CityU marketing students earn corporate acclaim
CityU marketing students earn corporate acclaim
Seven teams of marketing students from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) received the Student Marketing Consultancy Projects Awards today (10 January) at a presentation ceremony. They are among the 95 final year students from the Department of Marketing who conducted marketing research and delivered proposals for 10 brands from seven local and international corporations. The students completed their projects between September and December 2007.
Officiating guests of the ceremony included Professor David Tong Shuk-yin, Deputy President of CityU; Professor Wei Kwok-kee, Dean of the Faculty of Business; Professor Kenneth Chan Shun-yuen, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Business; Professor Zhou Nan, Head of the Department of Marketing, as well as representatives from participating corporations. They all commended the students’ excellent creativity in developing high quality proposals for the corporations.
“Student Marketing Consultancy Projects is one of the best demonstrations of all-round education,” Professor Tong said. “Started in 1995, the projects have been devoted to enhancing closer partnerships between the University and the business sector.”
“Most importantly, the projects demonstrated that CityU, through its professional education, has nurtured high-quality students for the industry,” Professor Tong added.
Professor Wei said that without the support of the participating companies, the students would never have had the opportunity to work with them, learn from them and be trained into the young professionals they were today.
“I am surprised at the enormous effort, commitment and passion each student has put into the projects over the past few months. Undoubtedly, the teams have achieved a high level of synergy and group cohesiveness during the projects,” Professor Wei said. “I believe it will enable them to overcome any difficulties they may encounter in their future careers and present their best face to any potential employers.”
The participating companies are Akos Advanced Technology Limited (member company of Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks); Bank of Communications Co. Ltd, Hong Kong Branch; Coca-Cola China Limited; Everplant Technology Limited (member company of Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks); General Mills Hong Kong; iDS Marketing, Li & Fung Group; Wellcome and Wilson Communications Limited.
The participating companies were very impressed with the highly professional performance of the students. They agreed the suggestions made by the students were constructive and could be referred to in future decision-making.
Mr Alex Tham Koy-siong, teaching fellow, and Ms Daisy Lee Suet-mui, lecturer of the Department of Marketing, are supervisors of the project. They praised the high standard of the marketing plans.
“The quality of work delivered by the students is comparable to those made by international marketing research organisations,” Daisy said. “The project clearly demonstrates CityU’s emphasis on encouraging students to put theory into practice.”
Daisy also added that the students were very excited when they knew their proposals were being accepted by the corporations and would be launched into the market within the next few months.
The 14 teams from the total of 95 students worked strenuously for four months on market research and surveys. In addition to focus groups and questionnaires, they also visited stores to observe consumer behaviour. Some students took the initiative of posing as customers to gain a better understanding of service standards and to collect customer information. They gauged the effects of the store environment, location and service quality on consumers’ motivations.
Carrie Lui Ka-wai was one of the participating students. She thought the project was akin to an intensive training camp. She and her team mates had to apply what they learnt while constructing the proposal. They met the management and gained a first-hand insight into the corporation’s needs. A number of research activities were completed afterwards and a marketing report compiled. Carrie and her teammates presented their findings and suggestions to management and their project supervisor as if they were actual professional consultants.
“It’s a valuable real-life business experience to us,” Carrie said. “Through the research process, we gained a deep understanding of various issues of business development and how they should be planned and resolved.”
In addition to this project, Carrie said the department would also host many other activities for the students, including business leader forums and seminars. The activities provided opportunities for students to meet outstanding business professionals and learn from their business experience.
Thirty CityU students who earlier won six awards in the Young Marketing Communicators Awards organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing (HKIM), were also credited at the ceremony by Ms Dora Lee, Chairperson of Corporate Communications Committee of HKIM.
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CityU excels in professional education and applied research.
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Attachment: Comments from participating companies
For media enquiries, please contact Ms Zoey Tsang (phone: 9550 1503 / 2788 9411) of the Communications Office of the City University of Hong Kong.
2007-2008 Student Marketing Consultancy Projects
Comments by participating corporations
Akos Advanced Technology Limited (Member company of Hong Kong Science and
Dr Teresa Law, Managing Director
“We appreciate the seriousness of the students. The project benefits our company with a well-designed product launch plan.”
Bank of Communications Co. Ltd, Hong Kong Branch
“The teams have achieved great cohesiveness and synergy and worked out detailed marketing research and innovative recommendations within a short period of time.”
Coca-Cola (
Mr Clory Wong, Marketing Director, Sparkling Beverages, Hong Kong & Macau Region
“I'm happy to see the students are zealous and fully engaged in the project, providing us with very creative recommendations.”
Everplant Technology Limited (Member company of Hong Kong Science and
“Students are able to accurately identify and analyse the present market with practical recommendations to enhance our business development.”
General Mills Hong Kong
Ms Shirley Chau, Marketing Director
“This is definitely a good report filled with professional, conscientious and analytical content, which is the most valuable reference for our marketing insight.”
Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation
Ir S W Cheung, Vice President, Business Development and Technology Support
“The marketing consultancy projects developed for HKSTP incubation companies shall add a flying wing to their business exploration.”
iDS Marketing, Li & Fung Group
Ms Alvine Suen, General Manager
“The students have applied the knowledge learned to market research. They have come up with an outstanding report, the findings and suggestions of which are inspiring to our business. We look forward to cooperating with them in the future.”