OREANDA-NEWS. May 28, 2014. The students of the Faculty of Economy of the University of Tartu who are also members of the marketing club received first prize in Riga at the L’Oreal Baltic headquarters in the Baltic region final of the international marketing competition Brandstorm for creating an innovative masculine product line.

The product is defended in the international round in Paris on 12 and 13 June.

The team members from the Faculty of Economy Kristella Korgesaar, Edgar Voit and Helerin Kukk secured their success in the Baltic finals by demonstrating excellent marketing and analytical thinking in the universities’ round. According to Kristella Korgesaar, they had to analyse the summaries of the current state of the L’Oreal brands: “On the basis of which we made our conclusions as to where there is space for product development, where could a new product range be added, etc.”

After securing a spot in the Baltic regional final, the students had to come up with a men’s product line and create a marketing communication plan for the brand. The keyword of the whole product development process was innovation. “We developed the Manoeuvre product line with the aim of boosting men’s confidence,” said Korgesaar, adding that the name of the product line, Manoeuvre, does on the one hand emphasise masculinity (man) and confidence (manoeuvre as a controlled action) and on the other hand implies French – oeuvre – man as a work of art.

The developed product line includes three products: an aftershave promoting beard growth, a product hindering hair growth, allowing men to maintain their haircut for longer and reducing the number of hair salon visits and a voice lowerer, i.e. a spray for men who want a lower voice.

Kristella Korgesaar says that preparations are now underway for the international competition in June: “We have a month left for developing and improving our men’s product line to then defend it successfully in Paris.”

The supervisor of the students, Andres Kuusik, Head of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre expressed his pleasure over the success of the students: “I never had doubts about their high success in Riga. This was not a simple collection of nice ideas, but a well-considered concept where each product, product quality, design element and word was fine-tuned and based on research. The students implemented everything we have given them in marketing lectures or in the marketing club and as we can see, it has been fruitful.”

Nine teams altogether participated in the Baltic regional final: two from the University of Tartu, one from Tallinn University of Technology, three teams from Latvia (two from SSE in Riga, one from Riga Business School) and three from Lithuania (one group from Vilnius University and two groups from ISM).

The aim of the competition organised by the cosmetics company L’Oreal is to give students an opportunity to have a true marketing experience by renewing or creating a L’Oreal brand. In the course of the game, students have to analyse the current situation on the market, be engaged in product design and prepare a thorough marketing campaign for their products.

L’Oreal organised its first competition for students interested in marketing in 1993. Since then, 43 000 students from more than 285 of the best schools in the world and from 43 countries have participated in it. The international final of Brandstorm takes place on 12-13 June in Paris, where the winners from all regions take part in. The grand prize of the competition is EUR 10 000.

More information about the competition available on the L’Oreal website: www.brandstorm.loreal.com.