In a creative effort to draw in more students, the Ashland University Bookstore recently took a unique initiative by giving students the chance to design promotions for the store to use in the coming months.

The AU Bookstore worked with the Student Senate Business Affairs Committee to hold the “Next Great Idea Contest,” an event that netted a variety of submitted ideas from students aimed towards attracting customers on a more frequent basis.

A total of 83 promotional ideas were submitted by students through a survey designed by the Business Affairs Committee to gage student ideas and interest towards bookstore promotions, according to the committee’s Executive Officer Zack Longwell.

“I think it was very insightful and helpful to have such a hands-on role in helping the bookstore with this marketing project,” Longwell said. “It was a lot of fun seeing what different students had to say about the bookstore and also to hear about their marketing ideas.”

Three winners were selected from the field of suggestions, with a first, second and third place winner receiving a $400, $200 and $100 bookstore scholarship, respectively.

Senior Karie Charlton took first prize with a “Week of Community Service” promotion, where students would bring in items to donate towards a certain Community Care service organization each day (old jeans on Monday for Habitat for Humanity insulation and school supplies on Friday for the Youth and Literacy Team, for example).

In turn, students would receive a special in-store discount for their participation.

Charlton proposed the idea with Community Care in mind.

“They are a great organization and I am always trying to think of great ways to get their name out there,” she said.

Charlton also has high hopes for her idea’s dual benefits.

“I’m hoping it brings a lot of students in because it will be a good way for students to get items cheaper and help out a great cause at the same time,” she said.

Freshman Allison Smith received third prize after submitting her idea, a “Spring Forward with Scavenger Hunt Savings” promotion, on a whim.

“My idea for the Next Great Idea contest just came to me,” Smith said. “I filled the survey out last minute not expecting to win.”

Smith’s promotion will have students searching for items in the AU bookstore and receiving discounts based on how many items they find.

“I hope that this idea will draw students to the bookstore because I believe that many students are always looking for discounts,” Smith said. “Anytime the bookstore has some sort of discount, I usually go because there is always something that I want! Plus, if I can get the item at a cheaper price, it makes it that more exciting.”

Second prize went to senior Corey Barnett for his “Spring Break Lottery” promotion, which will utilize lottery pieces à la McDonald’s Monopoly style and will incorporate the bookstore website and Facebook page.

According to a report co-written by Longwell and AU Bookstore Director Terri Hudson, the bookstore was one of fifteen college bookstores to receive the College Store of 2015 Investment Grant from the National Association of College Stores (NACS) Foundation.

Hudson said in the report that the bookstore needed to stay relevant to students and encourage them to return more often. She also said that this could be achieved by creating marketing promotions that better appealed to students than the promotions they’ve previously had.

“Students participated in some of our special events but virtually ignored others; we wanted to find out why,” Hudson said. “Going directly to students themselves and asking them for their ‘great ideas’ appeared to be the next logical step in discovering how best to serve our students.”

The Bookstore then worked with the Business Affairs Committee in designing the survey while the committee used a video camera provided through the grant to document the process.

“As a student, you don’t really get a full understanding on how the bookstore works, so it was very enlightening working with the bookstore over the past couple months and I learned that there are a lot of services and things that the bookstore offers that most students do not know,” Longwell said.

Hudson and Longwell will present the video and information from the Next Great Idea Contest at the Campus Market Expo to be held by the NACS Foundation Feb. 25 to March 1st in Houston, Texas.