Two Bryant teams finished as Top 5 finalists in the Fall 2021 Digital Marketing Competition, a contest where over 150 student teams from colleges across 5 continents competed to create and pitch a winning digital marketing plan for their real-life client, Wondr Health, and win a cash prize. Another Bryant team also came in 12th in the competition.
The Top 5 finishers from Bryant are studying in the University's Digital Marketing concentration, which was launched in 2019 and recently named the No.1 digital marketing program in the country by College Factual.
A health tech company, Wondr Health has created a digital weight loss program targeting millennials, an offering focused on behavioral change and the subject of the students' proposals.
“The fact that we had two Bryant teams in the finals is a testament to the hard work of our students and the rigor of the program.”
To compete in the finals, the teams uploaded an 8-minute video on their digital marketing plan for a panel of industry professionals to view. Once selected for the finals, they were given feedback and a total of 12-15 minutes to submit an updated proposal, which was followed by a live Q&A where they defended their ideas. The teams were judged on Research, Owned Strategy, Paid Strategy and Media & Evaluation. The panel included the marketing team at Wondr Health along with digital marketing professionals from Amplified Digital, Epsilon, Amazon Ads, and Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners.
Professor of Marketing Sharmin Attaran, Ph.D., a digital marketing expert and faculty lead for Bryant's digital marketing concentration, served as faculty advisor for the Bryant teams.
“I am so proud of our students. They not only developed strategic and creative campaigns for Wondr Health, but they also conducted research to back up their suggestions. The fact that we had two Bryant teams in the finals is a testament to the hard work of our students and the rigor of the program,” said Attaran.
“It was such an amazing experience,” says Lillian Adlaryan ’21, a Top 5 finalist and team leader who received the H. Daubek Excellence Award, given to the student that best exemplifies leadership and outstanding performance in the finals. In the process, she said she learned that marketers shouldn’t forget about a brand's values and identity while chasing revenue and conversions, knowledge she helped weave into her team's recommendations. “I think that the judges from Wondr Health really appreciated that,” said the senior, who feels “confident and prepared” for her upcoming career launch.
Fellow Top 5 finalists Cathryn Johnson ’22, Anya Ha '22, and Corey Hong '22 agreed that applying learnings from their courses in a real-world client project was an incredible learning opportunity.
“The digital marketing courses and concentration at Bryant do an excellent job of giving students real-world experiences and preparing them for a career in digital marketing.”
Hong added that the success of the Bryant competitors “speaks volumes to the learning experience we are receiving and how impactful the digital marketing concentration is at Bryant. The digital marketing courses and concentration at Bryant do an excellent job of giving students real-world experiences and preparing them for a career in digital marketing.”
Bryant students participate in the competition as part of the concentration's innovative Practicum course (MKT 481), where students enhance critical thinking skills in an experience that prepares them for a career in digital marketing, a growing field.
Read more about what students and alumni learned in the Practicum, and the industry-recognized certifications they earned in Google Analytics and Adwords, Hootsuite Social Marketing and more, in our story on last spring's competition that featured the beverage company Super Coffee.
