Central Lancashire is only university to represent North West in competition
A team of students from the University of Central Lancashire has been shortlisted in the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)’s The Pitch competition.
‘Cut Throat Marketing’ is one of the top 12 teams from across the UK going through to the final round of the competition.
Now in its seventh year, The Pitch sees students from leading universities compete to respond to a live client brief in a bid to win the title of 'Marketer of the future'. This year, teams were asked to come up with ideas for how Wilkinson Sword’s shaving range can appeal to a younger audience.
Callum Spavins and Georgia Smith, studying marketing management, impressed the judges with their response to brief. The judging panel this year includes marketing experts from Wilkinson Sword, UNILAD, Mintel and CIM.
The shortlist will be narrowed down to three on 15 March, with the finalists being taken through to the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards on 12 April where the winning team will be announced and presented with the 'Marketers of the future' award.
"As a Graduate Gateway University, UCLan is proud to be associated with this prestigious competition and we wish Callum and Georgia the best of luck in the final."
Callum said: “We’re extremely proud to be representing UCLan at the finals and feel it’s a great achievement to be the only university representing the North West in the competition. We've put a lot of effort into our presentation and it's given us a chance to really showcase our creativity, so we can’t wait to share our ideas with the judges. We’ve received amazing support from our tutors so we hope we can do UCLan proud and reach the top three.”
Gemma Butler, Associate Marketing Director at CIM, said: “We’ve been inundated with high-calibre applications this year. It’s been fantastic to get a glimpse of the student talent across the UK and we’re very much looking forward to seeing the finalists bring their ideas to life in the live final.”
Sarah Wood, Marketing Director at Wilkinson Sword, said: “It’s brilliant to receive entries from across UK. The ideas are of such a high calibre and it’s clear a lot of time, effort and creative thinking has gone into responding to our brief. Originality is shining through in each one! We’re grateful to everyone who submitted and wish those shortlisted the best of luck in the final.”
CIM course leader from UCLan’s Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise, Caroline Holliday added: “This will be an excellent opportunity for the students to showcase their marketing talents in front of leading marketing experts. Not only will this look good on their CVs, but it will give them exposure to industry professionals and enhance their employability in a competitive market place.
“As a Graduate Gateway University, UCLan is proud to be associated with this prestigious competition and we wish Callum and Georgia the best of luck in the final.”
