University of Northumbria team wins 2010 IDM National Student Competition

The team's win was announced after a competitive pitch at the central London offices of TEQUILA\ where they presented their ideas for a marketing programme designed to increase the number of Carbon Trust surveys undertaken by businesses.

Some 150 student teams submitted entries in response to the IDM's competition brief, which was supplied by TEQUILA\ and client, the Carbon Trust, while many more UK universities used the brief as part of their syllabus. Competition entries were whittled down to two finalists who then pitched their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of the IDM, the Carbon Trust and TEQUILA\.

A clear grasp of the insights

The winners were announced last night, 18 July 2010, at a central London drinks reception attended by some of direct marketing's leading players. Presenting Total Green Solutions' cash prize, TEQUILA\ CEO Tim Bonnet, said:

"I was hugely impressed with the quality of the students who presented to us. Both teams showed a clear grasp of the insights and processes we need to go through in order to put together a fully integrated marketing campaign. The winning team really demonstrated their understanding of segmentation and how to communicate to different audiences with different messages. They'd also done some very interesting primary research to actually understand what motivates people in an organisation."

Runners up were MOSAIC, also from the University of Northumbria, who also received a certificate and cash prize.

The IDM National Student Competition is part of the Institute's Education Programme, into which the profits of the IDM's training and qualifications concerns are invested each year, in order to help educate and inspire the brightest university to enter the direct marketing profession.

Also present at the awards were 20 graduates from another of the IDM's Education initiatives, its annual graduates' Summer School. Summer School students are hand-picked by the IDM in order to select the best of the best from around 200 applicants. They are currently spending a week at the IDM's Teddington offices gaining an intensive and practical introduction to the direct and digital profession.

For more information about this and previous years' IDM Student competition, including the 2010 Carbon trust brief, visit www.theidm.com/studentcomp. For an overview of the IDM Education programme, go to www.theidm.com/education.