The Department of Marketing Management collaborated with Adcock Ingram’s Bioplus brand in a practical project for the BCom Marketing Management second-year students. The practical project sought to provide students with the opportunity to apply marketing theory and practice skills in solving marketing challenges for an industry partner.
The project was introduced to the students by representatives from Adcock Ingram, Phiwo Mabunu and Kopano Moumakoe. In this lecture, they shared valuable insights about the energy drinks sector and the Bioplus energy drink brand. The second-year Marketing Management students were introduced to the project assignment, which tasked them with developing an integrated brand communication plan to increase the awareness and sales of Bioplus energy drinks amongst the student and young professionals market.
As part of the module requirements, student teams comprising six members per team had to complete three deliverables. The teams had to present their ideas verbally and in writing to a panel that was made up of the module lecturer and Bioplus representatives, including Nicola Wiehahn (Bioplus brand manager) and Kopano Moumakoe (category graduate, Adcock Ingram Consumer). Students were supplied with sample products of Bioplus energy drinks 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 the overall 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 Bioplus representatives through a sound-boarding session. This session allowed students to get invaluable input on their ideas from the Bioplus team.
The final deliverable presentations of the integrated marketing communication plans for Bioplus were presented on 8 November 2024 as part of the module exam. The exam panel comprised of the following representatives:
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Bioplus – Nicola Wiehahn (brand manager),
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Anomaly – Nikki Baylis (senior account manager)
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University of Pretoria – Prof Liezl-Marie van der Westhuizen (internal examiner) and Dr Thinkwell Ndhlovu (lecturer)
Most of the student teams impressed the panel with their unique ideas for their Bioplus marketing communication plan. The students showed a good understanding of the project assignment. The panel identified the three top teams as the most outstanding during the exam deliverable presentations. The top three teams comprised: 1) Advantage Consulting Solutions (best overall campaign ideas) with their #tastethatdrives idea; 2) Catalyst Creation Caonsultancy (best brand storytelling) with the #NowWeSpeakingYourLanguage idea; and 3) Missing Piece Marketing (best target audience insight) with their #fuelyourambition idea.

LEFT: Best brand storytelling (Catalyst Creation Consultancy)
RIGHT: Best target audience insight (Missing Piece Marketing)
The success of the project was celebrated at a prize-giving function on 15 November 2024, where the winning teams were acknowledged. The Head of the Department of Marketing Management, Prof Yolanda Jordaan, thanked Bioplus for an effective collaboration that offered the students an opportunity to develop their marketing skills in their first practical project, which proved to be a priceless experience for the students. Prof Jordaan further praised students for their dedication, professionalism and commitment to the project, which is a big stepping stone in the career development of Marketing Management students.
The brand manager for Bioplus, Wiehahn, lauded the second-year Marketing Management students for their great presentation skills, creativity and understanding of the project brief. She further thanked the University of Pretoria’s Department of Marketing Management for collaborating with the Bioplus brand in this practical project. All the student teams expressed gratitude to Bioplus and the Department of Marketing Management for this practical project opportunity and commented on the valuable experience they attained in the project.
The prize-giving ceremony started 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 Bioplus.
The BCom Marketing Management second-year class of 2024 with Bioplus representatives.
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