Written by Sarah Kyle
Harding University’s American Marketing Association case team earned their place in the ranks at the AMA National Case Competition in New Orleans last Friday.
The team placed third out of 47 schools that participated in the competition, winning a cash prize of $1,500, which sponsor Lori Sloan said would be used to pay for travel expenses to the competition as well as a donation to a scholarship fund.
“The kids have decided to take about half of that money and put it back into marketing scholarships for HU marketing students,” Sloan said.
The team was also honored with the “Most Creative Fundraising Project” award.
Sloan said that this was the first time in 12 years that Harding’s AMA has placed in the competition.
“I can tell you that I was elated. When we made it past honorable mention and I realized that we were going to be third, second or first, I was so excited,” Sloan said. “And then when we were third, I was just bursting with excitement.”
The team, led by adjunct professor Reese Jones and sponsored by Sloan, presented a case study based on the UNICEF Tap Project. The Tap Project is a humanitarian effort to prevent deadly waterborne diseases by providing clean drinking water to those in need.
“They did extensive research to back up their ideas and their target market, and then they also did a sample fundraising idea for one week,” Sloan said.
The group decided to back up their fundraising ideas on Harding’s campus and raised over $1,300 for the project by selling tie-dyed T-shirts and root beer “on tap.”
Sloan said that the fundraiser’s success is partly attributed to the generosity of the Harding student body.
“It’s a great tribute to how Harding students are so in tune with helping others,” Sloan said.
This year’s AMA team was extremely dedicated, according to Sloan, who said that the students put extra effort into the Tap Project.
“I think the difference is the time the students spent on their research and that they actually implemented a fundraising idea on campus and were able to report how to make it happen,” Sloan said.
Sloan added that she and Jones could not be more proud of the team, made up of students Britni Camarate, Beth Featherstone, Hannah Brown, Jake Hodges and Brian Vershum. The team was also assisted by graduate Erica Greer and student Bethany Brown.
“These kids deserve their name in lights,” Sloan said.
