University of New Mexico Marketing Students Win Acura ILX Marketing Challenge

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., June 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Undergraduate marketing students from The University of New Mexico (UNM) Anderson School of Management took top honors in the Acura ILX Marketing Challenge, a national student marketing competition sponsored by Acura and managed by EdVenture Partners.

Student teams were tasked with educating consumers on the features and benefits of the 2019 Acura ILX, increasing purchase consideration of the sport sedan, and boosting perception of Acura as an innovative, youthful brand. To address the challenge, students in UNM's advertising campaigns class developed and executed a campaign which invited the millennial car consumer to take a second, deeper look at Acura's premium compact sedan. The "Made You Look" campaign included digital video, digital signage, and social media activations across multiple platforms. In addition, students staged two experiential events where attendees connected with the Acura brand and got a first-hand look at the 2019 ILX.

The winning UNM team of Adam Biederwolf, Elena Garcia, Dylan Greenhaus, Zach Harper, and Marisa Montes competed in the finals against students from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Rhode Island. The team presented to Acura executives and leadership on May 29, 2019 in Torrance, California.

"Never a university to disappoint the judges or the audience, the UNM 'Made You Look' campaign was just plain brilliant," said Tony Sgro, CEO of EdVenture Partners. "The award-winning team of highly prepared and confident marketing students built a strong case using impressive research, superb creative and high production value videos that made the judges' job easy, selecting them to fill the No. 1 spot on the podium out of 20 U.S. universities that participated in the Acura ILX Marketing Challenge. It just doesn't get any better than what we saw."

The two-month campaign generated almost 1 million impressions, increased awareness of the ILX by 600%, and boosted purchase consideration of the model by 550% among 18- to 37-year-olds.

The winning team was mentored by Anderson professors John Benavidez and Nick Flor. The win builds upon UNM's long history of excellence in marketing and competition-based learning. Since 2005, the marketing program has earned eight first-place honors, five second-place finishes and two honorable mentions in national collegiate competitions.

"The continuing success of our marketing teams is a testament to the quality of the faculty and students in the program," says Interim Dean Shawn Berman. "Through participation in unique industry-education initiatives such as this one, our students are acquiring the hard and soft skills sought after by local and national employers."

The first-place award comes with a cash prize of $5,000. The money will help support the Rick and Debbie Johnson Marketing Lab, a state-of-the-art learning studio for students enrolled in upper-division marketing courses at the Anderson School.

To view the "Made You Look" campaign materials, visit https://creativecampus.unm.edu/gallery.html.

About Anderson School of Management at The University of New Mexico
The Anderson School of Management at The University of New Mexico is dedicated to excellence in professional management education. At Anderson, faculty, staff, and students are committed to shaping the intellect and character of the next generation of business leaders, advancing the knowledge and practice of management, promoting economic development, and building a vibrant intellectual community that serves the highest and best interests of all our stakeholders.

The School was founded in 1947, and named for New Mexico oil man and longtime ARCO/Atlantic Richfield CEO, Robert O. Anderson in 1974. Anderson offers more than a dozen concentrations at the BBA and MBA levels and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) - only 20% of the nation's top business schools have earned this prestigious designation. The School is funded by the State of New Mexico and further support is generated by Anderson School of Management Foundation. For more information, the public can visit mgt.unm.edu, email info@mgt.unm.edu, or call (505) 277-6471.

About Acura
Acura is a leading automotive luxury nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to evocative styling, high performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. The Acura lineup features six distinctive models – the RLX premium luxury sedan, the TLX performance luxury sedan, the ILX sport sedan, the five-passenger RDX luxury crossover SUV, the seven-passenger Acura MDX, America's all-time best-selling three-row luxury SUV, and the next-generation, electrified NSX supercar.

Five of the six models in the Acura lineup are made in central Ohio, using domestic and globally-sourced parts, including the ILX and TLX luxury sports sedans (Marysville Auto Plant), the RDX and MDX luxury SUVs (East Liberty Auto Plant) and the Acura NSX supercar, which is built to order at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio.

Additional media information including pricing, features & specifications and high-resolution photography is available at AcuraNews.com. Consumer information is available at Acura.com.
Follow Acura on social media at Acura.us/SocialChannels.

About EdVenture Partners
EdVenture Partners is an organization dedicated to developing innovative industry-education partnership programs. These experiential learning opportunities provide hands-on, real-world experience to students in tandem with providing marketing, recruiting and social impact solutions at colleges, universities and high schools to clients. EdVenture Partners has designed and managed programs at over 800 schools in North America and internationally.

Find out more at
Website: http://www.edventurepartners.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edventure.Partners
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edventure-partners

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/university-of-new-mexico-marketing-students-win-acura-ilx-marketing-challenge-300864873.html

SOURCE UNM Anderson School of Management