Students' Marketing Consultancy Projects Win Commendations
Claudia Ho
90 students taking the course "Advanced Marketing Seminar" offered by CityU's Department of Marketing formed themselves into 16 teams to provide professional consultancy services for the four corporations, from January to April this year. At the award presentation ceremony, while a champion team was awarded by each company; Ming Pao Magazine Limited offered championship to two teams. In addition, a team was awarded first runner-up by TCL Retail (HK) Limited.
The projects demonstrate that CityU not only emphasizes professional education but also helps students put theories into practice.
For Lee Kum Kee (Hong Kong) Limited, three teams of students were assigned to evaluate the potential of the sauce gift-pack market and to recommend new product promotion strategies. Mr George Go, General Manager (Sales & Marketing, Hong Kong & Macau) of Lee Kum Kee (Hong Kong ) Limited, highly appreciated the strong business sense, superb presentation and analytical skills of the students. Mr Go said, "The students managed to present all the core things within a short oral presentation. They have demonstrated a strong business sense on running a series of marketing campaigns and even running a business. In the written report, they also delivered a very detailed analysis, backed up with data and financial budget."
Four teams of students worked on the Ming Pao Magazines Limited projects. One team conducted marketing researches to evaluate the kid media market and the needs of City Children Weekly's readers and their parents. Another team formulated practical recommendations for Hi-Tech Weekly to target IT magazine readers and forecast market trends of IT magazines in the coming two years. The third team helped to evaluate the feasibility of an edition of Ming Pao Weekly for young readers. The fourth team helped to analyze the influence of the Chinese community in the world and the readership of Yazhou Zhoukan.
Ms Sandy Ho, Marketing Director of Ming Pao Magazines Limited, commented, "This is the third year that our company collaborated with CityU's Department of Marketing to conduct marketing research projects. This year, again, we found the students' recommendations creative and practical. We thank them for their relentless efforts, devotion and professionalism. We look forward to continuing participating in the Marketing Consultancy Projects in the future."
Four groups of students were assigned to conduct in-depth research and analysis on the business strategies and positioning of Nu Health & Beauty Shop Limited, a fast-growing health and skincare company. The strategies covered brand building, loyalty building and product promotion.
Mr C Y Fu, Managing Director for Nu Health & Beauty Shop Limited, highly appreciated the professional attitude and excellent interpersonal skills of the marketing students. "The students' ideas were well presented. My colleagues and I gained valuable marketing insights from their reports. I was also impressed by their mature and responsible attitude," Mr Fu said.
For TCL Retail (HK) Limited (TCL), students were involved in research projects on TCL's competitor in the CRT and LCD TV market, purchasing factors for mobile phones and an evaluation on TCL TV's after-sales service in Hong Kong. TCL's General Manager, Mr Li Xiao Jun, complimented the students for capturing sharp consumer insights through a wide-range of qualitative and quantitative researches, and deriving clear and up-to-date recommendations for respective projects. "The students demonstrated great enthusiasm and dedication to the projects. We enjoyed working with them very much because they were well prepared and were always ready to take up responsibilities," said Mr Li.
The Department of Marketing also presented the Active Learning Awards at the ceremony. Aimed at enhancing students' analytic and writing skills, the awards were granted to those who have submitted a wide range of self-initiated work (such as reports on academic journals, TV programs and business leader seminars) apart from regular coursework. This year, 40 third year students received the honor, among them, three were granted the Super Active Learner Scholarships; and three first year students were granted the Active Learner Awards.