A team of Lindenwood University students enrolled in Creative Advertising Concepts placed first at the Mid America Chevy Marketing Competition on December 7 at the St. Louis Auto Dealers Association building. The competition offered students a platform to showcase their skills in a professional environment.

The goal of the competition was to reinforce Chevy as a luxurious and technologically advanced brand. In doing so, Lindenwood students created awareness and educated the public about Chevy products.

Each student-led team developed a campaign to present to Mid America Chevrolet Dealers that can then market the campaign to an audience of 22-26-year-olds. Lindenwood’s team, which included senior Yosef Ngowe and junior Paige Lampin, formed a campaign called “All Trax Lead Home.” Lindenwood’s team also included juniors Jordi Praska, Madi McGee, Joseph Blair, Cate Cato, and Amber Pedersen, as well as seniors Maddie Wahl, Noelle Defabio, Jacob Widemann, and Jason Auer. Ayrianna Dixon, who graduated from Lindenwood last spring, also was a member of the team.

Through extensive research, the team of Lindenwood students found that price, safety, technology, and cargo were all vehicle “musts” for its targeted audience. Additionally, the team featured footprints – defined areas the brand uses to interact with current and potential customers – at fictitious Cardinals and Blues games. For example, during Cardinals games, the team chose the theme of “All Trax Lead to Home Plate,” while it used “All Trax Lead to Protecting the House” for Blues games.

Lindenwood’s team of students won the competition because of several factors. According to the judges, Lindenwood’s team understood its target audience and how to best gain and hold their attention. Also, its “All Trax Lead Home” campaign aligned with the team’s ideal vehicle for its target audience. Finally, the judges liked the team’s overall enthusiasm when it initially pitched its campaign idea.

“Having the opportunity to represent a brand like Chevrolet while applying what we learned in class was a uniquely valuable experience for all of us,” Ngowe said.

Throughout the entire process – from initial research to mapping out the campaign – Lindenwood marketing students immersed themselves in a real-world situation and leaned on what they learned in the classroom. This experience provides each Lindenwood student with additional confidence they can use to help them succeed in their professional endeavors.

“The competition was a challenging but awesome experience that allowed us the opportunity to work as a team and gain real-world, hands-on experience to prepare us for success as we look to start our careers after graduation,” Lampin said. “Winning the competition was the icing on top!”