Xavier student places first in national pitch for corporate marketing solutions

13th February 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Tia Alphonse
Contributing Writer

Finding the winning pitch, Ayanna Robertson conceived an idea to unite people through music. In 2016, Ketchum, one of the largest public relations and marketing firms in the world, challenged university students to find solutions to global questions through its Mindfire program. Robertson, a Xavier University junior, pitched an idea for a benefit concert to promote a transportation start-up firm for an upcoming test demonstration for one of its projects. Robertson’s idea was one of eight chosen as a national winning idea in December of 2016, and her pitch was first place in her category.

“I know that music brings people together, but I wanted to know if it could actually have an impact,” said Robertson, who is a mass communication major at Xavier.

Ketchum conceived the Mindfire challenge to get college students to consider “creative solutions for real business challenges” for Ket-chum’s Fortune 500 clients, ac-cording to the company’s official statement on the program. In exchange for the student’s ideas, the program offers cash prizes, career coaching, jobs, and internships.

In Robertson’s case, she won a $100 cash prize and her idea was selected by the Los Angeles-based Hyperloop.

In developing her successful idea, Robertson said she conducted research on successful music fund-raisers, specifically the Hope for Haiti Now benefit concert that raised money to help Haitians after the 2010 earthquake. The concert was successful and helped bring more awareness to the disaster, she said.

“I noticed they brought in millions of dollars on the first night,” Robertson said about the benefit concert.

Robertson’s idea was to bring artists from different parts of the world together to unite fans of different music genres, she said. She proposes that the concert would bring everyone together in a central location to launch Hyperloop’s first test demonstration of their tube-based transportation system. Hyperloop’s benefit concert would promote the ideals of Hyperloop’s slogan: “Be anywhere. Move anything. Connect anyone,” she said.

“No matter where you are in the world, you can move people and touch them,” Robertson said. “Also, music connects people,” she added.

Robertson’s father Clyde Robertson said he always taught his daughter to be dedicated to herself, family, tasks, and the community. These values, he said, have allowed her to achieve much success.

“She has all of her life seen people strive for success and achieve success,” he said.

Robertson said it was through Xavier’s mass communication program, that she was prepared to compete with other students around the country, and eventually the world. She references the program’s small size and one-on-one attention with professors.

“I feel like they prepare us because they really care,” she said. “Since this is a small program, we really have direct attention on each one of us.”

Through working with Sheryl Kennedy Haydel, an assistant professor of mass communication at Xavier University of Louisiana, Robertson developed her pitch as part of Kennedy Haydel’s strategic communication course.

“Ayanna has grown significantly during our time together,” Kennedy Haydel said. “I have watched her evolve from someone unsure of herself into someone who enjoys critical thinking and using research to support her ideas. It’s been a pleasure to watch,” Kennedy Haydel said about Robertson’s progression as a student.

Robertson’s win is a significant accomplishment for her, because it allows students at even the smallest of programs at historically Black universities to see that they can compete and win in international competitions.

“Winning a Mindfire challenge our first year participating was like winning a championship game,” Kennedy Haydel said. “Ayanna had solid national competition from universities with more Mindfire experience and university resources than us, but she found a way to excel and rise to the top,” Kennedy Haydel said of Robertson’s accomplishment. “We are small, but mighty,” she added.

This article originally published in the February 13, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.