Journalism Students Take Second Place in National Competition

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Silver Team members: Mary Hargraves, Griffin Templeton, Brittnie Simon and Allie Kathol

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A team of students from Ignatius Fosu's Campaigns class took second place out of approximately 200 entries from 30 schools in the Marketing EDGE 2015 Collegiate ECHO Marketing Challenge.

Fosu, associate professor of journalism in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, advised students Mary Hargraves, Allie Kathol, Brittnie Simon and Griffin Templeton. Teams were expected to devise a proposed integrated marketing campaign with a $1 million budget.

"Top honors in the Collegiate ECHO competition are coveted by Ad/PR programs nationwide," Fosu said. "Experiences like this are fantastic opportunities for students to use the skills they learn in the classroom. I'm very excited for the students as well as the department, the college and the university."

The teams were instructed to create a campaign that would increase customer participation in DIRECTV's Refer-a-Friend program. Companies such as Domino's Pizza, SkyMall, Microsoft Bing, dELiA*s and charity: water have been the focus in previous years.

A second team from Fosu's class (Ashley Bymers, Miles Gantt, Alex Mardian and Jeri Webb) won honorable mention for creative strategy, and a third (Meagan January, Sarah Frazier, Taylor Reynolds and Rachel Majors) made it to the semifinals, which put them in the top 15 percent of entries. The Campaigns class is part of the advertising/public relations sequence in the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism. Students learn the theories and skills to create persuasive messages, how to ensure those messages reach the right audience and how to communicate persuasive messages in a socially responsible way.

Marketing EDGE, a non-profit education organization, awarded $8,500 in scholarships to schools that fielded winning undergraduate teams, including $5,000 to Temple University, which took first place and a Gold Collegiate ECHO; $2,500 to University of Arkansas, which took second place (Silver Collegiate ECHO); and $1,000 to James Madison University, which took third place (Bronze Collegiate ECHO). Teams are judged on marketing strategy, media planning, plan execution, budgeting approach and market research.

The 2015 Collegiate ECHO Marketing Challenge was conducted during the fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters. Previous winners have included teams from the University of Georgia, the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina.

About the Department: The Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism offers specialized concentrations in news/editorial, advertising/public relations and broadcast. Students are trained in writing news, analyzing media, planning campaigns, producing television programs and basic photojournalism publishing. The department offers special interdisciplinary options, various student media organizations, award-winning faculty and a Center for Ethics in Journalism.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.