Casio Supports Student Education and Donates Exilim Digital Cameras to the Missouri School of Journalism

Suzette Heiman Strategic Communication Faculty

Columbia, Mo. (March 15, 2004) -- Casio, Inc., a leader in consumer electronics, has donated eight digital Exilim EX-Z3 digital cameras to the Missouri School of Journalism. The cameras will be used in the School's planning and communications office and as part of a Strategic Campaigns class for the winter semester.

Students will design an integrated marketing campaign for the Exilim brand and present their proposal to Casio employees in late April. Strategic Campaigns is the capstone course for students studying strategic communications. Teams of four students a communications plan to address the needs of a real client.

"We're excited to give Missouri School of Journalism students the chance to gain practical experience in their field and develop an integrated marketing plan for Casio's Exilim cameras," said Joanne Bastante, director of channel marketing for Casio. "The seniors are learning what it's like to work for a large, national client and we are anxious to see the results of their work."

Students are responsible for developing an integrated marketing plan that can effectively market the Exilim brand to young and computer savvy professionals. They are conducting primary research, which will help form marketing tactics for this tiny, full-featured camera. The Exilim EX-Z3 model digital camera is the size of a credit card and only .9 inches thick. The 3.2 mega pixel camera features 3X optical zoom and can even capture up to 30 seconds of digital video.

"We thank Casio for this generous donation," said Suzette Heiman, the School's director of planning and communication. "And, the students are working hard to develop a strategy that will address Casio's needs."

The Casio strategic campaigns team will present their plan to company officials in early May.

Past clients include international companies such as Nokia, Kinko's and KFC as well as national and regional clients such as United Soybean Board, Perspective Charter Schools in Chicago and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Boone County.