By Mike Greife,
November 18, 2015
WARRENSBURG, MO – A team of two marketing students from the University of Central
Missouri claimed the top award in the 2015 State Farm® Marketing and Sales Competition
Friday, Nov. 13, at UCM.
Kylie Marconnet, a marketing major from Maysville, Mo., and Robert Hughey, a marketing
major from Overland Park, Kan., claimed the Team Competition award, competing against
teams from 11 schools from across the country. The annual competition is hosted by
the UCM Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies in cooperation with State
Farm. Ginger Killian, assistant professor of marketing, is advisor for the team.
As winners of the Team Competition, the UCM team accumulated the highest combined
scores in the Marketing Presentation and Sales Role Play competitions. Marconnet and
Hughey placed first in Marketing Presentation. Hughey placed first in the Sales Role
Play competition and Marconnet received third place.
Combined Competition winners were determined by combining a student’s first- and second-round
Sales Role Play score with his or her team Marketing Presentation score. Hughey also
placed first in the Combined Competition, with Marconnet placing second. Hughey and
Marconnet received combined awards of $14,500.
The Team Award was presented to the two students from the university with the highest
combined student scores from the Marketing Presentation and Sales Role Play competitions.
Although there was no monetary award in this category, students received a trophy
to take back to their school.
“I am extremely proud of Kylie and Robert,” Killian said. “Their hard work and preparation
truly paid off. It was a tremendous honor to work with these two outstanding individuals
and watch them showcase their skills and represent UCM.”
Also participating in the competition were teams from Arizona State University, Duquesne
University, University of Georgia, University of Houston, University of Minnesota,
University of Missouri, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, Texas
State University, Wake Forest University and Western Michigan University.
Also placing in the competition were:
-Marketing Presentation: Emily Martin and Jake Vasquez, University of Oregon, second
place, $3,000 award; Sam Bell and Lauren Bone, Western Michigan University, third
place, $1,500 award.
-Sales Role Play competition: Lauren Bone, Western Michigan University, second place,
$2,500 award.
-Combined competition: Lauren Bone, Western Michigan University, third place, $500
award.
The State Farm Marketing and Sales Competition originated in 2010 with a gift from
State Farm to the UCM Alumni Foundation. Hosted annually by UCM, the event offers
an opportunity for the best and brightest marketing students to test their individual
and team marketing skills by competing with peers from universities from across the
United States.
For more information about the State Farm Sales and Marketing Competition, contact
Charles Schwepker, UCM professor of marketing, at 660-543-8554, or schwepker@ucmo.edu.
