Elon students have won four of the past 10 competitions, making the university the most successful participant in the program for Fall 2014.
Colin Langham is a major in Strategic Communications.[/caption]Elon University student Colin Langham has won Ketchum’s Mindfire Challenge as part of his Public Relations and Civic Responsibility course in the fall.
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.
Langham’s idea for a campaign for a global financial institution was selected as the best for December. Langham, an strategic communications major with minors in psychology and statistics, received $100 from the client sponsoring the challenge. Because of confidentiality issues, details about the client or Langham’s concept cannot be disclosed.
“Colin’s idea was innovative regarding how to increase the financial organization’s social responsibility efforts in a European country,” Assistant professor Vanessa Bravo said. “I am happy because he won this challenge, but I am even more pleased because the Mindfire Challenge allows students to think about public relations situations that real companies have, not only in the United States, but internationally as well.”
Elon students have done very well in Ketchum’s Mindfire Challenge. In the last 10 challenges, there have been four Elon winners, including Langham: Simone Jackson, Lauren Snow and Ingrid Frahm.
The Mindfire Challenge was named 2012 PR Product of the Year by the Holmes Report. Fortune 500 clients that have participated in this initiative include FedEx, IKEA, Frito-Lay, Wendy’s, Hertz, Mattel and Nokia.