For the second year running, the University of Pretoria’s Department of Marketing Management partnered with Adcock Ingram’s Epimax brand in a practical project for the BCom Marketing Management second-year students. The primary objective of the practical project was to provide second-year Marketing Management students an opportunity to develop skills in solving a real-life marketing challenge for an industry partner.
The brand manager for Epimax, Lezille Bouwer, introduced the brand to the eager and curious second-year students who were participating in their first industry project as part of their Marketing Management degree programme. In this introductory session, Bouwer shared valuable insights about the Epimax brand – South Africa’s number one selling and recommended emollient cream – including its brand values and position in the market. Since the Epimax range is broad, the students were tasked to work on an integrated marketing communication challenge with Epimax Baby & Junior – a gentle all-purpose moisturiser for babies and children.
The project brief required students to develop an integrated marketing communication plan to increase awareness and sales of the Epimax Baby & Junior brand amongst moms within the retail market. As part of the module requirements, student teams comprising six members per team had to complete three deliverables, presenting their ideas verbally and in writing to a panel comprising of the module lecturer and Epimax representatives.
Epimax provided students with sample products of Epimax Baby & Junior for market research and brand bonding purposes. In developing the integrated marketing communication plan, student teams conducted informal market research (to understand the brand, product and customer lifestyle), profiled the target market through an empathy map, conducted competitor analysis, positioned the brand and identified their big marketing idea.
In preparation for the final deliverable, students had an opportunity to share their envisaged ideas on their proposed integrated marketing communication plan with Epimax representatives through a sound-boarding session. This sound-boarding session allowed students to get invaluable input on their ideas from the Epimax team.
The final deliverable presentations of the integrated marketing communication plans for Epimax Baby & Junior were presented on 9 November 2023. The exam panel comprised of representatives from:
-
Epimax – Lezille Bouwer (brand manager)
-
Whodunnit? Creative Communication – Elizabeth Dunsmuir (director)
-
University of Pretoria – Prof Liezl-Marié van der Westhuizen (internal examiner) and Dr Thinkwell Ndhlovu (lecturer)
The 12 student teams gave impressive presentations, with novel ideas for marketing Epimax Baby & Junior. All student teams impressed the panel with their in-depth understanding of the project brief.
However, three teams were identified as the most outstanding during the exam presentations. The top three teams were EpiMoms (best overall campaign ideas) with their #buildingbonds idea, MinMedia Marketing (most creative campaign) with the #foryou2 campaign, and Peithos (most engaging campaign) with their #thepurpleway idea.
Left image: MinMedia with the most creative campaign, from left: Lezille Bouwer (Epimax brand manager), Kelly Schoon, Caitlyn Greve, Sean Kuyimba, Alezé Griesel, Fikiswa Masiko and Sakhile Myeni
Right image: Peithos with the most engaging campaign, from left: Lezille Bouwer (Epimax brand manager), Shane Bezuidenhout, Adriaan Nel, Rebecca Attenborough, Zahra Teladia and Micaela Wathen
A prize-giving function was held on 17 November 2023 to celebrate the successful completion of the project and to honour all the winning teams. The Head of Department Marketing Management, Prof Yolanda Jordaan, paid tribute to Epimax for a successful partnership and lauded the students for their dedication, professionalism and excellence showed during the project. She encouraged the students to continue working hard with a good work ethic, as this was the first of more industry projects to come during their Marketing Management degree.
The brand manager for Epimax, Lezille Bouwer, was full of praise for the second-year Marketing Management students for doing well and understanding the project brief. She also thanked the University of Pretoria’s Department of Marketing Management for partnering with the Epimax brand in this practical project. Representatives from the student teams expressed gratitude to Epimax and the Department of Marketing Management for this practical project opportunity and commented on the valuable experience they attained.
The prize-giving ceremony continued with the giving of the spot prizes, followed by the awarding of prizes to the top three teams that were outstanding during the exam deliverable presentations. All prizes that were awarded to the winning teams and the cost of the prize-giving function were sponsored by Epimax. We wish to thank our industry client for being part of the UP family – Epimax: “Our family, your family”.
The second-year Marketing Management class of 2023 students with Epimax representatives
Left image: MinMedia with the most creative campaign, from left: Lezille Bouwer (Epimax brand manager), Kelly Schoon, Caitlyn Greve, Sean Kuyimba, Alezé Griesel, Fikiswa Masiko and Sakhile Myeni
The second-year Marketing Management class of 2023 students with Epimax representatives
Virtual Campus
Get Social With Us
Download the UP Mobile App