Next Top Ad Exec finalists looking for a Spark

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/ryankailee.jpg” caption=”Kailee Jamieson, left, and Ryan Moran, both students in McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business, are finalists in the Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec competition. They will pitch a $5M marketing campaign they developed for Chevrolet Tuesday and, if it is accepted, will each win a Chevrolet Spark. “]A $5M marketing campaign developed by two McMaster students could be just the
spark Chevrolet needs to ignite excitement in the automaker's latest vehicle.

Kailee Jamieson and Ryan Moran, both students in the DeGroote School of Business, will
pitch the campaign they developed for the Canada's Next Top Ad Exec competition to a
panel of industry judges Tuesday in Toronto. If their marketing strategy gets the nod of
approval, the pair will not only win the competition, but drive away in their own
Chevrolet Spark – a compact car targeted to young urbanites.

Jamieson and Moran are among 10 finalists selected from an initial field of 191 teams
representing 32 business schools.

Should they win, it will be the second straight year a McMaster student has claimed
victory. Mark Scattolon, a marketing and sales student, was a co-winner of last year's
competition.

Canada's Next Top Ad Exec, now in its fifth year, was conceived by McMaster marketing
professor Mandeep Malik as a way for business students to get hands-on marketing
experience.

“The program demonstrates the capabilities and imagination of our students and the
value they can create if they choose to own their learning,” he said. “It is also a call to all
students to change their expectations about their education and to play a part in
shaping learning outcomes. Most importantly, it is a critical link to industry that has not
only delivered numerous career opportunities but also engaged practitioners as co-
authors in the post-secondary education system.”

Jamieson, in her final semester as an undergraduate, said the contest has been a great
way to test her classroom-learned knowledge.

“I knew going into my last year at McMaster that I wanted to get the most out of my
undergraduate experience,” she said. “I tried out, and was on the winning team for
[business competition] MARS Apprentice and am now working hard to win the Top Ad
Exec.”

Jamieson has already accepted a position with Pepsi starting in September.

Moran, who will earn his MBA from the DeGroote School of Business this spring, said the
exposure to Canada's leading executives is what attracted him to the competition.

“I wanted to learn more about creative strategy and execution, and what better way than
hands-on learning with the best experts in Canada.”

Follow the pair's journey on their href=”http://www.24thousand.blogspot.ca/”>blog and like them at href=”http://facebook.com/kaileeandryan”>facebook.com/KaileeAndRyan or
follow them @KaileeRyanQ2W.