Published on: Tuesday, 24 April 2012

On Tuesday 24th April, chocolate took centre stage in CIT, with third year marketing students competing for the prestigious Marketing Institute Student Award.  Each group, under the guidance of lecturer Colette Murphy, was charged with designing a marketing campaign for Katie’s Real Chocolates, based in Bandon, with an emphasis on reinforcing the brand values of fun and creativity, while staying within a fictional budget of €1,000.

The competition was kicked off in style by a team including Alan McGee, Dima Keane, Colum Dinneen and Max Buckley putting on an impressive cocktail making display, unveiling a branded cocktail using melted chocolate to the strains of Wham’s ‘Careless Whisper’.

The close-run competition was won by a team comprising of Brian O’Connor, Ciara Lee, Gaelle Quemener, Shauna Devlin, Lauren Arthurs and Ian Dennehy.  Their new product suggestion of chocolate Oscars or ‘Choscars’ stole the show, when the team distributed a prototype of the product which they had made earlier. 
Local entrepreneur Katie Buckley from Katie’s Real Chocolates in Bandon was very impressed with the standard of presentation and was at pains to point out that picking a winner was a very difficult task.  Katie was joined on the judging panel by Vincent Scanlon and Jenny O’Flynn from the Marketing Institute Southern branch and recently retired marketing lecturer, Michael Walsh.

Another celebration on the night was the marking of the 50th anniversary of the Marketing Institute in Ireland. Gerard O’Donovan, Head of School of Business and Brian McGrath, Head of the Department of Management and Marketing, marked the event with a birthday cake presented to Vincent Scanlon, Chairman of the Marketing Institute’s southern branch.  The running of the event went smoothly thanks to efforts of Rose Leahy, Course Coordinator and Lecturer Colette Murphy, both of whom were extremely proud of the work their students had produced.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Marketing Institute in Ireland: Gerard O'Donovan, Vincent Scanlon, Brian McGrath and Michael Walsh

Winners: Ciara Lee, Brian O'Connor, Ian Dennehy, Jenny O'Flynn, Katie Buckley, Vincent Scanlon, Colette Murphy, Gaelle Quemener, Lauren Arthurs Shauna Devlin