Collaboration is a win-win for businesses and students

Each year, a startup business seeking marketing help is introduced to students in the university’s MARK303 course. The business gives a talk, and students work on fresh marketing ideas to pitch. Hundreds of students and numerous local businesses like Fix & Fogg, Six Barrel Soda, Wooden Spoon, and Parrotdog have been part of the annual project. It’s a collaboration that has proven successful for students and businesses alike.

“For students, it’s real. They get exposed to the realities of business when dealing with a marketing issue, the constraints of budgets and costs, the realities of human resources, and required sales to cover costs and grow,” says senior marketing lecturer Janine Williams. Businesses get brand exposure to a group of keen students. They can use the experience as a research opportunity. “Students are often innovative and creative in finding new solutions. Some great ideas emerge for companies involved.” 

The latest group of MARK303 students have adopted Wairarapa-based be happy chocolate. “This project has been a great opportunity for us,” says be happy co-founder Elly Otty. Elly and partner Jon Cottrell hand-make dairy-free, refined sugar-free, vegan, organic, ethically sourced chocolate. It’s all made in their Martinborough base. They set up the business in 2018 with a strong focus on environmental and ethical impact. They apply this focus in all aspects of business, from sourcing ingredients through to packaging. 

“As a very small company, it’s hard to give all areas the attention they need. Working with the uni and the students has been fun. It’s also forced us to make time to think and talk about our business as a whole. We had to prepare a talk for the students and answer their questions so they could come up with ideas and make presentations... they also had some great innovative ideas we’d never considered. We’ll be looking to implement them in future.” 

For student Logan Holdsworth, knowing his strategic marketing campaign could come to fruition made working with be happy exciting and tangible. “The owner’s feedback on the viability of my marketing campaign made this an invaluable experience.” 

Fellow student Grace Munro found applying her knowledge to an actual New Zealand business a rewarding way to finish her course. “It felt gratifying that our work might have real-world implications in helping to guide a business. Having the lens of be happy to guide our work created a deeper and more nuanced learning experience.” 

Businesses that have come before be happy have put former students’ strategies in place, says Janine. Fix & Fogg, for example, ran a competition based on a student’s idea for social media engagement. Students have also benefited from the “real-life experience”. Many have gone on to enjoy successful careers in the industry. 

Courtney Butcher stepped into a role at Whittaker’s Chocolate for almost four years. She is now the brand manager at Farrah’s. “MARK303 is the capstone course for marketing degrees at Vic. It brings together everything we learn from other courses and allows us to apply it to a real-life business. It set us up for the ‘real world’ beyond what you learn from textbooks and research papers.” 

Another former student, Daniel Brownie, is living in London. He’s a research manager for a boutique market research agency. “MARK303 helped by showing how important strategy is to the success of a business. Everything felt very theoretical until the collaboration with businesses.” 

The collaboration between students, businesses and the university is a win-win for everyone, says Janine.