University of Dubai team bags 2nd place in Unilever’s Idea Trophy contest

A team of students from the University of Dubai (UD) earned second place in the 2^nd annual Unilever Idea Trophy after presenting their marketing idea for the company’s Lipton Chai Latte. 

Out of 30 teams, the UD team made up of masters students Israa Shaheen, Urwa Tariq and AbdulRahman Badwan were shortlisted to the top five and ultimately earned second place, winning new Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphones. Last year, UD’s team won first place and was awarded a trip to the Unilever headquarters in London. 

This year, finalists were asked to develop a business strategy around Lipton Chai Latte, to help the brand further penetrate the youth market and position the product as a trendy and delicious beverage. The team studied the tea culture around the Middle East, looking at different flavors, popularity of the brands and even how the tea is poured and came up with the idea based around Karak Tea. The team then created an idea for an active, youthful campaign using social media in which participants make their own commercial for the tea and submit it to a contest. 

Amina El Marzak, UD Head of Student & Alumni Affairs, said: “I would like to congratulate our students for this great achievement. The competition was tough this year and I am very proud that they made it to the Top Five. Their hard work really paid off!” 

The Idea Trophy is a Unilever on-campus youth development initiative designed to create an “out-of-the-classroom” learning experience that focuses on the development of personal and entrepreneurial competencies among students. A challenging and creative experience, students figure out how business works in real life while developing their own skills and competencies. Participating teams had to go through four phases including idea presentation and online submission, business and implementation plan submission, execution and presentation during the Grand Finale phase. 

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Waqas Javed, Marketing Director, Unilever Gulf, said: “The Idea Trophy competition proves to us every year that we have a reservoir of high quality talent waiting to be groomed in this region. The level of passion, determination and creativity demonstrated by all teams has been extraordinary.” 

UD President Dr. Omar Hefni congratulated the students and said: “We hope you have gained a lot from this experience that will help you cope in real-world situations. I would like to thank Unilever for the opportunity of letting our students take their learning beyond the classroom. We will encourage more participation from our students next year!”