Innovation alert: AI marketing projects help students thrive

AI is the future. It’s at the forefront of every industry and in the headlines. But how do faculty effectively teach students to use AI so they are prepared for the demands of their fields? Not all available AI is created equal, so how do students become discerning and experienced?

Enter Western Michigan University Teaching and Learning, which awarded a series of mini-grants for AI teaching innovation. The awards supported the development and piloting of AI-integrated teaching innovations. Two marketing faculty members, Dr. Scott Cowley, associate professor of marketing, and Dr. Eric Harvey, assistant professor of marketing, used their grants to create meaningful projects that helped their students become more proficient and confident in using AI.

SEO and content marketing

Dr. Scott Cowley’s use of the grant was two-fold. 

With AI subscriptions covered by the grant, Cowley’s students trained their own versions of a custom GPT to perform a professional website audit spanning technical SEO, content, UX and conversion. The innovativeness of the project was having students first learn how to do these audits manually, working with alumni at local companies Abonmarche and Clark Logic.

Once students gained the personal expertise, they could gauge the quality of their AI output and its limitations. Several of the students’ AI audit tools are now publicly available through ChatGPT's GPT Store.

Through data collected from the project, Cowley discovered that the process of creating custom GPTs helped students learn SEO above and beyond the learning that happened through their initial client audits. “I like to think of it as similar to teaching a topic to someone else; ultimately, you learn it better yourself,” says Cowley. “Training the AI had the same effect, helping students become more expert in SEO concepts. I saw real-time evidence of how AI tools can help students' critical thinking skills.”

Cowley’s students also used AI to vibe code interactive content for their personal websites. The final project involved producing a piece of optimized content and then using AI prompts to generate the executable code needed to add an interactive feature to it, which students would not normally have the technical knowledge to do. Using their creativity, students were able to make everything from an interactive checklist for responsible consumption, to a personalized winter skincare routine generator, to a meal idea generator for bodybuilding during the winter.

Vibe coding was something that junior Adam Pioch from Macomb, Michigan, had never done before, and he wanted to challenge himself to push for quality results. He landed on the concept to create a working music equalizer to understand audio frequencies. 

“When I went over my plan with Dr. Cowley, he informed me that I was the only student in class who was incorporating audio into the code, explaining it might be more challenging,” he says. 

But that didn’t discourage Pioch. 

It only turned up the volume on his desire to make the best plugin in his class. He told AI (Claude to be specific) that he wanted to make an equalizer that was fully functional with audio. 

“I ran into a few problems before I could get what I wanted,” he says. “AI would make the plugin and have audio playing, but the knobs to control the frequencies didn’t work. Trial and error finally got me to what I wanted—a fully functional equalizer to control the frequencies of my beat. As a music producer, I knew what the final outcome had to be exact, so it took some patience.”

That patience came in handy. 

“I am just learning AI to be honest,” says Pioch. “I’m good at telling it what I want, in a specific order so it listens. When the AI simply says ‘cannot solve,’ I’m persistent at working my way around the robot. I am looking forward to building my skills so that I am ready for the future of digital marketing and automation.”

Meta brand pages

Students in Dr. Eric Harvey’s digital marketing courses were able to get “meta about Meta” when they were asked to build and launch a Meta brand page. The pages centered on a shared concept or interest, such as an activity, brand or cause, and students measured their progress on marketing goals and reflected on the experience. Student teams were able to pick the platform that best fit their strategy, including Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. 

Harvey directed students to first build their pages in Meta to ground the class in core, business-relevant digital marketing skills before applying them to trend-driven platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Meta gave the teams access to a full marketing ecosystem—brand pages, business manager and analytics. The skills the students learned making their initial Meta pages transferred directly to Instagram and TikTok strategy.

What was the success benchmark for the 24 student teams? Reaching 1,000 followers, with a broader goal of applying skills in digital marketing strategy, content development, audience engagement and analytics to build and manage a cohesive, authentic brand presence over time.

“Dr. Harvey’s marketing course was a lovely introduction to the world of digital marketing,” says Jaquelyn Fitzpatrick from Kalamazoo, Michigan. “He not only taught us the basics but also helped us see what the world of digital marketing might look in the future. We then got to build our own Meta pages and really see what it takes to run a successful page! With Dr. Harvey's future-forward outlook and many years of marketing experience, he truly captured the essence of digital marketing and its never-ending capabilities."

How did AI figure into the project? Harvey’s students were provided access to ChatGPT Pro through the AI mini-grant. Throughout the semester, students used ChatGPT to support the management of their social media brand pages. And they also were able to use ChatGPT Pro for each assignment throughout the semester. Harvey included guidance on using AI effectively and responsibly for the assignments during the term, along with relevant ethical considerations.

“The AI mini grant significantly deepened how students approached strategy, content development and analytics, says Harvey. “From my perspective, students moved beyond viewing AI as a shortcut and began using it as a structured thinking partner particularly for refining prompts, developing personas, mapping content calendars and interpreting performance data. I observed stronger strategic alignment between brand identity and execution among teams that used AI intentionally rather than reactively.”

As an instructor, Harvey learned that when AI access is paired with clear ethical guidance and assignment design, students demonstrate higher levels of critical thinking rather than dependence. “The mini-grant did not replace foundational marketing learning; it accelerated strategic experimentation and helped students connect classroom theory to platform-based execution in meaningful, measurable ways.”

AI grants continue in marketing

In Summer I 2026, Dr. Robert Harrison, professor of marketing, will teach Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: Strategies, Tools and Applications. Students in the course will receive subscriptions to AI platforms, funded by an Instructional Development Grant from WMU. 

The course focuses on how AI is redefining the content marketers generate, data interpretation and customer experience design. Exploring the strategic and creative use of AI tools in marketing campaigns—from copy and image generation, to data-driven targeting, to personalization and the ethics of automation—students will walk away with valuable hands-on experience.

Students will learn to design, implement, and evaluate AI-assisted marketing strategies that combine human intuition with machine intelligence. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, ethical awareness, reproducibility, and the balance between creative art and analytical science in modern marketing practice.

Learn more about the Department of Marketing.

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