Talented marketing students win top prize in national competition

Jessica Rolph, Hannah Napier and Georgina Tordoff have been crowned ‘Marketers of the Future’ by the Chartered Institute of Marketing after winning its student marketing competition, The Pitch.

Forming ‘the Brains of Beckett’ team, the students beat out competition from eight finalists from across the country, impressing judges with their creative ideas to market Samsung’s new foldable mobile phone to Generation Z.

The team rooted their campaign in strong research about the rising use of social media among the Gen Z audience, which has increased as a direct result of Covid-19.

Their winning marketing strategy focused on helping Samsung increase ongoing engagement across popular social media channels.

Jessica Rolph, BA (Hons) Marketing and Management student and member of the ‘Brains of Beckett’ team said: “I am completely and utterly still in shock. When entering the competition, I thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to challenge myself and use my degree towards something that is recognisable by employers, I had no idea how it would actually lead us to win and have the title: Marketers of the Future.”

Neil Kelley, Course Director at Leeds Beckett University said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and to come out as overall winners is testament to all of the hard work that Jess, Hannah and Georgina put into their pitch.

“As a Business School we’re always proud of how much our students accomplish and this is just another example of how creative, future-focused and professional they are.”

Now in its tenth year, The Pitch competition attracts top marketing talent from British universities, giving students the opportunity to work with well-known organisations to help accelerate their career through the experience of working on a live project.

Gemma Butler, Marketing Director, CIM said: “Congratulations to Jessica, Hannah and Georgina, whose scalable approach offered a genuine solution to help bring Samsung’s brand to life and resonate with the Gen Z audience, which clinched them the title.”

To find out more about the CIM’s The Pitch competition, click here.