Spring 2026 Digital Marketing Competition Finalists Announced
April 2, 2026 – We’re proud to announce the finalists for the Spring 2026 Digital Marketing Competition. These student teams have earned a spot in the finals and will present their campaigns on April 12th.
This semester’s challenge focused on Frozen Garden, a frozen smoothie e-commerce brand. Allyson Straka, CEO of Frozen Garden, tasked students with creating a digital marketing strategy aimed at a new target audience, including creative concepts and a plan to execute the campaign. Allyson shared, “We have been so impressed with the quality of work from all the teams, and it was a difficult task to narrow it down to just six finalists. I am really excited to see how these teams take our feedback and refine their strategies for the final round. We are currently in the process of building out our internal marketing team, so the timing is perfect to start executing on some of these fresh ideas and perspectives.
Participation reached a new milestone this semester, with a record-setting 295 entries representing our most diverse field to date. Undergraduate teams from around the world developed strategies centered on identifying new target markets for Frozen Garden, showing a strong understanding of audience expansion and how modern food e-commerce brands can grow through sharper customer focus. These finalists stood out for their strategic thinking, fresh ideas, and ability to translate new market opportunities into actionable digital marketing plans.
The student teams who will be presenting at the finals are:
FINALISTS (Alphabetical order)
- Team Leila Alvarado (Mississippi State University) – U.S.
- Team Isabel Ham (University of San Diego) – U.S.
- Team George LaForce (Western Michigan University) – U.S.
- Team Sydney O’Shea (Bryant University) – US
- Team Aro Rahajary (MCCI Business School partnership IAE Angers) – Mauritius/France
- Team Diya Sinkar (Rutgers Univ. New Brunswick) – U.S.
ALTERNATES (If a finalist can’t compete, we will contact the following two teams within the next 72 hours)
- First alternate: Team Leela Goo (University of Hawaii at Manoa) – U.S.
- Second alternate: Team Ryker Demarest (University of Vermont) – U.S.
In addition to those that made the finals, the judges wanted to call attention to the teams that rounded out the top 30:
REST OF THE TOP 30 TEAMS
- 9th Team Allie Davis
- 10th Team KC Aipoalani
- 11th Team Gillian Gold
- 12th Team Alice Perrier
- 13th Team Emma Ostrowski
- 14th Team Jesselyn Felicia
- 15th Team Xin Yi Mook
- 16th Team Reyna Hernández Chacón
- 17th Team Journey Creten
- 18th Team Valeria Michelle Luis López
- 19th Team Brenna Leeds
- 20th Team Phoebe Snow
- 21st Team Earl Denis
- 22nd Team Lore Olakunle
- 23rd Team Kelly Eppenstein
- 24th Team Lexi Lund
- 25th Team Brian Khor Wei Yi
- 26th Team Oscar Pinal-Rivera
- 27th Team Bailey Kogel
- 28th Team Lindsay Krieger
- 29th Team Sarah Kraus
- 30th Team Abrielle Echols
Congratulations to all of the teams that competed this spring. The Fall 2026 Digital Marketing Competition will launch in August and we hope you’ll participate again.
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For further details, visit: www.DigitalMarketingCompetition.com
For questions about the competition, please contact:
Matt Hanson
2200 169th Street, Anderson 382
Hammond, IN 46323
Phone: 219-613-8104
Email: Matt[at]DigitalMarketingCompetition.com
