University of Leeds wins IDM Student Competition
Released 07 July 2006: The University of Leeds has taken the gold award in the 2006 IDM Student Competition. Their proposed "Get 33% more freedom" campaign to increase the penetration of the Young Persons Railcard, took the top prize over the three remaining finalists. Silver went to the University of the West of England, while De Montfort University and a second University of Leeds team were both Highly Commended.
The presentation ceremony was held last night at the annual IDM Patrons Dinner, where Leeds team members Lenka Kulhava, Si Chen, Seung Han, Alicia Cortes, Yi-Pao Chiang and Robert Elliot received their award in front of 200 senior members of the direct marketing profession. The winning team receives a £1,500 cash prize, while lecturer Tony Aldred who mentored them wins a trip to the DMA conference in San Francisco.
Now in its ninth year, the 2006 IDM Student Competition has been run in conjunction with Young Persons Railcard and agency Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel. The brief, launched last December to all UK universities which teach direct marketing, asked students to submit, under the direction of their course tutors, an integrated marketing plan with the primary objective to increase the penetration of Young Persons Railcard among its target audience. The secondary objective is to increase the average number of journeys made by cardholders. The IDM received 125 entries to the Competition and many others have worked on the brief as part of their course work.
Presenting the awards Richard Flindell, Marketing Manager for Young Persons Railcard, commented: "We're extremely pleased to be involved with the IDM Student Competition. The standard of entries is always extremely high and this year was no exception. The winning team demonstrated that they really understood our business; their entry was well researched, well constructed and the creative was excellent."
The Student Competition forms part of the IDM Education Programme whose mission is to encourage the brightest and most talented students to enter the direct, data and digital marketing profession. The competition is designed to give students the opportunity to apply the theory they have learned in the classroom to a live direct marketing campaign – with the real possibility that their solutions may be put into practice by the sponsoring client. Last year’s competition was won by a team from Northumbria University and was supported by Guinness and agency Tullo Marshall Warren.
For more information on the IDM Education Programme visit www.theidm.com/education. For more on the IDM Student Competition, visit the IDM’s dedicated student web site: www.think-direct.com.
The winners in full
Gold Award winners: "Crystal Consultants", University of Leeds
Lenka Kulhava, Si Chen, Seung Han, Alicia Cortes, Yi-Pao Chiang, Robert Elliot
Lecturer: Tony Aldred
Silver Award winners: “Life’s rich Tapp-estry”, University of the West of England
Fiona Spotswood, Barnaby Nelson, Robert Barclay
Lecturer: Alan Tapp
Highly Commended: “Trio Solutions ”, De Montfort University
Philippa Martin, Christopher Anaxagorou, Jodie Bennett
Lecturer: Geoffrey Wooten
Highly Commended: “Project Mayhem”, University of Leeds
Aikaterini Bampoukou, Stavros Oikonomou, Emmanouil Papakonstantinou, Thaweesak Sutthipongkoon, Leo Law
Lecturer: Tony Aldred
Note to editors
For more information contact Juliet Hilditch on 020 8614 0229 or email juliethilditch@theidm.com.
