THE PHILIPPINES, OCTOBER 11, 2011: “Real marketers know when and how to turn research data into business opportunities.”
This was the message of Gina Rose Ariston, head of market research of Globe, to the finalists of the Agora Youth Awards – Marketing Research Competition, as she stressed the importance of research as a marketing tool. “Know your consumer so you know who really matters and you know which (data) will be actionable in building your business.”
Now on its second year, the Agora Youth Marketing Research Competition is open to marketing students across the country, with a challenge to conduct market research and analyze their data to formulate actionable recommendations. This year, the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) partnered with the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines (MORES) and challenged the participating schools to propose a marketing expansion plan for the event’s sponsor, jewelry shop Silver Box.
Von Hizon De Torres, president of the PMA, said that the annual Agora Youth Awards, with competitions for marketing research and marketing planning, is a very good place to “introduce the students to the real world of marketing.” De Torres said in an interview with adobo that the entries from last year’s and this year’s competition have thus far impressed the committee members, underscoring the youth’s increasingly important role in the marketing industry.
Ariston agreed with this view of the PMA, lauding the competition’s goal to “introduce to the industry a new breed of marketers who are research savvy and knowledgeable on how to apply these data.”
After screening over twenty entries, six finalists were finally chosen to present their marketing research to the judges, who evaluated the output based on how actionable the methodology, application, and possible recommendations presented by the students are. The panel of judges was composed of Gary de Ocampo, managing director of TNS Philippines; Nicco de Jesus, director of Group M Business Science; Imelda Alampay, managing director of IPSOS Philippines; Ferdie Frejas, managing partner of Good Thinking, Inc.; and Dustin Andaya, CEO of Island Rose and recipient of the Agora Award for Entrepreneurship in 2007.
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In the end, Team White Elephant from the Ateneo De Manila University copped the top prize. The team, composed of Miguel Ty, Spencer Yu Galan, Enrico Cruz, Katrina Sanchez, Miguel Da Silva, and Nicole Hernanndez won over five other competing schools: University of the Philippines Visayas (second place), De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas (tied for third), Far Eastern University, and Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
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