The final of the inaugural Headmaster’s Business Project
Award competition took place on Friday 24 April, with six finalists from Year
12 and Year 13 battling out for the top prize. Sixth Form Business students
were tasked with compiling a video documentary outlining the use of the
marketing mix in the fashion industry, combined with an advert to market a
product of their choice.
Year 12 pupils Guy Pollard, George Atkinson and Jack Tooley,
alongside Year 13s Emma Haynes, Barney Aldridge and Josh Hemsley, were selected
to progress to the final from over 100 applicants. The initial filtering proved
a difficult task for Head of Business Mr Andrew White and Media expert Mr
Marcus Milburn, with numerous strong candidates emerging from the field. The
videos, which typically ranged from 4-6 minutes in length, were assessed across
a number of criteria. Mr Milburn focussed on the editing skills and quality of
the documentary, while Mr White was naturally most interested in the correct
use of business terminology and evidence of a sound understanding of the topics
covered, most pertinently the marketing mix.
After the candidates were whittled down to six, Mr White and
Mr Milburn invited a guest judging panel to join them in determining the
overall winners. College Governor and successful boating businessman Jonathan
Hobbs kindly offered his time to share his expertise with candidates, in
addition to the Headmaster, Mr Bloor (Teacher of Business and Economics), Mr
Bluck (Head of Economics) and Mr McSweeny (Director of Marketing). In addition to their documentary and business knowledge,
judges were asked to critique candidates’ presentation skills and ability to
engage the audience. The four categories were combined to give an overall score
out of 20 for each judge, yielding a grand total of 140.
Barney Aldridge was the first to showcase his project to the
judges. He chose to focus on Nike’s ‘magista’ football boots. With the footwear
retailing at over £200, Nike rely heavily on the strength of their brand in
order to sell the product in bulk. Barney’s advert featured strong imagery with
a good combination of music and narration, and after a nervous opening he
fielded questions in an impressive manner. Further use of business terminology
and explanation of the marketing mix ‘4Ps’ could have earned more valuable
points from the judges. Up next was Josh Hemsley, whose comprehensive
introduction to the Nike brand demonstrated a good level of background
research. Josh’s business knowledge and endearing honesty proved a hit, but his
decision not to add any original footage or narration to his text-based video
proved costly.
The final Year 13 entrant was Emma Haynes. Emma immediately
grabbed the attention of the judges with her personable nature and infectious
enthusiasm coming to the fore. Emma’s documentary was split very clearly into a
promotional advert and subsequent analysis of Nike’s marketing strategies. Emma
chose to focus on a new style of running trainers, and produced a high quality
advert including striking close-up shots and effective use of blur and focus.
Emma’s understanding of price, promotion, product and place was immediately
made clear, and the judges unanimously selected Emma as a deserving Year 13
winner. Emma’s video is available to watch below:
The Year 12 trio focussed on high-end fashion brand Gucci.
Guy Pollard made an instant impression by shaking the hand of each judge in
turn, and made an extremely confident pitch. Guy had ‘gone the extra mile’ by
visiting Gucci’s flagship Bond Street store in person, to conduct some market
research with their sales director. This clearly paid off as Guy’s knowledge of
the brand was second to none. Technical issues gave Guy a significant
disadvantage, as he was unable to include sound in his documentary. To his
credit, he thought on his feet and prepared a detailed narration to accompany
the moving images. This earned considerable praise from the judges, but crucial
marks were lost as his documentary did not quite match the level of his
competitors. George Atkinson was another confident presenter, and displayed
sound business understanding. His documentary was attention-grabbing with a
bold choice of music, but the judges commented that this actually distracted
their focus from the main purpose of the video.
The Year 12 winner was Jack Tooley, who focused on marketing
a luxury Gucci watch worth over £600. Jack made a hesitant start, but his
confidence grew and he answered some difficult questions from the judges with
great assurance. His excellent documentary featured a significant amount of
business content, with an imaginative, punchy advert followed by a strong
explanation of Gucci’s marketing strategies. Jack emphasised the effectiveness
of celebrity endorsement, with Cristiano Ronaldo used by Gucci as a role model to
drive further sales. Remarkably, Jack compiled the entire documentary on his
iPhone, demonstrating impressive editing skills in spite of the limited
software available to him. Jack’s video is available to watch below:
Organiser Mr White was delighted with how the students
responded to the project brief: ‘This is the first year we have run the award,
and I am delighted with how things went. I would like to thank the judging
panel, in particular Mr Hobbs, for giving up their time to support the
initiative. The students gained a great deal from participating, and the
documentaries will support the coursework element of their Business course.
Congratulations to Emma and Jack, who emerged victorious from a strong group of
finalists.’