Students from Genesis Christian College have topped the seventh annual Student Business Competition at QUT's Caboolture campus, taking home over $5,000 in prizes.
More than 70 year 11 and 12 students from 15 teams joined the gruelling competition, in which students were briefed on a real-world case study and given just three hours to produce a strategy, before presenting their ideas to a panel of judges.
Our Village Foundation provided this year's case study and Operations Manager Belinda Boyce said she was delighted to be involved.
"To attract more young people to the Redcliffe Festival, we are investigating the option of introducing a 400m long monster water slide as part of this year's event," Ms Boyce said.
"The students were asked to come up with an effective marketing strategy and we were blown away by the calibre of presentations."
The team from Genesis Christian College presented a thorough business case before recommending an integrated campaign that hinged on an incentivised social media competition encouraging local teens to submit videos of their homemade water slides.
Academic Coordinator for the Business School at QUT's Caboolture campus Dr Noel Tracey said the standard of presentations had never been higher.
"Year after year, we notice an increase in standards," he said.
"This year it was particularly difficult to separate the top few teams and the work being produced is up there with what I'd expect from university students."
Rohan Mills, who mentored the winning team from Genesis, said the competition was testament to QUT's philosophy around real-world learning.
"Being able to compose a marketing plan based on a real-world case study is such an invaluable experience," he said.
"On top of this, collaborating with a team to meet a tight deadline was a great test of the students' communication skills and business knowledge. It is a wonderful event."
Ms Boyce said, with the Redcliffe Festival just over three months away, the students' ideas wouldn't be wasted.
"There were a number of creative competition suggestions, hash tags and event components that I'm sure we will consider if the monster water slide comes to fruition this year, "she said.
Visit the QUT Caboolture website to learn more about the competition.
Read more about the Redcliffe Festival details.
2015 Student Business Competition Results
1st place: Genesis Christian College
$3,000 cash to the winning school
$1,000 QUT Scholarship to each student in the team
$250 cash to each student in the team
2nd place: Grace Lutheran College
$1,000 QUT Scholarship to each student in the team
$100 cash to each student
3rd place: Tullawong State High School
$1,000 QUT Scholarship to each student in the team
$50 cash to each student
All participants from the 15 teams are eligible for a $500 study bursary, should they study a Bachelor of Business at QUT's Caboolture campus.
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Media contact:
Emma Sutherland, Caboolture campus marketing consultant, 5316 7574, ec.sutherland@qut.edu.au.
