International Marketing Competition: Information for Students

Competition Eligibility, Task, and Guidelines


This competition is open to all students who are currently studying a world language. Teams may have a maximum of five members. No limits imposed on those students participating for a second or third time. Students may participate more than one year with as many of the same team members as they wish.


Your task is to prepare a marketing strategy for a designated target market and product.  Your team will be required to give a 12-minute presentation during which you will present your marketing strategy to a panel of judges. Immediately after your presentation, your team will respond to questions during a 3-minute Q&A with the judges. The presentations will be without any identification and reference to the schools. No materials, clothing, or accessories displaying a school logo will be permitted. Business attire is required.

Contact

Catherine Fratto
Assistant Director for Outreach, Global Studies Center
University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh
412-648-7426
caf166@pitt.edu

Presentations

You must include the following:

  • Utilization of language, culture, cultural practices, and business practices of the target country
  • Government regulations
  • Advertising
  • Promotion
  • Distribution
  • Packaging
  • Non market strategies considerations* (including Corporate Social Responsibility)
  • Sales potential
  • Pricing
     

You do not have to do a profit analysis

Evaluation Criteria

You will be evaluated on the following:

  • Thoroughness of research and marketing approach (most important criteria)
  • Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Use of technology
  • Employment of appropriate language and cultural considerations
  • Presentation skills
  • Responses to the judges' questions. There will be a 3-minute Q&A immediately after the 12-minute presentation.
     

Please refer to the Judging Criteria Rubric, as well,  for areas in which you will be evaluated.

Team Rules

  • Teams shall consist of no more than five students.
  • Teams shall be comprised of freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior level high school students who are currently enrolled in a world language or who have completed four years of language study at the secondary level.
  • All team members must participate equally in the project research and development.
  • At least half of the team members must participate in the presentation during the intra-school and inter-school competitions, although all members are encouraged to participate.
  • Teams must provide a one-page, single-space document which lists the five most important sources utilized. For each of the five sources, the teams should briefly describe why the source was important. This document is separate from the presentation. In addition, students must list their primary language reference used for any terms and vocabulary of foreign language (e.g. wordreference.com). 

Research Ideas and Resources

Consider the following online resources as a starting point for performing research about the country and the people who form this year's competition's target demographic!