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Lindsey Wilson University Business Seniors Win National Marketing Competition

Project designed by Grace Adams, Allee Harris and Taylor Harvey used Barbie to help Lincoln Financial attract more clients from Gen Z and Millennial generations.

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (12/09/2025) — Three Lindsey Wilson University business administration seniors used one of the world's most recognizable popular culture icons to help them win a national marketing campaign for a major U.S. financial services company.

The trio of Grace Adams, Allee Harris and Taylor Harvey took first place in the Marketing Research Competition's undergraduate division. The Lindsey Wilson team finished first among 80 teams in the competition. A team from Providence College placed second, and a team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst finished third.

In addition to taking first place, the Lindsey Wilson team was also awarded a $2,000 prize.

After their proposal was selected as one of four finalists, the Lindsey Wilson team presented it via Zoom to a four-judge team on Dec. 5. The four judges included the president of Marketing Research Competition and three members of the project's client, Lincoln Financial.

The three students and their adviser were eagerly awaiting to hear the final results all day on Dec. 8.

"The wait was killing me," said business professor JC Phelps, who advised the group. "We were just living on edge all day."

Adams had nearly given up when she woke up from a nap around 9 p.m. CT and read the good news in an email from Marketing Research Competition.

"I thought I read it wrong. It was crazy," she said.

The email, which said the Lindsey Wilson group's presentation "stood out for its strategic insight and strong analysis," was followed up by an exchange of text messages between the three students and Phelps. The messages included celebratory emojis and photos, including a picture of DJ and record producer DJ Khaled with the words "All We Do Is Win."

"Their project demonstrated outstanding research design, data interpretation and presentation skills," said Phelps.

Barbie and finances

The competition centered on Lincoln Financial's goal of attracting more clients from the Gen Z and Millennial generations. In addition to their strong research and analysis, the Lindsey Wilson team's presentation caught the eye of the four judges because they used the doll Barbie, one of the most recognizable brands in the world, to deliver their marketing messages to help the Fortune 200 company attract new clients.

"The judges LOVED the Barbie recommendation," the congratulatory email from Marketing Research Competition read. "They were also impressed by your professionalism and depth of thinking."

Harvey said a revelatory moment led her to think about using Barbie to help Lincoln Financial realize its goals.

"I was sitting in class, and I had an epiphany. I was really dramatic about it," said Harvey, a Columbia resident who has an entrepreneurial management emphasis in business administration and a double major in Christian ministries. "I turned toward Allee and said, 'I have it. This is what we're going to do: Barbie. Barbie makes sense. We can target women, and it's also culturally relevant due to the success of the Barbie movie."

Harris said she liked the idea because it combined the familiar with a topic that often seems complicated to young adults.

"If you see a familiar campaign, you might be less intimidated," said Harris, a Harrodsburg, Kentucky, resident who has a management emphasis in business administration.

Adams said she also embraced the idea when her research showed that Lincoln Financial is being led by its first female CEO, Ellen G. Cooper.

"We really wanted to do something big," said Adams. "We wanted to take a big risk for a big reward."

Why didn't we think of that?

After the Lindsey Wilson team presented on Dec. 5, Phelps said he had a good feeling when he observed the judges' reactions.

"While they were presenting, I knew we'd won. No question," he said. "I think what was strong was the authority with which (the students) spoke. They also had such strong, original research. But the main thing I thought could not be beat were their campaigns using Barbie. It was executed from point A to point B, which is what a marketer should do. The level of finesse they showed was simply unbelievable."

Adams said she also felt pretty confident, especially because the judges didn't ask questions following their presentation, which included a color-coded planning document in Barbie pink and a Barbie Dream Car with a license plate that read "Lincoln."

"I've never had a presentation where no questions were asked. A lot of it was praise," said Adams, who is from Bethlehem, Kentucky, and has a marketing emphasis in business administration. "Even one judge (from Lincoln Financial) admitted that she had texted her marketing team telling them about the opportunity they had missed a couple years ago."

An additional strength of the Lindsey Wilson team was that it was made up of business administration majors from three emphases: entrepreneurial management, management and marketing.

"They all brought different skill sets to the team, which is another reason why I think we won," said Phelps.

Phelps said the Lindsey Wilson team's success on a national stage also gives the university a big boost.

"It's nice to see Lindsey on a list on top of national schools, especially when I think of the level of competition," he said. "This just shows my steadfast belief that students at Lindsey Wilson are as intelligent, as talented as students anywhere in the nation. They just may be more hard-working."

Adams said the results should also bolster Lindsey Wilson's online presence.

"I definitely think our search history went up a little bit," she said.

Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

Media Attachments

The Lindsey Wilson University team of, from left, Taylor Harvey of Columbia, Allee Harris of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and Grace Adams of Bethlehem, Kentucky, took first place in this fall’s Marketing Research Competition’s undergraduate division. The three business administration seniors proposed using the doll Barbie to help Lincoln Financial attract more clients from the Gen Z and Millennial generations.

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