A team of four students representing Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business recently received one of the top honors while competing in the 2011 Direct Marketing Educational Foundation’s Collegiate ECHO Direct/Interactive Marketing Challenge.

OSU students Chase Blackstock, Jared Eichler, Jeremy French and Rachel Hoelscher were presented the Silver Award (second place) in the undergraduate division during the 2011 competition, which was conducted during the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters. Teams representing 133 schools participated in the challenge.

The four members of the Oklahoma State team will split a cash prize of $1,000, and a $2,500 scholarship will be awarded to OSU marketing department.

"I am very proud of these outstanding, talented marketing students for their achievement in the DMEF competition,” said Marlys Mason, associate professor of marketing. “Not only did they tackle this challenge with enthusiasm and professionalism, but also with a true desire to make a positive difference in the world.

“Their success will also brighten the lives of some future OSU marketing students through their winning scholarship funds.”

Conducted since 1986, the DMEF Collegiate ECHO Challenge has provided college students with real-world experience by challenging them to create a marketing campaign for an actual product or service.

The challenge for all of the participating students was to create a marketing campaign for a non-profit organization called charity: water, which brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Each team, working with a theoretical budget of $10,000, was challenged to increase brand awareness and engagement with the college student demographic. Teams were encouraged to use direct/interactive media channels, especially in the social media and digital arenas.

Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va., received the Gold Award in the undergraduate competition, OSU earned Silver and Indiana University-South Bend won Bronze.

All of the top three teams in both the undergraduate and graduate competition will be recognized at the International ECHO Awards on Oct. 4, during the DMA 2011 Conference & Exhibition being held in Boston.