Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) Announces 2009 Collegiate Echo Winners

August 10, 2009 — The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) has announced the winners of the 2009 DMEF Collegiate ECHO Awards: The University of Georgia (undergraduate team), and Eastern Michigan University (graduate team). This direct/interactive marketing competition was conducted during the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semesters and attracted entries from colleges nationwide.

This year’s Collegiate ECHO challenge was to create a $300,000 innovative and integrated multichannel campaign, targeting the parents of school-aged children in grades 3-6, that included web and viral marketing, blogs, social networks or other media.

To help enhance the overall learning experience for the students, DMEF partnered with NextMark to provide the competing teams with free access to their List Research System. This system, used by practitioners and major businesses, is a list selection tool that is used for direct marketing campaigns. Since 2004, more than 2,600 students have used the system.

“Students really are the experts when it comes to digital marketing today,” said Terri L. Bartlett, DMEF president. “DMEF’s Collegiate ECHO Challenge is the opportunity to tap into this wealth of knowledge. It offers innovative solutions, fresh ideas, and real-world business experience that go beyond the classroom.”

“The challenge encouraged and guided the students to think strategically in this world of interactive marketing,” said Jooyoung Kim, faculty advisor to the University of Georgia’s winning team. “It was a great teaching tool where students worked for a real client, and the case was both realistic and fun for the students to work on. We are so appreciative to DMEF for making this opportunity available to students.”

“DMEF’s Collegiate ECHO Awards competition provides an outstanding and challenging real life learning opportunity for students in Eastern Michigan’s Integrated Marketing Communication’s master’s degree program,” said David W. Marold, faculty advisor to Eastern Michigan University’s winning team. “Having worked in direct marketing for more than 25 years and been an ECHO award judge, I can vouch that the campaigns developed by many of the student teams are on par with major agency campaigns. On behalf of the students, myself, and Eastern Michigan University, we thank DMEF for sponsoring this invaluable competition.”

Winners of DMEF’s 2009 Collegiate ECHO Awards:

Undergraduate Teams

· Gold — University of Georgia

· Silver — University of Georgia

· Bronze — Temple University

Graduate Teams

· Gold — Eastern Michigan University

· Silver — Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College

· Bronze — Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College

Eligible team members receiving the Gold award will attend DMA’s DMA09 Conference & Exhibition, The Global Event for Integrated Marketing, being held from October 17-22 in San Diego, California. They will also be presented with trophies at the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) International ECHO Awards ceremony and gala on Tuesday, October 20. The prize includes transportation, accommodations, and attendance at DMA09.

Past Collegiate ECHO Competition sponsors, during its 23 year history, have included such prestigious companies as: Pitney Bowes; United States Postal Service; ING DIRECT; Publishers Clearing House; Mazda North American Operations; Bank One; Ford Motor Company; and Hallmark Cards.

About Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF)

Headquartered in New York City, the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) works to attract, educate, and place top college students in the business of direct/interactive marketing and, thereby, expanding and enriching the talent pool of trained, market-ready direct marketers. Established in 1966 by members of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) who wanted to give something back to the community, DMEF is today a separate, 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that is supported solely by tax-deductible contributions from individuals, companies, and regional clubs and associations. Funds raised go toward a broad range of world-class educational programs.

Since its founding, thousands of students have taken advantage of DMEF’s educational programs, entering the field with the competitive edge of being “workplace-ready.” Many have gone on to become today’s direct marketing leaders, an indication of the Foundation’s success. In addition, more than 1,800 professors have participated in DMEF programs. Thanks in significant part to the Foundation’s four decades of work, today approximately 255 colleges and universities offer courses in direct/interactive marketing, 31 of which now offer specific direct marketing degrees and certificate programs. For additional information about the DMEF, its mission, and its programs, visit www.directworks.org.

About DMA’s International ECHO Awards

Introduced in 1929 as the “Best in Direct Mail” contest, the DMA International ECHO Awards honor excellence in creativity, marketing strategy, and response results in direct marketing campaigns. With over 1,000 entries submitted by direct response agencies worldwide, DMA’s annual ECHO Awards recognize every type of media used in direct and interactive marketing campaigns.

For more information about the International ECHO Awards, which will be presented on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, during the DMA09 Conference & Exhibition, please visit www.dma-echo.org. To register or for additional information about DMA09, being held October 17 – 22 in San Diego, please visit www.dma09.org.

# # #