Marketing strategies earn professional acclaim for students

More than 100 final year students from the Department of Marketing at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) were offered a valuable opportunity in the first semester to formulate cost-effective marketing strategies targeting emerging consumer markets. Nine outstanding teams, each working for a separate corporation, received Student Marketing Consultancy Projects Awards on 7 January.

The participating businesses highly commended the students’ professional marketing proposals that included macro market analysis and subtle observation of consumer behaviour. They stressed that the students would be highly sought after as professionals by the job market.

The corporations that provided internship for CityU’s marketing students included Mentholatum Asia Pacific, the Dairy Farm Company (Wellcome and Market Place by Jasons), Wilson Communications, California Red, iDS (Hong Kong) (Equal and Slendertone), Happy Lemon International, VF Hong Kong (Kipling), Vevion Hong Kong (SKYphoto) and the Link Management.

Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing, Vice-President (Student Affairs), Professor Gary Feng Gang, Associate Provost (Academic Planning and Undergraduate Education), and Dr Su Chenting, Head of the Department of Marketing, attended the presentation ceremony.

“Marketing is essential. You can only do marketing when the product itself is good. The first product you have to market is yourself, when you are looking for jobs,” Professor Lam said to the students.

“I believe the time you spent at CityU has provided you with traits of substance, such as your intellectual capability, your knowledge, your understanding of the things happening around you. All the techniques you have learnt from your professors will help you realise your full potential.”

Professor Feng said, “By working with reputable companies, students can gain practical experience through the consultancy project. Most importantly, they have developed an honest attitude and passion for their work. This is particularly essential for new graduates.”

The students formed 18 teams, conducting large-scale surveys and focus groups between September and November of last year to examine today’s consumer behaviour patterns. Making use of their marketing knowledge and creativity, they served as consultants and made proposals exploring new consumer groups for the participating corporations.

Mr Anthony Lock, Managing Director of California Red, said, “The marketing reports compiled by CityU students showcased their foresight, analytical skills and market sensitivity, on a level comparable to professional consultants. They are exactly the ideal potential staff our company is looking for.”

Mr Lawrence Choy, Director of Branding and Marketing at Happy Lemon International, said, “The students were involved in the whole process of market study and research. The insightful data analysis and recommendations in their reports will help us better understand our customers’ needs.”