Bangor students pitch their way to success at Senedd challenge
The winning Bangor University team, Trifecta Marketing: L to R Chris Shenton, 25, Federica Gherardi, 23, Lucas Michaut, 22. A team of three students from the School of Psychology impressed a panel of Wales’ leading marketers with a winning business proposal at The Pitch recently (23 Feb), a challenge set by The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and Big Ideas Wales.
The team beat marketing students from across Wales, who presented their ideas for Big Ideas Wales, a Welsh Government-led campaign that aims to inspire young people to start their own businesses.
The students were given a detailed brief and asked to consider budgets, messaging and marketing tools in their presentations, to give them an understanding of a real-life business scenario.
The Bangor postgraduate Consumer Psychology students, Chris Shenton, 25, Federica Gherardi, 23, Lucas Michaut, 22 competed under the team name Trifecta Marketing Solutions. They presented their winning campaign, ‘Do it your way’ to the judges, looking at the four key entrepreneur personality traits: need for achievement; internal locus of Control; need for autonomy and risk-taker.
Their chosen key messages were: Risk – sometimes, you have to take a chance; Autonomy – I make my own choices; Control – I take the bull by the horns; Achievement – I’m always the front runner. The suggested “Do it your way” interactive web site linked to Facebook included user-generated video as well as a forum for advice and support from peers. Alongside their creative excellence they ensured the entire campaign was fully costed with SMART targets.
James Intriligator, the team's mentor and Senior Lecturer in Consumer Psychology at Bangor, said: "I'm delighted that the students from Bangor did so well against very difficult competition from other universities. Employability is a particular focus of the University and skills such as those gained in taking part in this event will be of great benefit to the students when they apply for jobs after leaving University."
Student Federica Gherardi, 23, said: “I’m delighted that the judges were impressed with our idea and winning the competition will certainly be a welcomed addition to my CV! The Pitch was a great opportunity to put the skills we’ve learned to the test and hopefully it’ll be a stepping stone to getting a job in the marketing industry.”
Richard Houdmont, Director for Wales of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: “Brolio/The Pitch was created to give marketing students in Wales the opportunity to use their skills in a real business context, which is invaluable experience when entering into a tough job market.
“Trifecta Marketing Solutions demonstrated creative flair, strategic thinking and financial expertise, and had the opportunity to showcase these skills to some of the industry’s biggest players.”
Alun Davies AM, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and European Programmes, spoke at the event. He added: “It was a pleasure to attend Brolio / The Pitch and to present the awards. I enjoyed listening to the pitches and was very impressed by the ideas of the young people who took part. The event presented an ideal opportunity for young people to share their talent and ideas for the Big Ideas Wales campaign.”
The judging panel included James Taylor, young entrepreneur and founder of SuperStars, Roger Pride, Managing Director at Cardiff & Co and Jade Bourke, Marketing Manager at DS Smith Recycling and winner of New Marketer at the 2011 Canmol: Wales Marketing Awards. The participating teams were presented with certificates, while the winning students each received 12 months CIM Affiliate Professional status.
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Publication date: 1 March 2012