Three students from the University of Ghana (UG) have been crowned winners of the Unilever Africa Idea Trophy in South Africa.
The final year trio with the team name Team Kool- T, were Paul Godwin Kwaku Fordjor from the Business Administration Department, Samuel Van-Segbefia from Nutrition and Food Science Department and Joanita Sefakor Fugar from the Sociology Department.
With a grand prize of an all-expense paid trip to London, the winning team would get the opportunity to showcase their creative ideas and talents at a global competition finale at the Unilever Future Leaders League this April.
The team on their return visited the management of Unilever Ghana to share their success story with them.
At a round table meeting, the Managing Director (MD) of Unilever Ghana, Mr Ziobeieton Yeo commended the students for the creative intelligence, tact and leadership qualities they exhibited in raising the flags of Ghana and Unilever high.
He explained that most intelligent and productive companies and organisations hire the services of creativity, apt and high standard employees which he said were the major hallmark of the human resource programme of Unilever Ghana.
He stated that their achievement through excellence and competence would help them to transform the face of every organisation in Ghana and the African continent at large.
Mr Ziobeieton assured of continuous investment in Ghana not only in infrastructure but also in the people saying “we have great partnership with some of the best universities and schools in Ghana as well as promoting good health, hygiene and sanitation in primary schools to help have a healthy nation when the young generation takes the mantle of leadership.
One of the team members, Kwaku Fordjor in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, said the programme had brought out a different practical experience which they wouldn’t have acquired in the classroom.
“Having challenging tasks and competing with other intelligent and talented students from universities in Ghana and to Nigeria and finally to South Africa and lifting the African trophy is no mean achievement,” he said.
He gave assurance of their confidence and preparedness to compete at the global level and win the world trophy as well.
Their task at the competition was a marketing challenge to develop a marketing communication campaign under the lens of ‘Be Awake to What Really Matters’, to transform Lipton from an old brand into one that is relevant for and inspires millennial consumers by taking inspiration from a classic brand of your choice that has a long history but remains meaningful and relevant to millennial.
The purpose of the Idea Trophy was a development initiative designed to create an “an out of the classroom” learning experience that focuses on the development of personal and entrepreneurial skills among students. It is a challenging and creative experience where you need to figure out how business works in real life.