Guelph student CAMA team places second at student marketing competition.

The University of Guelph’s Canadian Agri-Marketing Association (CAMA) Student Chapter placed second overall in the 2018 National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Student Marketing Competition held April 11 and 12 in Kansas City. 

 

 

The team had 15 students involved with this year’s project to market a prospective product the team named Hewitt’s Goat Milk Latte.  With the full permission and support of Gay Lea Foods, the parent co-operative of Hewitt’s Dairy, the team spent the last several months conducting market research, writing the marketing plan, and developing a presentation.

 

Students decide on a project and develop a plan to bring the product or service to the marketplace successfully.  In developing their marketing plan, students follow the same practices and principles used by today’s marketing professionals.  Teams submit a written plan prior to the competition and then make a formal presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges at the competition.  The judges’ panel consists of marketing and agribusiness professionals.

 

Overall, 29 student CAMA/NAMA chapters participated in the marketing competition.  The competition is part of the National Agri-Marketing Association’s annual conference and trade show.  Over 400 student members attended the conference.

 

Guelph has advanced to the final round three times since 2013, placing second in 2013 and fourth in 2015. This year’s team was a crowd favourite, and won the popular vote of the six teams in the final round.

 

Grace Mullen (President of Guelph’s CAMA Student Chapter) said “I was very proud and honoured to lead this year’s group of talented team members. Each member always demonstrated and effectively used their individual skills which resulted in our second place standing. It was an experience none of us will forget.” 

 

John Cranfield (Faculty Advisor to the CAMA Student Chapter) said “The team worked very hard throughout the year, and should be very proud of their accomplishments. Activities like the CAMA student marketing project highlight the role of experiential learning opportunities here at Guelph, and helps students see how to apply their education in real-world settings.”

 

This year’s team included:

 

Nadine Anderson (4th year student, Crop, Horticulture, and Turfgrass Sciences)

Allison Bailey (3rd year student, Honours Agriculture)

Carson Burtwistle (4th year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Logan Emiry (2nd year student, Honours Agriculture)

Laura Fullerton (3rd year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Grace Mullen (4th year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Amanda Norris (4th year student, Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics)

Michelle Ragany (2nd year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Hayden Rath (4th year student, Marketing Management)

Mitchell Rice (2nd year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Tim Shuh (3rd year student, Food and Agricultural Business)

Jeroen Slits (4th year student, Honours Agriculture)

Laura Stortz (4th year student, Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics)

Caleigh Van Kampen (4th year student, Animal Science)

Megan Wright (3rd year student, Food and Agricultural Business)