Business Students Win Virtual Marketing Challenge
Katie DuBoff - December 11, 2020
A team of business students won the award for “best customer journey map” at the first virtual USPS Direct Effect Innovation Challenge hosted by SUNY Farmingdale on November 13.
The Direct Effect Innovation Challenge is a one-of-a-kind event hosted by the U.S. Postal Service that brings together teams of college students from across the nation for one day to design and develop integrated marketing campaigns in response to real-life business cases.
Talaya Martin-Smith, Peter Henry, Alex Arriola, and Brie Muldoon worked directly with the live client Mohawk, a global paper company with headquarters in upstate, New York.
"The Direct Effect Innovation Challenge with Mohawk was a marketing competition where students were tasked with developing a strategy to improve email opt-ins and engagement," said Brie Muldoon ’23. "The challenge brought students out of the classroom and allowed them to apply what they learned in an exciting way."
The students were on Zoom from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm to first hear a briefing about Mohawk’s marketing challenge and to then design and develop an integrated marketing solution. Student teams from a half dozen colleges across the U.S. had approximately three hours to brainstorm and work on their ideas and then presented their campaign concepts to the judges.
"I learned the different channels advertisers could use such as direct mail, e-mail, social media, and more," said Alex Arriola ‘23. "I enjoyed how realistic and professional the experience was in the Direct Effect Innovation Challenge."
Each Innovation Challenge provides college students with the opportunity to gain real-world experience, network with local employers, build their resumes, and compete for a chance to bring their campaigns to life. Through these immersive, hands-on events, students gain experience in designing and implementing an integrated marketing campaign.
"Upon graduation from Rosemont, I aspire to continue working in the technology industry and to work in product marketing for one of the Tech Giants," said Muldoon. "Since I love working with different people and designing a narrative that links the customer to the product, tech product marketing allows me to do just that on a global scale. Looking even further out, I’d want to work for a startup. To achieve these goals, it begins with competitions such as the Direct Effect Innovation Challenge."