June 29, 2007

WSBE students win marketing competition

DURHAM — A team of students from the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics has won a national marketing competition sponsored by Bausch & Lomb.

In selecting UNH as the winner of the Bausch & Lomb National Scholastic Achievement Award, the company will consider using the marketing and advertising plan developed by the UNH students to market laser eye surgery to college students nationwide. Bausch & Lomb manufactures a number of laser eye surgery products. The competition was sponsored by Bausch & Lomb and EdVenture Partners, which works with companies seeking to market their products to college students.

The students were charged with developing a marketing and advertising campaign to generate interest in eye surgery among college students. Specifically, the UNH students worked to promote the LASIK surgery at Clear Advantage Vision Correction Center in Portsmouth to their peers. Clear Advantage uses Bausch & Lomb's laser eye surgery products.

The students made their final presentation to Bausch & Lomb executives in Rochester, NY, competing against the other team of finalists, students from the University of Houston. Other semi-finalists were the University of South Carolina, San Jose State University, and California State University-Fullerton.

The 24 students involved in the competition used the marketing agency model to research, implement and evaluate their integrated marketing campaign. After presenting the concept to Bausch & Lomb and Clear Advantage, the students launched their advertising campaign on campus. The students received $2,500 from the company to assist them with their efforts.

"Marketing Workshop course projects, like the one sponsored by Bausch and Lomb, provide our students with a taste of what real-world marketing is all about. Having a project like this show up on the resumes of our students gives them a significant advantage in a very competitive job market," said Peter Masucci, adjunct professor of marketing at UNH.