Seven outstanding marketing student teams from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) received the Student Marketing Consultancy Projects Awards on 29 May. They were among more than 100 Year 3 students from the Department of Marketing, who conducted marketing research and delivered business proposals to a number of local and international corporations between February and April.

With their professional analysis, boundless creativity and outstanding communication skills, the students developed cost-effective marketing strategies for various corporations. Their promotion strategies, employing various public relations events and marketing channels, also earned commendations from corporations.

Divided into 14 teams, the students acted as consultants to conduct research on behalf of the corporations. Research areas included brand image rejuvenation, new market development, competition strategy, consumer behaviour and marketing strategy design. To collect comprehensive market data, they adopted a mix of conventional and creative research methods. As well as focus groups, questionnaires and field studies, they also posed as customers and attended industry workshops. They applied their professional knowledge and creative ideas to marketing research and consultancy projects as they explored a range of business opportunities.

The participating corporations included The Link Management, Wyeth (HK), Citizen Watches (HK), General Mills Foods Asia, KOSé (HK), alain mikli and Otsuka Pharmaceutical (HK). Corporate executives were full of praise for the students’ performance, pointing out that they could provide professional marketing proposals to help corporations enhance business performance. They commended the students’ enthusiasm and attentiveness as comparable to standards expected from professional consultants, reflecting well upon the training provided by CityU.

"By applying theories to business and learning through actual practice, students experienced the real-life professional environment and helped prepare themselves for their future career," said Dr Su Chenting, Head of the Department of Marketing. "The objective analyses and insightful suggestions in their business reports made me proud!"

The Department of Marketing also presented the Active Learning Award during the ceremony. The awards were presented to 32 hard-working students who took extra initiative to learn during the ten months of the project. During the project, Kate Tsang Yee-ki was conferred the Grand Prize of Active Learning Award for her excellent performance. Mr Alex Tham Koy-siong, Teaching Fellow of the Department and creator of the award, said it helped nurture self-motivation and taught the students how to stand out in an intensely competitive business world.

The department also arranged for students majoring in China Business to provide marketing proposals to the A.Best Supermarket Company, the second largest retail corporation in Guangdong Province. Three student teams received the Outstanding Student Management Consultancy Report Awards at the 2009 Strategic Management in Chinese Enterprise Consultancy Projects presentation ceremony in early May.