Innovation, creativity and customer awareness were just some of the skills demonstrated by the six finalist teams taking part in the second Classified Post Young Marketer of Tomorrow competition run in tandem with the Career Forum. The contest was organised by Classified Post in association with premium partner Sun Life Financial. Teams of two to four university students were set a marketing challenge by Sun Life to come up with a comprehensive promotion plan incorporating different aspects of direct, digital and data marketing aimed at the millennial segment of the insurance market.
Mi Li, head of global marketing, group marketing and events, at the South China Morning Post, and a member of the Young Marketer of Tomorrow judging panel, said the finalists showed an impressive depth of understanding of the insurance industry which could only be obtained by detailed research.
“I was impressed by the way the finalists displayed energy and used their experiences as young people to create their marketing plans,” said Li, who was also struck by the way the finalist teams identified customer pain-points as the foundation of their marketing plans for delivering the right service to the target audience. “In the world of marketing, great ideas and finding solutions often start with the need to solve a problem,” noted Li.
Acknowledging Classified Post and Sun Life for their efforts to cultivate and recognise marketing talent of the future, Li said the Young Marketer of Tomorrow competition provided participants with a realistic taste of what it takes to develop a marketing strategy.
The finalists also impressed Belinda Au, general manager, distribution and marketing at Sun Life Hong Kong, with the level of engagement they created with the judges and audience during their presentations. “The one thing they don’t lack is innovative abilities and creative ideas, which are needed to be successful in the marketing industry,” noted Au. She added that the finalist teams each made good use of technology and data analytics to develop their marketing strategies.
“These days, in addition to a complete understanding of the business, everything has to have a digital platform that fits into the marketing ecosystem,” added Au. She said that through taking part in the competition, participants were able to gain worthwhile experience of how a marketing plan was designed and implemented. Au said that participants also benefited from the insights provided by mentors from Sun Life. Young people looking to pursue a career in marketing needed to constantly update their knowledge and awareness of business and technology trends, not only in their own industry, but across a wide spectrum of other fields. “There are often technologies and ideas that are transferable or adaptable which require marketers to think ‘outside of the box’,” Au explained.
The panel of Young Marketer of Tomorrow judges, all experienced marketing professionals, were looking for a clear understanding of the target market, the ability to create new ideas, and the skills to devise a budget and implement the marketing plan. Seventy two teams took part in the semi-finals during the morning session of the Career Forum, with six being selected to make their presentations in the afternoon. The winning teams received cash prizes, trophies and certificates. Haymans Fung, Sun Life Hong Kong head of brand, sponsorship and digital marketing, and a member of the judging panel, said the presentations were engaging and insightful. “The way the finalists incorporated flow charts and the use of technology into their marketing plans demonstrated that the participants had given a lot of thought to the structure of their presentations,” Fung noted.
Delivering their presentation under the name of “CK Consulting”, the two-member winning team of Hazel Chan, who is studying international business at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and HKU double-degree law and business student, Pearl Chiu, devised a digital marketing game based on the Hong Kong version of Monopoly and Pokémon Go. “We decided to develop our marketing plan around games we know and both enjoy playing,” said Chan.
The winning duo’s interactive game, called Sun Life Gold, requires players to challenge each other in a game of risk and reward. They have to make personalised choices such as deciding on the level of medical, critical illnesses and life insurance cover. Players involved in accidents or who contract acute illnesses win or lose points depending on the amount of insurance protection they have previously selected.
“Our marketing strategy is designed to educate young tech-savvy users about different types of insurance, and create data which can be used to develop insurance and investment products for a millennial target audience,” Chan explained. The game can be downloaded from WeChat with a link to the Sun Life Financial webpage. “Our aim was to create a game that young people would want to play, but would also raise brand awareness,” adds Chan.
Chiu said taking part in the competition was worthwhile and interesting because it provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the insurance industry.
“Our knowledge took a big jump from zero to quite in-depth,” she said. “Being able to develop a concept and present it in front of a panel of marketing experts who liked it is a great experience and a great reward for our efforts,” added Chiu, who is undecided between a career in law or business.
First runner-up team, “The Internationals”, consisting of HKU students Won Gi Hong, Devlin Wong, Dennis Kang, and Ambrose Yee, spent several hours brainstorming in the university library before coming up with a marketing plan that could be easily implemented with a feasible budget. “As non-marketing students who are studying international business, accounting and finance, the challenge was to think like marketers,” said Wong.
The four friends settled on a combination of an insurance-themed interactive avatar-like game which can be played in shopping centres and a carnival. “As millennials, we based our plan on the type of things we would be interested in,” said Kang.
However, he explained that while the user experience is designed to be smooth and engaging, algorithms and technologies also gather data and build profiles for Sun Life to use in future marketing campaigns.
Participating under the name of “Biberman”, the second runner-up duo, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) medical student Kitty Yu and CUHK economics and finance student Jennifer Lee made time during their mid-term exams to join the competition. Using an Escape Room “fight or flight”-themed game as the basis for their marketing plan, the two, who have been best friends since secondary school, focused their plan on being prepared and equipped to deal with the “what ifs” in life.
“Medicine might seem unconnected to marketing, but there are many areas of medicine that do involve marketing,” Yu pointed out. Lee said that working as a team, involving research and collaboration to produce a presentation made in front of a prominent panel of judges, was a valuable experience. “We have definitely been able to expand our presentation skills,” she said.
Winners of the Best Presentation Award from the semi-final round, “Team Sparkle”, comprised of City University of Hong Kong marketing students Kelly Yeung, Yoki Wong, Heysan Wong, and Lam Sui Shan, said taking part in the competition provided a chance to catch the eye of marketing professionals.
“To have our plan judged and praised by marketing professionals has given us the encouragement to know our ideas are promising, and the motivation to continue to work hard on our studies,” said Yeung.
