Point Park Students Compete in Pittsburgh American Marketing Association Collegiate Competition Friday, April 12, 2019

Point Park University undergraduate students Mason Akers, Justin Stengel and Rielly Truffa presented marketing plans for New York Life at the 2019 Pittsburgh American Marketing Association Collegiate Marketing Competition held April 5 on campus in West Penn Hall.

Paige Beal, MBA, assistant professor of sports, arts and entertainment management at Point Park, and Debbie DeLong, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing at Chatham University, served as co-chairs of the competition.

“Students had the opportunity to apply the introductory marketing knowledge they’ve been building this semester to an organization’s actual marketing challenge. Working with New York Life through the American Marketing Association supports Point Park’s focus on experiential learning and student engagement,” said Dorene Ciletti, Ph.D., associate professor of sales and marketing and the team's advisor.

“Our student team brought an interesting perspective to the marketing challenge with their diverse majors," she added.

Student teams were each asked to present a marketing plan to engage and recruit younger generations to work for New York Life while developiong strategies that would assist the company in overcoming the stigmas associated with the sales field.

“Our marketing plan focused on New York Life developing a brand ambassador program, with ambassadors around the same age as college students going to different college campuses and job fairs to build awareness and recruit Generation Z and Millennials to work for New York Life,” explained Mason Akers, a sophomore business management major from Everett Area High School in Everett, Pa.

Akers added: “I enjoyed presenting our plan to the judges, hearing their feedback on what they thought of our ideas and interacting with them on our thought process of this plan. Getting to showcase our ability and what we came up with up against other colleges was fun.”

Nine student teams from regional colleges including Messiah College, Robert Morris University, University of Mount Union, Slippery Rock University, Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh competed in this year's competition. 

“Our team's marketing plan really shined a light on the positives of working for New York Life. I enjoyed learning about the flexible work environment laid out by New York Life, as well as companies in similar industries, because I intend on starting a career that would offer a similar experience,” said Rielly Truffa, a junior information technology major and graduate of Pittsburgh Brashear High School.

Stengel, a junior criminal justice major from Carlynton Junior-Senior High School in Carnegie, Pa., added: “I enjoyed researching the various statistics and trends of the different generations. This competition was a great experience to be part of because it gave me a glimpse of the thoughts and ideas of future marketers.”

More About: Pittsburgh Brashear High School, business management, student competition, Rowland School of Business, criminal justice, information technology, Carlynton Junior-Senior High School, Downtown Pittsburgh