WKUers Give Coca-Cola a Healthy Spin Through 2023 MGM Hackathon Case Study Competition
Marketing, Global Business and Management Day (MGM Day) 2023 is upon us! On the evening of November 24th, students got a rare opportunity to suggest business strategies to one of the world’s most recognized Fortune 100 Companies and Kantar’s Top 10 Most Valuable Brands- Coca-Cola.
According to the organizers, 111 students from The College of Business and Public Management (CBPM) participated in the competition in 37 teams to pitch business ideas. It started with a Case Study Workshop presented by Dr. Han-Chiang Ho and Dr. Candy Lim Chiu on November 22, 2023, followed by the Case Study Competition from November 24 to 25, 2023. The business student teams were then given 24 hours to consider all facets of the multi-national corporation and come up with innovative strategies to strengthen the Coca-Cola business in China: Healthy Drinks and Healthy Growth.
What types of products would be most competitive when Coca-Cola wants to increase its share of the health drink market? The Casual Group team, which won first prize in the competition, targeted sports drinks, NFC juices, and unsweetened tea, the top three categories representing the healthy drink market. They proposed a diversified strategy to increase Coca-Cola’s market share and popularity of healthy beverages on all three fronts. They also suggested the company make full use of existing raw materials, suppliers, and other resources, which significantly reduces not only the cost of production and distribution but also the risk of loss. With the dual advantages of diversity and implementation, the proposal was unanimously praised by the judges present.
What if Coca-Cola launched tea drinks and alcoholic beverages, what would it taste like? The Real Magic team, composed of three senior students from CBPM, suggested that Coca-Cola cooperate with local brands to launch a new tea brand as well as enter the alcohol market. Their proposal aims to expand the healthy drink line and explore a new market, innovating the product line while maintaining brand recognition. With a combination of innovation and practicality, the Real Magic team ultimately took second prize in the competition.
Through this experience, many participants feel that being able to apply marketing theories and strategies in practice enhanced their real-world skills and laid the foundation for their future careers. “Through continuous brainstorming, we successfully optimized the product solution, but we also found that the team still had room for improvement in the formulation and execution of the schedule. This experience gave me a deep understanding that efficient time management is crucial to project success in a highly competitive market”, a member from team Koala said, looking back on the competition. She also looks forward to applying these experiences and skills to future health product development to bring innovation and value to the market.
The College of Business and Public Management was joined by Institute of Asia Industry Competitiveness (IAIC) and cooperated with Swire Coca-Cola’s Wenzhou office to host the competition. Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee, Dr. Yan Xiaopeng, the Interim Dean of the College of Business and Public Management Dr. Tobin Porterfield, and the Office of Admissions, Career & Alumni Director Jin Chun attended the opening ceremony. The competition this year was organized by faculty members Dr. Candy Lim Chiu and Dr. Han-Chiang Ho from the Marketing Department and their students Chenge Zhou, Shuwen Cui, Mingzhu Pan, and Boyang Wang.
The MGM Hackathon Case Study Competition was launched in 2019 and is popular among students. This competition is one of the most high-profile and influential branded marketing events at WKU, which has been building a platform for students to practice entrepreneurship inside and outside the classroom by providing students with innovation and entrepreneurship courses, and conducting related activities and competitions, such as the Business School Business Project Competition, jointly participated by students from both KU and WKU. Those activities aim to cultivate students’ innovation and entrepreneurial thinking and capabilities, promote interdisciplinary pursuit, and advance collaborative development among academia, industry, and research.
Translator: Xiaoen XIA, Yifei DING
Proofreader: Ken Wade, Wenwei XIANG
