The Marketing Management honours Class of 2022 were very excited to have the HERD Trust as their exam client for their Marketing of Services module, presented by Dr Michelle C. van der Merwe. HERD (Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development) Trust is the first dedicated elephant orphanage in South Africa and encompasses a secure homestead for rescued elephants in a private Big 5 wilderness reserve, along with HERD Trust’s conservation and community initiatives.
Founded by Adine Roode in 2019, HERD orphanage was established to care for and rehabilitate elephant calves orphaned or displaced due to human-elephant conflict (such as poaching and/or the development of their natural habitat).
Left image: Winners, Pachyderm Pals. Top row: Chloë White and Matthew Askew.
Bottom row: Melissa Pretorius and Martyn Austin (team leader)
Right image: Second place, Tons of Talent. From left: Megan Stafford, Pako Nkadimeng, Julie Brink (team leader) and Viraj Devdhara
The HERD Trust team are the perfect example of a dynamic modern team that are able work together for the greater good of the elephants, despite being miles apart. The honours students met the HERD Trust team online – Adine Roode (Founder) based in Hoedspruit; Tamlin Wightman (Media Manager) based in Cape Town; Mari Theunissen (Sales and Revenue Manager) based in Secunda; and Delene Odendaal (Financial Director), based in Pretoria – on 25 May 2022.
Top row: Adine Roode (HERD Trust) with albino elephant Khanyisa
Bottom row, from left: HERD Trust: Tamlin Wightman, Mari Theunissen and Delene Odendaal
The exam project required the students to develop a marketing strategy to not only promote and educate the public about elephant conservation, but also to generate funds to care for the HERD Trust’s elephants – a mammoth task indeed. Something that added an extra twist to the project was the fact that HERD Trust is a registered public benefit organisation (PBO), which required students to be extremely creative in developing suitable fundraising strategies with a minimal budget.
After meeting the HERD Trust team, the honours students enjoyed a guest lecture by Catherine du Plooy from BackaBuddy, who shared tips and tricks to market non-profit organisations (NPOs) and PBOs. Following the project launch, the students had two weeks to conduct desk research and brainstorm their recommendations, before pitching the first draft of their strategy to the HERD Trust panel. A “soundboard session” was held via Zoom, during which the panel assisted the students to refine their ideas.
From left, Image 1: Catherine du Plooy (BackaBuddy), giving a presentation via Zoom
Image 2: Mammoth Marketing. From left: Meagan de Lange (team leader), Lizhann Bothma, Duané Kitching and Serina Smit
Image 3: The TU(S)KS. From left: Deonardo Canha, Kudzai Nachito, Jade Thompson and Jenna Moll (team leader)
On 22 June, the much-anticipated exam day arrived. Not only did the students dress up for the occasion, they also chose very creative team names, such as The TU(S)KS, The 4 Tusketeers, Mammoth Marketing, and Pachyderm Pals. The panel was extremely impressed by the students’ creativity and their professionalism. All agreed that the students have tons of talent.
Left image: Trunktastic. Top row: Mieke Pienaar and Linda Viljoen (team leader). Bottom row: Pranav Dhanjee and Tayo Croza
Right image: Wisdom Workers. Top row: Thristan Pillay (team leader) and Rohma Hasan.
Bottom row: Shaylene Govender and Sabrina Dias
After a 'trunktastic day filled with imaginative presentations, HERD Trust chose the winning teams. Second place went to Tons of Talent (Julie Brink – team leader, Megan Stafford, Pako Nkadimeng and Viraj Devdhara), while Pachyderm Pals (Martyn Austin – team leader, Chloë White, Matthew Askew and Melissa Pretorius) were chosen as the winners.
This eventful semester certainly ended on a high note. Best wishes to the BCom Honours (Marketing Management) Class of 2022 for the rest of Semester 2!
Left image: Ellie Care. Top row: Mvelo Nkosi (team leader), and Melissa Jardim. Bottom row: Lara Jacobs and Filip Jelic
Right image: Amarula. From left to right: Marlie Viljoen, Mwewa Bwalya, Anthony Kilu (team leader) Sabrina de Aguiar
Virtual Campus
Get Social With Us
Download the UP Mobile App