What do you get when you give final-year marketing students free reign to come up with an integrated marketing and communication plan for an outdoor adventure expo? Well, first of all you fasten your seatbelt because you are in for an exhilarating ride bursting with creativity and energy!

Industry exposure facilitated through collaboration

This is exactly what recently happened in the BMAR 322 module as presented in the School of Management Sciences on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark. According to the module lecturer, Dr Re-An Muller, exposure to the pressures and challenges of the world of work is of cardinal importance to the all-round development of students.

“I believe that guest lectures from industry representatives and visits to vested industry partners not only motivates students to perform well, but also affords them a valuable opportunity to acquaint themselves with the ins and outs of their field of interest, “explains Re-An.

In addition to this, Re-An has been partnering with several industry role-players over the years to challenge his students by presenting them with real-life marketing challenges and subsequently have them present these marketing strategies to the respective management teams and industry experts. The marketing challenges include scenarios such as product re-launches, brand and reputation management campaigns, entertainment and tourism marketing as well as experiential marketing.

This year saw Re-An collaborating with Media House, MooiVaal Media in Vanderbijlpark who acts as the media sponsor for the outdoor expo: All Things Adventure. The expo takes place annually in Parys.

Students pitched their campaigns in groups, representing 13 ‘professional’ agencies. A panel of experts, consisting of representatives from MooiVaal Media, academics from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and the NWU Vanderbijlpark’s Corporate Communication Department evaluated each pitch and scored the agencies according to creativity and innovation, general impressions and their level of professionalism.

To the winners go the spoils

The winning BMAR 322 presentations - as decided upon by the panel of judges - were:

Beet Agency	Veronica Botes Katya Letao Morgan Badenhorst Carmen Strydom Aidan Heath-Lunt	1st place
Surf Tile Agency	Theo Prinsloo Margie Williams Madelyn Coetzee Maretha Lombard	2nd place
Sirius Agency	Edward Makhenne Moratehi Motloung Ulwazi Hadebe	3rd place

Dr Re-An Muller and Mr Thys Foord (Mooivaal Media) with the members of the winning agency, Beet Agency.

Runners-up, the Surf Tile Agency with Maretha Smit Lombard (MooiVaal Media), Dr Re-An Muller and Mr Thys Foord (MooiVaal Media).

Members of Sirius Agency with Dr Re-An Muller and Mr Thys Foord (MooiVaal Media)