Students Win National Marketing Challenge

“This was an exciting opportunity that allowed us to showcase our marketing and presentation skills to real corporate executives,” says Alison Plunkett ’17 of North Kingstown, to left. Next to her are Tara Larson of North Smithfield, Samantha Valenza of Plainview, N.Y, Taylor Burns of Cranston, and Kristina Cheamitru of North Smithfield.
“This was an exciting opportunity that allowed us to showcase our marketing and presentation skills to real corporate executives,” says Alison Plunkett ’17 of North Kingstown, to left. Next to her are Tara Larson of North Smithfield, Samantha Valenza of Plainview, N.Y, Taylor Burns of Cranston, and Kristina Cheamitru of North Smithfield.

A URI “Social Media for Marketing” class was one of 20 nationwide to compete in the 2016 Acura ILX Marketing Challenge to design a campaign to reach the millennial marketplace. The 34-student class won first place with a series of ads, across different platforms, christened “Fast Forward with Acura.”

This was the first time URI had participated in the contest, yet Assistant Professor Christy Ashley says “the class performed together seamlessly, like old pros.”

The students formed an agency, Vital Innovative Promotions (V.I.P.), and executed a multi-level marketing campaign in just over nine weeks. Five of the V.I.P. leaders flew to California this winter to deliver a 20-minute marketing presentation to the management team at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. A few hours later, the judges announced V.I.P. as the winner.

Acura awarded the University a $5,000 scholarship in recognition of the team’s achievement.