IÉSEG students participate in an innovation challenge in collaboration with the Dove and McCain brands
08/30/2019
In the framework of their Marketing Management course, around 700 second-year Grande Ecole Program students in Lille and Paris worked on real marketing issues in collaboration with McCain Foods and Unilever (for the Dove brand).
Based on the briefs presented by McCain Foods and Dove, the students, in groups of four, analyzed the brand environment and the market trends to propose ideas for new products along with the marketing plan. Over one hundred synthesized ideas, in the form of an infographic, were presented to each company, who respectively selected ‘winning’ teams for each issue/category.
Dr. Véronique Pauwels-Delassus, the Professor of Marketing who coordinates this course, explained, “For the Marketing Management course, we use the pedagogical approach of the flipped classroom. Based on briefs submitted by the McCain and Dove brands, the students can apply the theory that they learned within the courses developed online, to real situations. With in-class coaching by marketing professors, they can acquire the necessary marketing foundations required to develop a new product and its marketing plan. We are thankful for the collaboration with these two companies, as this allows students to better apprehend the missions and decisions with which they may be confronted as future marketing managers.”
In April, the five teams selected by McCain presented their propositions to the Marketing Director, Europe of McCain Foods, Damien Tardy, who asked them questions during their presentations.
Damien Tardy, Marketing Director, continental Europe, McCain Foods, added, “The students understood how important innovation is for McCain in a particularly competitive market. The new selected concepts are interesting, as they address new consumer moments and new targets.”
Elodie Camard, Product Manager at Dove, noted: “We were delighted with the work of the students. They succeeded in understanding the market issues and challenges in order to respond to consumers’ expectations, which are evolving constantly. We selected very interesting concepts, which correspond to the direction that the brand would like to take in the coming years.”
The adventure continues, as the students will develop new product ideas for the Michel & Augustin brand in September!