A team of undergraduate students from York University’s Schulich School of Business put their business analysis, creativity and presentation skills to the test at the finals of the L’Oréal Brandstorm marketing competition in Montreal earlier this month. The team of fourth-year students – Adi Tzadok, Sarah Lord and Daniel Levinsky – earned a second-place finish.
Brandstorm is an international competition that L’Oréal has been hosting since 1992, and it involves 45 countries. Students from Schulich have been involved since the competition’s inception. Eleven teams are invited to participate in the national finals, including two teams from five universities and one wild-card team.
This year, Schulich’s two participating teams beat out more than 50 others to secure two spots in the finals, with one earning second place overall. Other universities in the finals included HEC, McGill, UBC and Queens.
This year’s national case competition focused on innovation in the beauty industry and invited teams of three students to create the skincare experience of the future for health-conscious consumers.
This unique opportunity allows students to apply theoretical knowledge from the classroom to solve real-life marketing problems. It also allows L’Oréal executives to recruit from among the best creative talent worldwide by seeing candidates in action.
“Brandstorm gives students a unique opportunity to actually do the job of a product manager, working directly with the company’s marketing team and advertising agency,” said Joe Fayt, Schulich marketing professor. “At the national finals, they pitch their idea to the company’s executive team, including the president. It is not only an extraordinary learning experience, it is fun and exciting.”
According to Fayt, one of the team members has accepted an internship position at L’Oréal for the summer.