Students from Algonquin’s business marketing program – Brenden McBride, 23, Kaleb Yadeta, 28, Brian Mikula, 25, and Pushpvir Singh, 19 – won third place at the Scotiabank Vanier College National Marketing Case Competition on Feb. 8 and 9.
“It was an amazing experience,” Mikula said. “We were put in a hotel room with a case and were given three hours to create a marketing strategy and presentation for the business.” The team had two different businesses for each day over the weekend to create a marketing presentation for.
Any business marketing student could participate in the competition, they just had to submit a video and a pitch for the Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition in November. For nationals, the teams are chosen by the participants.
“For me, I knew ahead of time,” Yadeta said. “We chose to work together because Brenden and Brian had worked together before and Brian and I have worked together, so it just worked out well for us.”
The marketing students built a marketing plan over the course of the semester, then had to create two marketing strategies in six hours in one weekend.
“We’ve all learned more in prep,” McBride said. “It’s an intense amount, using every element of learning and the ability to dissect.”
Yadeta agrees. “It’s a great chance to accelerate your learning and do what you want to do,” he said. “It’s a chance to become a better marketer and presenter, and that’s what drove us to do it.”
“Placing third in nationals places us at the top ten across Canada and I think that shows a lot about the school and the teachers we have,” McBride said. “And it also definitely wouldn’t be accomplished without Bill Garbarino and Jim Neubauer, those coaches are the reason we are where we are.”
“Also, a thank you to Katherine Root and Julie Beauchamp,” Singh said about the chair and dean of the school of business. “They came and supported us the entire way.”
Singh is excited for the OCMC in November and the 2021 nationals. While McBride, Yadeta, and Mikula are coming back to be alumni coaches for next year’s Algonquin marketing team.