''Lancôme Voyage'' takes students to national finals of the L'Oreal marketing challenge

After winning the campus finals back in January, three of our Bachelor in Business Administration students recently participated in the L’Oreal Brandstorm 2015 challenge, where they were pitted against five other top teams from amongst participating Austrian universities.   In its 23^rd year, the Brandstorm completion this year focused on the Travel Retail experience, where students analyzed and proposed a ‘’breakthrough innovation to this strategic channel for the development and greater visibility of the traditional luxury brand Lancôme. ‘’ Each team of three participants had 15 minutes to wow the judges, an international panel including the CEO and representatives from L’Oreal Austria, and independent sales expert, and lecturers from the WU Wien, with their marketing campaign visualized through a storyboard, digital presentation, and explanation. Under the team name ‘Marketing Magic’ Maria Purtscher, and Vivian Tsolakis presented their idea for Lancôme Voyage, an all-inclusive brand experience for every step of your travel. Through a L’Oreal partnership with top hotel chains such as Hilton and airlines such as Austrian Airlines, the customer could book their air travel and accommodation online, and customize their own cosmetic travel gift to be received during their flight, arrive at their hotel with an exclusive Lancome gift on their pillow, and be treated to Lancome Voyage macaroons delivered to their homes as a memory of the trip. Although they didn’t take home the top prize and a spot in the international finals, it was a day to remember for our students.  ‘’It was nice to work with the agency, especially to get insights into what marketing really is and to put it into practice, because we only had a theoretical background in marketing. Wow we were applying it, and understand what a marketing campaign really entails, says the student. ‘’It was a great experience,’’ says Vivian. ‘’ I would recommend it to Modul students who are also interested in marketing and who want to create their own campaigns.  It’s the best way to try it out, and see how the jury likes your ideas.’’ Introductory Marketing course instructors Dagmar Lund-Durlacher and Laura De Giuseppe were on hand to cheer on their team on behalf of MU – great work at the national finals!