Marketing EDGE Grants Scholarships to JMU Students

'Real-World' Experiences Translate to Scholastic Success

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Marketing EDGE 2015 Winners

SUMMARY: The James Madison University College of Business and the Department of Marketing extends congratulations to Marketing EDGE scholarship recipients Morgan Foran and Alex Adley!


The James Madison University College of Business and the Department of Marketing extends congratulations to Marketing EDGE scholarship recipients Morgan Foran and Alex Adley! The ongoing partnership between Marketing EDGE, a non-profit marketing education organization, and JMU enables the College and Department to reward these students who are preparing themselves to make the difference in their professional career ahead. Foran and Adley each were awarded for their excellent performance in the Department’s Integrated Marketing Communications course. Using a unique mixture of classroom instruction and hands-on experience, the course prepares students to excel in their future business careers.  

Integrated Marketing Communications is led by Dr. Theresa Clarke, who requires students to participate in the yearly Marketing EDGE Collegiate ECHO Challenge. This challenge is a facet of the Marketing EDGE mission, which aims to “Educate, Develop, Grow, and Employ college students in the field of marketing.” Student teams from around the country compete to create an integrated marketing communications strategy for a new client each year and must allocate a budget and consider relevant media platforms, the result being a proposed multichannel advertising and marketing campaign for their client. In 2014-15, the client was DIRECTV.

Researching and preparing the competition entry – mirroring the same process undertaken by professional agencies on behalf of their real-world clients -- makes up the majority of the course. Morgan Foran appreciated the step-by-step guidance that Clarke provided in the beginning, but also enjoyed the fact that the team was “able to have free reign when it came to [their] decisions regarding [their] marketing communications.” Foran also felt that the competition was what made her passionate about marketing and advertising. 

Her experience in the competition translated to an internship with the online retailer Bluefly, in which she used her marketing skills to re-brand a product in its merchandise offering.  

Marketing EDGE allowed Adley to learn “many valuable lessons about marketing and working in [a] team to create a program in the real world.” Although he felt that this experience would benefit his future at an advertising agency, he also acknowledged that these skills are universal to other potential professions. Proud of his accomplishments, Adley felt that “It [was] pretty amazing knowing that [we] had already developed and presented an entire marketing campaign.”

Marketing EDGE scholarship monies originate from donations from corporations and individuals in the marketing field. Although these students plan to use their competition experience in different ways, Foran and Adley plan to make a difference by using the real-world experience that the College of Business proudly provides to its students.  

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Published: Thursday, October 15, 2015

Last Updated: Thursday, November 2, 2023

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