Practical Learning Experience Propels Students to the Top

College of Business

by Emily Rendón

 
Five JMU Students who were Collegiate ECHO Challenge Winners 2016

SUMMARY: Out of 225+ entries and 30 semifinalists, JMU's Ubique Consulting team earned the 3rd place Bronze Award in the Marketing EDGE Collegiate ECHO Challenge.


In the 2015 fall and 2016 spring semesters, James Madison University (JMU) students once again participated in the Marketing EDGE Collegiate ECHO Challenge through Dr. Theresa Clarke’s Integrated Marketing Communications course (MKTG 384). Students were prepared through classroom learning which focused on marketing strategy, consumer behavior, objective setting, media planning, budgeting, forecasting and the promotional mix. This year’s challenge was to create an integrated marketing campaign for Facebook’s Custom Audiences retargeting tool. 

Out of 225+ entries and 30 semifinalists, JMU’s Ubique Consulting team earned the 3rd place Bronze Award. The competition was judged by 58 seasoned marketing industry professionals from such companies as Domino’s Pizza, Ernst & Young, Fidelity Investments, The Fossil Group and World Vision International. 

JMU’s team consisted of Dorothy Capasso (Team Leader and SMAD major), Allie Hammond (Marketing major), Joseph Scully (Marketing major), Mitchell Meyers (Communication Studies major) and Mariam Bekele (Marketing major). 

“As part of the competition our team submitted a plan which included qualitative and quantitative research summaries, strategy outlines, media plans, budget and profit projections, and detailed analytics based on real-world metrics,” said Hammond. 

Marketing EDGE is a non-profit organization which aims to “Educate, Develop, Grow, and Employ college students in the field of marketing.” For the competition, the teams had to conduct an industry analysis, create an integrated marketing communications strategy, consider relevant and effective media platforms, allocate a budget of $5 million, develop a presentation for a prospective client and produce a video ad.

“It means the world for Ubique Consulting to have placed because we now have had the opportunity to showcase our ability through practical application with an actual client. The professional connections resulting from this experience are invaluable,” said Hammond. 

The Marketing EDGE 2016-2017 Collegiate ECHO Challenge sponsor will be Collette, a guided travel company.

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Published: Friday, August 12, 2016

Last Updated: Thursday, November 2, 2023

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