The «24/7» team of students fr om the Novosibirsk State University Economics Department produced the best results during the finals of the Russian round of the Unilever Future Leaders League 2018 marketing championship.
During the competition third-year students Lydia Lotkina and Yana Sokolova and fourth-year student Yuri Dziuba, developed a new brand of toothpaste that Unilever will consider launching.
Sokolova discussed the competition:
– This case study was very interesting. We were required to fully develop a new product, to identify the target audience, to think about launching the product on the market and an advertising campaign. Prior to this competition, Lydia and I had worked on similar case studies and we knew Yuri well. There were probably two factors that helped us win, we gave maximum effort and really enjoyed our work.
This year almost 5,000 students from 101 cities took part in the Russian round of the Championship.
The qualifying competition consisted of several stages. In the first stage participants had to solve a case study before they could move forward to the semi-finals at the regional level. Those successful during the second stage reached the final round that was held in Moscow.
According to the competition rules, winners of the national rounds are sent to participate in the international Championship finals in London that will be held in the spring of 2018. To win, the NSU team will have to compete against representatives from 30 countries.
Dzuiba described their product and his experience:
– Our tooth paste is called «Set Pods». It is a pillow that you just throw in your mouth and start brushing your teeth. Before this competition I participated in many championships and had some success. I think that our team members experience is what made us successful this time, our ability to agree and to forecast future trends. It was very important to impress the jury.
Unilever Future Leaders League is an international competition wh ere talented students are asked to solve business case studies. It is conducted by Unilever. Traditionally, representatives from more than 30 countries take part in the Championship.
