A group of St. Clair College students in the Business Administration - Marketing program have come home with a bronze medal at the 20th annual Scotiabank Vanier National Marketing Case Competition in Montreal, QC.
The team, comprised of third-year students Ben Pare, Aziz Aziz, Mimi Nguyen, and Nate Schincariol competed under the name BAMN Marketing' against other college teams from across the country.
St. Clair College's Business Administration - Marketing team claimed third place at the Scotiabank Vanier National Marketing Case Competition in Montreal, QC. (Justina Ciarlariello/St. Clair College)
The team finished in the top two in their division during the first day of competition, securing them a spot in the finals the following day against the top six colleges in Canada. The judges highly praised the St. Clair team for their innovative and strategic response to the final case study, according to faculty coach, Justina Ciarlariello.
On the final day of competition, they were given a comprehensive case study and had three hours to produce a strategic marketing response.
During the preparation, the students had no access to the internet and were not permitted to bring any outside reference materials into the prep room. Once they finished their response, the students were given 20 minutes to present it to a panel of judges, consisting of invited experts from the business, industry, and education sectors.
"I'm so proud of this team, as they have worked so hard this year in preparation for the competition, where they executed their presentation incredibly well," said Ciarlariello, noting there were 23 schools from across Canada in the competition.
"It honestly still doesn't feel real," said Mimi Nguyen, one of the four team members from St. Clair College. "Knowing that this might be our last college case competition, our goal was to have fun and make it an experience for everyone in the room."
In the semester leading up to the competition, Nguyen said the team committed to three to six hours of practice on case studies each week for eight weeks.
"There were some days when we definitely wanted to sleep in instead of coming to a 9 a.m. practice on Thursday morning, but case by case we learned how to tackle different problems and develop new strategies - all while learning how to work effectively together," she remarked.
"I was excited to work with this team because I knew we had the potential to succeed," Nguyen said. "Everyone brought their own unique skills to the table, and we challenged each other to balance rationality with creativity to come up with some of the wildest marketing ideas."
Seneca College took top honours in the competition, followed by Fanshawe and then St. Clair.
Nguyen was also presented with the Julia Ferreira Public Speaking Excellence Award, named in memory of a Vanier graduate and former case competition participant, as the best public speaker in her division.
"The event itself was fantastic. I loved getting the opportunity to reconnect with friends I met from Ontario Colleges' Marketing Competition, as well as make new connections with others who studied outside the province," Nguyen said. "It wasn't until I started networking that I really understood the scope of this national event. There were schools from British Columbia all the way to Newfoundland and Labrador present at this competition."
The team also benefitted from coaching and mentoring from faculty members, including Adam Ibrahim, Darren Grey, Kristina DiPaolo, and Phil Cohen.
"I couldn't think of a better way to end my final year at St. Clair College," Nguyen said.
"I'm thankful for my team, all our coaches, and to St. Clair College for making this trip possible."
St. Clair College's Business Administration - Marketing team claimed third place at the Scotiabank Vanier National Marketing Case Competition in Montreal, QC. (Justina Ciarlariello/St. Clair College)
