Students create brandstorm in Paris

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An international competition, hosted by L'Oreal International in Paris last month, gave students from across the globe the opportunity to put their marketing knowledge and creative talent to the test, by developing their very own international marketing campaign. Two out of the eight AAA School of Advertising teams that entered were placed first and third respectively in the national final.

Over the past 14-years since the launch of this initiative, L'Oreal has had approximately 27 000 entrants. An outstanding 4400 participants from 200 universities in 35 countries took part in the 2007 competition and L'Oreal expects this number to keep growing.

Each year the students are challenged to develop a host of innovative ideas that revolve around an existing L'Oreal brand. The brand chosen for this year's competition was the Redken for Men range. Students were tested to the extreme and challenged to:

Develop a new product line
Develop an original concept and brand positioning strategy
Design the packaging
Create a unique communications campaign

“This is without a doubt an opportunity of a life time for any student, as it gives them a taste of what it is like to become a L'Oreal brand manager,” says Michele Venter-Davies, marketing faculty head of the Johannesburg campus. She continues, “This became a reality for our marketing faculty when eight teams of third-year students from the Johannesburg campus entered into the South African L'Oreal Brandstorm Competition.”

Challenged

The international competition was stiff and the AAA School of Advertising was challenged by teams from the UK, Portugal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Switzerland to name but a few. Internationally, SA secured fourth place in its pool.

The AAA team that took first place nationally was made up of students Wesson van Tonder, Chwayita Mandindi, Marise Mackay and Katlego Motseoakhumo, who were given the opportunity to represent AAA at the international finals in Paris. The team was accompanied by Venter-Davies and hosted by Nina Fredericks-Hannie of L'Oreal SA.

Van Tonder comments, “We were honoured to represent AAA and our country in this competition. The experience we gained was invaluable. We had the opportunity to share ideas and gain insight on global trends and practices.

“The standard of work from the participating countries, especially the Eastern teams was exceptionally high. Their attention to detail has taught us a lot and will stand us in good stead for future competitions.”

[30 Aug 2007 19:42]