We are thrilled to share that our SUSS students were among the participants in the 2023 Global Brand Planning Competition. The Global Brand Planning Competition (GBPC) is a distinguished brand marketing plan competition that commenced in 2016, a collaborative initiative by the Global Chinese Marketing Federation (GCMF) and the Marketing Institute of Singapore (MIS). This annual event serves as a dynamic platform for students to conceive, practise, and showcase their innovative ideas. Additionally, it also serves to foster stronger integration between industry and academia, providing students with an opportunity to gain exposure and bring recognition to their home countries and universities.
The GBPC has gained significant popularity in the South Asia region, evident from the overwhelming number of entries received each year. However, the global pandemic brought a temporary halt to this thriving competition for two years. Despite the challenges, the GBPC made a strong comeback this year, attracting about 500 entries. The entries submitted represent a diversity of participants from regional institutions across China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore, underscoring the vast pool of marketing talent in our region. Due to the competition’s rigorous selection process, only the top 20 to 30 teams with the highest quality and standards would get the chance to present in the final round. This prestigious event, therefore, not only celebrates the spirit of competition but also the pursuit of excellence in the field of brand planning.
We would like to congratulate our SUSS student representatives for clinching the Silver Award in the GBPC! The award-winning concept of the students’ proposal is to rebrand a Japanese plant-based company from NextMeat to NextNiku, an ongoing consulting project between the students and their faculty mentor, Associate Professor Jimmy Wong with NextMeat. We were honoured to have the founders of this company present at the competition to witness and support our students.
Faculty mentor, Associate Professor Jimmy Wong presenting the Silver Award to Team SUSS (From left: Jazel Lim, Charlene Chua, Elmer Yap, Au-yong Junhong, absent: Keane Yeo)
Charlene Chua, an undergraduate from SUSS' Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree programme with Minor in Events Management, shared about her valuable experience from this competition, "Having the opportunity to participate in this competition alongside international participants was a humbling yet empowering experience. What struck me the most was the diversity of perspectives brought to the table by the other teams. It was fascinating to witness how each team's unique background and set of experiences shaped their viewpoints on the case challenge and influenced their problem-solving approaches."
Au-yong Jun Hong, SUSS Marketing with Minor in Analytics student undergraduate, also echoed Charlene’s sentiments, “Clinching the silver award was a humbling experience that offered invaluable learning opportunities, especially from engaging with global competitors, reminding us that there is always room for growth.”
SUSS would also like to extend our sincere thanks to MIS for their cordial invitation to us to host the finals and award ceremony on our campus as well as contribute to the judging panel for the final presentations. We are honoured and privileged by this opportunity and will look forward to this competition in the coming year.
SUSS panel of judges on the final presentation day (From left: Ms Freda Zhang, Secretariat of SUSS Doctor of Business Administration Community (DBAC), Associate Professor Jimmy Wong, SUSS Marketing Programme, and Dr Wang Yue, Head of SUSS Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Programme)
Group photo of all participants, judges, and organisers of the 2023 Global Brand and Event Planning Competition organised by the Global Chinese Marketing Federation and Marketing Institute of Singapore.