Marketing Management honours students promote EMS through video concepts

The honours students of the Department of Marketing Management had to conceptualise a promotional video for the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), through means of a storyboard. A storyboard, according to Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese, is the way to visualise the entire movie in advance. The purpose of this promotional video was to market the Faculty of EMS to prospective undergraduate students.

 

The students followed a three-month process, during which they conducted interviews with all the heads of departments within the Faculty of EMS to compile a unique selling proposition (USP) for each department, thus illustrating the uniqueness of that specific department. Thereafter, the students formed an overall USP for the Faculty as a whole, including Economic Sciences, Management Sciences, Financial Sciences and the School of Public Administration. These USPs contained the essence and key message of each part of the Faculty, which were communicated in the students’ storyboards. An honours student, Taryn Bornman, said: “I found this project to be especially challenging – the project in itself. Our accomplished audience gave the project a unique twist.”

 

The groups presented their storyboards on 2 June 2015 to a panel of 14 members to illustrate their ideas for the Faculty video. The panel included Prof Elsabé Loots (Dean of the Faculty of EMS), members of brand experience agency Mann Made Media, a few heads of departments and other staff members of the Faculty, as well as the Department of University Relations. The top two teams received prize money sponsored by the Faculty.

 

The winning team: Antonia Carnelly, Liezl Aylward, Marga Strydom, Matthew Jardine, Nick Lazarides and Nicholas Jones, together with Prof Elsabé Loots (Dean of the Faculty of EMS – far left), and Prof Yolanda Jordaan (Head of the Department of Marketing Management – far right)

 

 

The winning team’s idea was captured through the eyes of a student with a touch of technology, including Facebook check-ins, iPhones and iPads using the hashtag: #futurestartswithEMS. The runner-up team used a story with a character, John, who is interviewing for a job in London, looking back on his journey through his varsity career, which shaped him into a highly sought-after individual who can travel the world with his degree obtained from the Faculty of EMS at the University of Pretoria. Cucu Mabunda, an honours student, described the evening as "an amazing night, offering students a glimpse into what to expect when venturing into the industry”.

 

The runner-up team: Cucu Mabunda, Mutsa Munyaradzi, Jessica Wheater, Heleen Pienaar, Petra Sanne and Stephan du Plessis, together with Prof Elsabé Loots (Dean of the Faculty of EMS – far left), and Prof Yolanda Jordaan (Head of the Department of Marketing Management – far right).