Curtin Sarawak students commended for creative marketing strategy in ‘Marketing Idol Competition’

Miri – 2 July 2014 – Five first-year business students from the School of Business of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) received commendations from Australian fashion-apparel company Macri and Curtin Business School of Curtin University for their creative marketing strategy in the final round of Curtin’s ‘Marketing Idol Competition’.

The competition, held at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia and its campuses in Sydney, Singapore, Mauritius and Miri, required the students to perform a SWOT analysis and design a Marketing Mix based on the 4Ps concept (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) and two pre-set marketing objectives – expanding Macri’s line of products and building awareness of the brand.

The students, Liew Shau Chieng, Wilson Yong Wei Terng, Kathy Liau Lee Sze, Louis Ezra and Sam Jeh Lui, were guided by the unit leader for the Marketing 100 unit, Sabarina Sahni Abdullah, and tutor Jefferson Sim.

Macri is an Australian brand specialising in the manufacturing and marketing of T-shirts and casual apparel. It recently expanded its brand to include a gym range and is looking into marketing opportunities to identify suitable target markets and develop innovative ideas and designs for these markets.

At a simple prize giving ceremony held at the Curtin Sarawak campus, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Jim Mienczakowski presented prizes and certificates to the students on behalf of the founders of Macri and Dr. Min Teah, unit coordinator for Marketing 100 at Curtin Business School.

Also present at the ceremony were Director of Academic Quality Associate Professor Shamsul Kamariah Abdullah, Sabarina and Sim.

According to Dr. Min, the students’ report displayed at an exhibition held at the main campus  in Perth received a lot of positive feedback as the creative ideas and quality of work shown were beyond the expectations of the organisers.

They were commended for their T-shirt and biodegradable packaging designs; proposed distribution channels including mobile applications and Air Asia’s Skyshoppe; promotional tools such as QR codes, social media, hashtags, Groupon and sports celebrity endorsements by Olympic medallists Dato’ Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Rinong; as well as their outstanding ability to apply marketing theories.

The students capitalised on two major events being held this year – Visit Malaysia Year 2014 and the FIFA World Cup 2014 – in their T-shirt designs, which were intended to build awareness of the Macri brand in Malaysia and reach consumers such as gym goers and sports enthusiasts.

The designs were based on wall murals in Malaysia by popular street artists Louis Gan and Ernest Zacharevic and featured countries comprising the Top 6 teams in the FIFA World Cup 2010. They have also proposed to Macri to release limited edition of T-shirts of the Top 4 countries in this year’s FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, Deputy Dean of Curtin Sarawak’s School of Business, Associate Professor Pauline Ho Poh Ling, congratulated the students and academic staff involved in the competition, stating that it is a testimony of the quality of teaching and students’ learning at Curtin Sarawak.

(L–R) Sim, Liau, Louis, Professor Mienczakowski, Yong, Liew, Associate Professor Shamsul Kamariah and Sabarina in a group photo following the prize giving ceremony.