The fourth-year students’ team of the KTU Marketing study programme, the winner of the European region, collaborated with the New Crush company in the project. During the competition, the team created Google Ads advertising and marketing solutions in the social media platforms for the electronic storage of the New Crush food supplements brand Glofix.
“I am glad that the team I had to work with and who was able to test their strength in a competitive environment was evaluated at the international level,” says Mantas Strelčiūnas, NewCrush’s Business Process Manager.
Another KTU team planned and implemented a digital marketing campaign for Last Mile, a mobile app for ordering groceries and everyday goods from various providers. The project earned the team a place among the finalists and a special mention for its outstanding campaign presentation.
“We are happy to become finalists in the GOMAC 2022 competition. We put a lot of effort into Google Ads campaigns and we are proud to see that these efforts were appreciated,” says the captain of the finalist team Viktorija Usinaitė.
Seeking benefits not only for the business
During their studies, students collaborate with businesses and non-profit organisations in planning and implementing search advertising through Google Ads and social media marketing (Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram) campaigns.
“We aim for the campaigns implemented by students to contribute to the achievement of the partner organisation’s marketing goals. Students gain experience in Google Ads account management, customer expectations, and budget allocation,” says Elena Vitkauskaitė, the lecturer who was supervising the teams.
New Crush representative Mantas Strelčiūnas is proud of his team’s performance in the competition: “It wasn’t just an ordinary success in the competition, it brought tangible benefits to both the company and the team. After the execution of the campaign and the results obtained, it was easy to determine the further strategic plans of the brand, which we continue to this day”.
Ieva Balkevičiūtė, marketing manager of Last Mile, thanks for the effort and work while working on the project: “The achieved results made us happy and gave a competitive result compared to other campaigns”.
KTU EVF lecturer Indrė Petrikė notes that the highest results were achieved by student teams, which have been striving not only for high study results but also for winning in the competition since the beginning of the semester. Achieving this goal, helped students overcome the challenges of studying, teamwork, and cooperation with representatives of organisations.
The captain of the winning team, Milda Pumputytė, admits that one of the essential factors on the way to success was the partnership with a company: “We chose New Crush and its brand Glofix, to participate in the competition with us because we found it playful, promising, interesting and approachable.”
“While running the campaign, we faced challenges, but the focus of all team members and mutual support helped us to move forward,” says the captain of the finalist team, Viktorija Usinaitė.
This year, 414 students in 108 teams from Australia, India, the United States of America, Canada, Costa Rica, Poland, Lithuania, France, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Germany competed for the award of the best digital marketing team in Europe. The results of the student campaigns were evaluated by a competent board, and the winners were chosen by 27 judges from all over the world.
KTU School of Economics and Business students have been participating in digital marketing competitions since 2009 (they previously participated in the Google Online Marketing Challenge – GOMC, held until 2017). Since 2009, 9 KTU student teams have been awarded as the best: four were selected as the best in the world, four were the best in the European region, and yet another team won a special mention for excellent data analysis.
