plan an open house so those in the community can see a model for themselves.
The market research team conducted extensive research on the mini home industry. Their work included an in-depth analysis of the company’s website and a survey to gather data on consumer preferences for mini homes. The findings from the survey, combined with the website analysis and research, enabled them to develop a comprehensive profile of the company’s ideal customer and product.
The social media team started by creating a target demographic of users they wanted to reach. Based on their findings, they created social media accounts on Instagram, X, Facebook, and Pinterest. Once they got the accounts up and running, they gathered content through the other teams in the class and posted at times that their online research indicated would provoke the most interactions. They continue to post on social media as a way to spread brand awareness of Brockway Mini Homes.
Using a 360 camera borrowed from a colleague, the tech team completed a 3D model of the home and uploaded it to the company website. They used the imagery to create a virtual tour on the landing page. The tech team also worked to film and edit some short-form scripted videos containing footage from inside the mini home that can be shared to Brockway’s social media accounts. Other plans included filming and editing drone footage of the mini home on a nice day—weather was a challenge in spring semester, as the area received more than 300 inches of snow this season.
The management team played a key role in guiding the project to overall success. They set deadlines and ensured sub-team coordination ran smoothly and on track, from market research, content creation, and event planning to technical deliverables. They compiled and organized the official final report, including presentation slides.
Class Roll Call – Management and marketing majors
- Jaylen Body
- Sean Dewey
- Alexa Hoogenboom
- Charlie Buckmaster
- Matt Herniman
- Kalle Keranen
- Tyson Marier
- Alex Nordstrom
- Yanik Pauchard
- Marcus Pederson
- Samantha Perrone
- Julia Pietila
- Ben Putnam
- Abby Ross
- Allison Szlachta
- Nathanial Vogle
All Business Huskies in the capstone marketing course are 2025 graduates, with the exception of Hoogenboom, who will complete her studies in 2026. All Huskies are marketing majors. Body is also majoring in management while Dewey is also majoring in supply chain and operations management.
Hong said some of the specific takeaways for students include understanding target audiences, content creation and brand storytelling, social media marketing, event planning and management, and customer relationship management (often referred to as CRM). For this specific business, additional insights included eco-consciousness in relation to marketing strategy and an overview of the customer journey in home buying.
As in all College of Business degree programs, the curriculum also leaned into communication and presentation skills, problem-solving and critical thinking, and increased confidence and initiative to prepare Business Huskies to step into fulfilling careers from day one.
Keranen, who plans to intern at Eagle Mine this summer, said the course hit all of those goals for her. “It helped me apply all the marketing and business practices I’ve learned at Michigan Tech into a real-world project,” she said.
Vogler, the marketing strategy class manager and a social media intern with Michigan Tech’s University Marketing and Communications department, said that being part of the project has been “exceptionally fulfilling. Although we are doing the work through a class, our deliverables are very real and high quality.”
Vogler, who is launching his own small business-focused marketing company following graduation this spring, said the experience was mutually beneficial.
“Working with an entrepreneurially minded client like Brockway Mini Homes has given us the bandwidth to really show what we’re capable of and deliver at the level of a full stack agency, while also providing the opportunity to give back to a great local business,” he said.
Their grades weren’t in at the time this article was written, but the Brockway Team gave the students high marks. “It was a pleasure working with Soonwhan’s marketing class,” said Gabe Wuebben. “We highly recommend working with the marketing class to anyone who has a new product or business and is looking for professional help.
“Each of the teams had valuable knowledge and many great ideas! Overall, we’re very satisfied with the results delivered.”
“We want to say thank you to all the students who worked so hard during this project. We also want to thank Soonkwan for all his help making this project happen.”
About the College of Business
The Michigan Tech College of Business prepares tomorrow’s business professionals through STEM-infused, AACSB-accredited degree programs and minors. The college offers nine bachelor of science programs in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing; and four master of science programs in accounting and analytics, applied natural resource economics, engineering management, and the TechMBA®.
Questions? Contact us at business@mtu.edu. Follow the College of Business on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.