College students get a taste of a marketing career with Toyota PH

There’s no better way than kick-starting the next generation of professionals than to start them young. It seems that Toyota believes that saying, and with the Young Marketeers Challenge, it looks like they’re putting that notion into practice.

The Toyota Young Marketeers Challenge is a competition that will recognize the most creative, innovative and effective marketing campaigns, namely for the Toyota Vios. In its first ever challenge, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) invited students and faculty advisors from De La Salle College of St. Benilde (DLSU-CSB) to an immersion tour with TMP’s brand and marketing experts. To get the student teams more familiar with the product, the immersion program started with a tour of TMP’s plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna where the Vios is being manufactured.

“We launched TYMC to provide college and university students a learning opportunity beyond the classroom. We’re giving them a platform to practice their marketing skills and knowledge by creating industry-ready campaigns for an exciting product that young marketeers can develop fun ideas for – which is the Philippine’s best-selling sedan, the Toyota Vios,” said Cristina Arevalo, first vice president for Brand and Product Planning of TMP.

After the tour, the teams were also brought to TMP’s partner marketing and advertising agencies to learn from industry practitioners. Through this part of the immersion tour, they were able to see how campaign strategies are conceptualized and brought to life through different marketing channels.

“The Vios is not a final masterpiece, but a kaizen process, a work in progress. It’s the best in the market right now but it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t get better. That’s what Toyota is doing right now, it keeps on improving the Vios.” said De La Salle College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB) Manila Marketing Management major Ronald Calaingan

Finalists of the competition will be announced in October and the chosen student teams will face-off in a final pitch day to be judged by automotive and marketing industry leaders. The winning teams will receive technology packages and cash grants for their schools, while the grand champion will also win a trip to Japan to visit Toyota’s facilities in the brand’s home country. Aside from these prizes, the winning team will also get the chance to have their winning campaign brought to life by Toyota for their marketing campaigns.

If this is a glimpse of the future of Toyota’s marketing, then the future looks bright (and young) indeed. (www.autoindustriya.com/Photos from Toyota PH)