Business students win top direct marketing award
News Release - October 3, 2005
contact:
Karen L. Gill
karen.gill@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428
(NEWPORT NEWS, VA) — A team of business students from Christopher Newport University has earned first place in a major direct marketing contest.
A panel of judges from the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation selected CNU’s marketing campaign, “Sharing a Slice of the Orange,” as the top pick of undergraduate submissions from 150 entries from colleges and universities across the country for the 2005 Leonard J. Raymond Collegiate Gold ECHO.
The Collegiate ECHO Competition is designed to give students an opportunity to turn theory into practice. Students are challenged to combine their knowledge, research and creativity to create a comprehensive direct marketing plan for the sponsor/client.
The members of this year’s CNU winning team are William “Blake” Burnette, Brian Cotter, Nicole Hruska and Katherine “Katie” Vico. Dr. Lisa Spiller, CNU professor of marketing, served as faculty adviser to the team.
Earlier in the year, the same team was awarded first place in the 2005 Collegiate Marketing Award for Excellence and Innovation (MAXI) competition, sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington Educational Foundation (DMAW-EF).
Judges for the ECHO contest included experienced direct and interactive marketing professionals, including senior marketing team members and officers from ING DIRECT, the contest sponsor, and members of the DMEF Foundation's Board of Trustees.
“In reviewing all the entries, William Burnette, Brian Cotter, Nicole Hruska, and Katherine Vico from Christopher Newport University stood out for their overall very good and professional campaign, which provided excellent market research and a very innovative marketing strategy,” the judges wrote. “The media plan was well planned and reflected a good understanding of the target audience. The creative was sophisticated and focused well on the target market.”
CNU team members and Spiller will be recognized and awarded their trophy on Oct. 18 at The Direct Marketing Association International ECHO Awards ceremony at Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. Their prize will include transportation, accommodations, and attendance to the DMA 88th Annual Conference & Exhibition, in addition to other prizes including a cash award.
Students also will receive scholarships from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism if they decide to enter the graduate program in Integrated Marketing Communications.
More about the contest
For marketing professionals, the ECHO is a highly coveted award, much like the Oscar is for actors and the Grammy for musicians.
This year’s contest focused on building brand awareness and obtaining new ING Direct Orange Savings Account (OSA) customers. The multi-channel direct marketing campaign featured customer retention and maximized customer acquisition via customer referral, cross-selling strategies, list rental and direct response advertising. The CNU team conducted marketing research, formulated strategy, developed creative materials and determined a media plan and completed a budget with a Return on Investment analysis.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.