Finals of Master Foods Awards for Academic Excellence

The competition, which has already reached the finals, aims at supporting talented students in order to develop their creativity and initiative. It is also designed to prepare them for the high level of competitiveness that exists in the real world of product marketing.

To achieve this, the competition involves practical application of what they have learnt as a result of their studies at university.
Participating in the competition are King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran and King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) in Jeddah.

All universities has already made available to its marketing students the details and requirements of the competition. Under the rules, each participating student is required to select a local food product of choice and develop an IMC (integrated marketing communication) campaign for it. The objective for the students developing the marketing campaign is to achieve a specific sales increase percentage for the selected product of their choice.

For the first stage, the competition is being organized separately in each university and three winners will be chosen from each university to compete in the second stage which is the competition for the Grand Award.

Speaking about Master Foods Middle East's pioneering role in organizing such a significant academic event, Mr. Abdul-Hakeem Hakeem, External Affairs Manager of Master Foods, said: "We view this initiative as an investment in the promising talents of saudi students and we have every confidence in their capabilities.

"The Academic Excellence Award is organized to encourage them to be creative, innovative and to give them an opportunity to excel in their majors. In the competition students are required to apply their academic and scientific knowledge to actual products in the local market, and we intend that this exposure to real life situations will better prepare the students for the reality of working in the world of product marketing."

In the semifinals at each university lever, first place winner will receive a cash award of SR 10,000, the runner up will get SR 5,000, while the third place student will get SR 3,000. The three students will also be presented with plaques and certificates of excellence.
In the Grand Finals, the three first winners from each university will compete to be the "Saudi Marketing Star" and will receive and additional award of SR 30,000.

In addition, the winner will get a two week paid training period at Master Foods Middle East headquarters in Dubai, UAE the home of the renowned chocolate and confectionary brands (such as Galaxy, Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, Skittles and Bounty). All the contestant's entries will be evaluated by a panel consisting of academics from the universities, in cooperation with the Saudi Marketing Association and MasterFoods marketing experts.

The Master Foods Academic Awards for Excellence program offers a unique opportunity for talented Saudi students who have a flair for marketing, and is an excellent example of the benefits of cooperative relationships between academic institutions and private sector.