Two Salford Business School students are celebrating after reaching the finals of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) competition: The Pitch
The global competition, known for kickstarting the careers of participants, sees entrants develop a marketing strategy for the charity Every Youth. Every Youth are known for their support of homeless young people.
The students, Becky Leigh and Hophny Saint Fleur, were successful in using social media trends to drive their competition strategy.
The second year undergraduate pair, working as team BWH, created and mobilised the hashtag #FaceYourFearsForThem. Their aim was to drive people to take part in an activity that scares them to raise awareness of the work of Every Youth and the fear homeless young people may be feeling.
Leigh noted: “I’m really pleased to have made it to the final, I’d like to thank my tutors for encouraging me and Hophny to enter this competition.
It’s really made me think more critically and helped to build my skills in terms of creating a concept for a real-world challenge. I want to pursue a career in marketing, so The Pitch competition has helped me to gain skills which hopefully I can put to the test after graduation and in the industry.”
Hophny Saint Fleur added: “Working on a challenge like this has helped me to understand all of the work that goes into creating a marketing strategy. The context was really important for us: we know that many people in the UK are struggling financially with the cost-of-living crisis, so we wanted to create an idea which was fun as well as beneficial for Every Youth.”
Team BWH are one of only six undergraduate teams from across the UK to be selected for the final. In the next stage the pair will present their idea to a panel of experts including representatives from Every Youth, Hays and the CIM.
The final takes place on Friday March 15 2024.
The winning team will claim the coveted 2024 ‘Marketers of the Future’ Award, as well as other prizes including a virtual session with the Chief Marketing Officer at Every Youth.
Dr Sean Chung, Subject Group Head for Marketing at Salford Business School highlighted that: “For many students, employability is one of the key things they look for when choosing to go to university.
“Experiencing real-world challenges like in The Pitch competition allows our students to test the skills they learn in the classroom in a true-to-life setting. I’m extremely proud of Becky and Hophny.”
Dr Michael Evans, Interim Programme Leader for undergraduate Marketing courses, also passed comment on the pair’s success: “It’s great to see our students so engaged with this competition, and with such a prestigious organisation like the CIM backing their ideas, I really feel they could go all the way.”
To find out more about The Pitch competition from the Chartered Institute of Marketing visit: The Pitch student marketing competition | CIM.
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