AUS students place third in Unilever IdeaTrophy

A team of three students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) placed third in the recently held 2012 Unilever IdeaTrophy competition. Three teams from AUS made up the five UAE-based teams that reached the final phase of the competition.

According to its website, the very competitive Unilever IdeaTrophy is "a Unilever on-campus youth development initiative designed to create an 'out-of-the-classroom' learning experience that focuses on the development of personal and entrepreneurial competencies amongst undergraduates." 

The competition requires teams from universities across the UAE to submit a new creative marketing idea for a brand or product from the Unilever portfolio. This year's participants were asked to generate ideas to create awareness of the Unilever product Lipton Chai Latte. The competition consisted of four phases: idea generation and online submission, business and implementation plans, execution and the presentation and grand finale. Teams were narrowed down to 20 at the end of phase one, 10 by the end of phase two and five at the end of phase three.

The AUS team placed third in the competition and comprised accounting students Rimsha Anjum and Masooma Raza, and mass communication student Anete Thomas. The team was advised by Dr. Nicholas Ashill, Head of the Department of Marketing.

"I am very proud of these AUS students," said Dr. Ashill. "Their hard work, dedication and perseverance have paid off. The competition was extremely competitive, demanding a high-level of critical analysis and creative thinking."

According to team member Raza, "The Unilever Idea Trophy was one of the most exciting learning experiences of my life. From the first phase to the last, we worked really hard and in the end all our hard work paid off. We were asked to generate ideas to create awareness of the product Lipton Chai Latte. We were asked to make a business plan that included below-the-line and digital strategies. This competition was a great platform for us to apply what we learn at university in the real world. I am proud to be a part of the winning team, and of course AUS, and I feel there should be more competitions like this to enhance our skills and abilities as students and future employees."

This is the second edition of the competition, and a team from AUS secured the third position last year as well.