Business students find themselves in the fast lane

A team of five Fairfield graduate students placed third in a marketing competition, beating out 65 other schools nationwide.

The purpose of the 2007 Chevrolet College Marketing Challenge was to create an advertising campaign for the company's new fuel-efficient cars. Pitches had to include a review of the established target market and a range of media elements.

The challenge was sponsored by National Adventure Partners, which links advertisers with colleges so that the agencies gain student insight while the graduates gain experience.

Both undergraduate and graduate students at these schools were given a three-week period to design and submit a campaign for the challenge. The five finalists, including Fairfield University's team, flew to Detroit earlier this month to present their ideas to senior Chevrolet management and agency representatives.

Click to watch a video from the challenge

Assistant Professor Christy Ashley had signed her classes up for the competition and gave them the option to become involved. She said her students' results exceeded her expectations.

"I wanted to just see what happened. … I hope that the class helped them understand the product and the goals," said Ashley. "When students take initiative, a lot of it is to their own credit. It was surprising, and it was exciting."

The Fairfield group was the only M.B.A team to go on to the finals. It included graduate students Andrew Raffellini, of Fairfield, Conn.; Michael Mondin, of Milford, Conn.; Robert Reh, of Westport, Conn.; Megan Mones, of Trumbull, Conn.; and Kimberly Thalmann, of Hoboken, N.J.

"We had a great team, and it was really enjoyable to work with everyone," said Thalmann. "This team was one of the best I have worked with."

She was not alone with this opinion.

"Overall, the experience was very rewarding. This contest helped me in connecting classroom experience to real world," said Raffellini.

The five teams of finalists, which includes King's College, Drexel University, the University of North Carolina- Greensboro and the University of West Florida, along with Fairfield, received scholarships of varying amounts.

Ashley said she is now looking forward to getting her classes engaged with a similar marketing challenge sponsored by Internet giant Google.

Fairfield was the only school to be represented twice in the top 10 slots of the contest.

Dean of the Dolan School of Business Norman Solomon said the achievement is a true reflection of the Fairfield community.

"Our students are very well rounded, both in terms of business knowledge and general education," said Solomon. "We walk the talk. People who have no interest in making us look good are saying that our students are doing well. We're genuine. The whole concept of learning with integrity is really what we do."