Date of Defense
12-11-2025
Date of Graduation
12-2025
Department
Marketing
First Advisor
Douglas Lepisto
Second Advisor
Derrick McIver
Abstract
The Leadership and Business Strategy (LBS) program at Western Michigan University delivers a highly immersive experience that allows students to learn business by doing business. Students engage directly with executives, including CEOs, working alongside them on complex consulting projects with real companies. The program takes place at Sleeping Giant Capital, a Michigan-based private equity firm, where students operate in a real business environment and gain exposure to high-level strategy and decision-making. Yet despite its impact, many students only discover LBS after enrolling at the university. Student data reinforces this gap, showing that while most students know their intended major before applying to college, awareness of LBS as an available co-major or minor at that stage remains limited.
This honors thesis addresses the awareness gap through a strategic marketing and brand development approach centered on high school dual enrollment. By enabling high school students to take MGMT 2020, the introductory course in the Leadership and Business Strategy program, the project introduces LBS earlier in the college decision process and positions it as a reason to choose Western Michigan University.
The project designs and pilots a scalable recruitment and partnership system that uses high school dual enrollment as the primary mechanism for early exposure to LBS’s leadership-focused curriculum, applied learning model, and community. This early access builds familiarity and strengthens the program's long-term recruitment pipeline.
Using Gull Lake High School as a pilot partner, the project documents the full process of establishing and managing a school partnership, including stakeholder outreach, relationship management, and strategic communication. The primary deliverable is a step-by-step playbook that translates marketing strategy into a scalable system and supports continuity over time, enabling future students and faculty to maintain and expand partnerships.
This thesis includes the development of marketing assets aligned with the LBS brand identity and brand tone. A new website for the Leadership and Business Strategy program and a tri-fold recruitment brochure were created as part of this project. All website and brochure design and copywriting were developed to clearly communicate program value, pathways, and outcomes, while incorporating student testimonials and storytelling to engage the audience, build credibility, and support early-stage decision-making.
Overall, the project demonstrates how strategic marketing, brand development, and relationship-driven outreach can transform recruitment into a scalable pipeline. By positioning dual enrollment as a brand entry point, the project strengthens early awareness, builds long-term interest, and supports sustainable growth for the Leadership and Business Strategy program while showcasing the real-world application of marketing strategy.
Recommended Citation
Padilla, Daniela, "Designing a Scalable Recruitment & Partnership System for the Leadership and Business Strategy (LBS) Program through Strategic Marketing and Brand Development" (2025). Honors Theses. 3996.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/3996
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access
LBS Trifold Brochure
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Marketing Commons, Other Business Commons