Liquid recently concluded the ninth annual Liquid Digital Marketing Award competition, a special event that allows Kutztown University students to apply their digital marketing know-how.
About the Competition
Each year, Liquid partners with one of our clients to present Kutztown University students with a real-world challenge that they must respond to with a digital marketing campaign.
Students first submit a written campaign plan, which includes goals, target audiences, identification of campaign channels and how they will be used, and lastly, how they plan to measure the campaign to show impact. Three finalists are chosen by Kutztown University faculty who then move onto a final round in which they present and do Q&A with a panel made up of subject matter experts from Liquid and our client.
An exciting change to this year’s competition is that students worked in teams, giving them an opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate on their plans.
It’s ultimately up to the panel to determine which of the three, in this year’s case, teams of finalists wins the competition and receives a monetary prize.
This Year’s Competition
This year, Liquid partnered with Insomnia Cookies, a popular bakery chain known for delivering warm, freshly baked cookies, baked goods, and ice cream late into the night. Founded in 2003 by University of Pennsylvania students, the brand has grown from a dorm room operation to over 265 locations across the United States. Students were challenged to grow awareness and sales of their Cookie’wich menu item, featuring ice cream in between 2 warm cookies.
For their presentations, students built presentation decks further expanding on their previously submitted plans and including lots of examples that they walked all of the attendees through. The Liquid and Insomnia Cookies teams then had an opportunity to ask the students questions about their strategic thinking, their research, and their overall thoughts on this campaign.
About Liquid and Kutztown
Liquid has had a relationship with Kutztown University for years. We have many Kutztown University alumni among our team and Liquid’s internship program has seen a number of Kutztown University students across all of our departments. Our CEO, Jim Ludlow, serves on the Council of Trustees, and our team members have had an opportunity to share thoughts and feedback.
This competition gives students an opportunity to put their classroom skills to the test, think outside the box, and meet and network with agency and business professionals. We’re fortunate to be located so close to the campus, allowing us to provide students with hands-on experiences like this.
Thank You
The Liquid team would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helps to make this competition possible every year, including the Insomnia Cookies team with special thanks to our guest judge Kelsey Tschoepe; Kutztown University’s College of Business’ Dean Dr. Anne Carroll, Associate Dean Dr. Chali Nondo, Department Chair Dr. Gary Chao and professor Dr. Kibum Youn; and the Kutztown University Foundation.
And congratulations to all of this year’s finalists, including our winning team made up of students Nicholas Bodon, Bridget Curtis, Amanda Gravatt, Jacob Sopko, and Katelyn Stuhldreher. All seniors, the team shared that this project was a fun way to help bring their time at Kutztown University and in the College of Business to a close.
Previous Winners
In 2023, we collaborated with our client Essity, a leading global hygiene and health company with over 40 brands. Students had an opportunity to get to know and build a strategy for Essity’s brand Leukoplast. This year’s competition asked students to build a targeted campaign plan for athletic trainers and Leukoplast’s products that serve high school, college, and professional athletes.
In 2022, Liquid partnered with Just Born, a family-owned candy manufacturer that has been in business since 1923. For the competition, students were asked to create a digital marketing campaign plan for PEEPS® promoting their PEEPSONALITY® LIVE! series. Hats off to Elisha Cruz, our 2022 winner, for her creative ideas and polished presentation.
In 2021, our client Blue Ridge, a regional internet and TV provider that’s been at the forefront of communication technology since the 1950s, partnered with us. Students were asked to create a digital marketing campaign plan promoting their soon-to-be-launched TV product. Congrats to our 2021 winner, Brittany Arentz, who virtually presented her campaign plan to the Liquid and Blue Ridge teams.
In 2020, Liquid partnered with our client Univest Bank and Trust Co., a regional bank with a rich, 143-year history. Students were asked to create a digital marketing campaign plan focused on new customer acquisition for Univest. Congratulations to our 2020 winner, Briana Iannelli, who virtually presented her campaign plan to the Liquid and Univest teams.