Manship senior wins Ketchum’s Mindfire Advil Big Switch Campaign Challenge
03/16/2016
LSU senior Hannah McLain has won Ketchum’s Mindfire Advil Big Switch Campaign Challenge. McLain’s idea was selected as the best out of submissions from students from 50 of the top universities from around the world. McLain is a Baton Rouge, La. native and the second LSU School of Mass Communication student to win a Ketchum Mindfire Challenge.
The Mindfire Challenge is a program developed by Ketchum (an international public relations agency with offices in 70 countries) in which college students throughout the United States and abroad submit ideas to help solve the business challenges of different Ketchum clients. Mindfire has brought innovative ideas to Ketchum clients such as IKEA, FedEx, Frito-Lay, Wendy’s, Hertz, White Wave Foods and more.
Ketchum posts several weekly challenges related to clients’ campaigns—the confidential details are available only on a password-protected website. Students (up to 20 per school) can post short responses and weigh in on other participants’ suggestions. Winners accrue points they can redeem for career coaching, job training, and cash prizes.
McLain was invited to participate through MC 4005, a senior-level public relations course focusing on public relations campaigns taught by Jensen Moore.
“We’re required to do four Mindfire Challenges for our public relations campaigns capstone course,” said McLain. “There are a huge range of topics and we choose the ones we have the best idea for or those that work best with our schedule.”
Because of confidentiality issues, details about the McLain’s idea for the Advil Big Switch Campaign Challenge cannot be disclosed, but the challenge dealt with creating a holistic campaign for the company.
“I was surprised and excited when I found out I won,” said McLain. “I wanted to put forth an idea that represented LSU well because we can see all the other responses from students at other schools on the MIndfire website,” she said. “It was great to have my idea recognized.”
In exchange for her creative ideas and energy McLain will receive a $100 prize. All Mindfire challenges and ideas are confidential, making the community a trusted, real-time resource for clients.
About Mindfire
Ketchum’s Mindfire crowdsourcing site allows graduate and undergraduate students with communications and digital skills from leading universities in the U.S., the U.K. and Asia to participate in an open innovation community, where real challenges facing Ketchum and its clients are posted for students to tackle, alone or collaboratively.
About Ketchum
Ketchum is a leading global communications firm with operations in more than 70 countriesacross six continents. Named 2012 PR Agency of the Year ( PRWeek ) and the winner of an unprecedented three consecutive PRWeek Campaign of the Year Awards, Ketchum partners withclients to deliver strategic programming, game-changing creative and measurable results that build brands and reputations.