By: Kyle Vertierra - Project RED Director
Round 2 of the Apprentice is officially in the books.
Last Friday, the Top 10 teams from Round 1 of the Apprentice assembled at General Mills' Corporate Office to face their next challenge: to develop a disruptive marketing campaign for General Mills integrating the future of retail - E-commerce.
Competition Day started with a pleasant surprise from General Mills. In addition to touring their sublime office space, delegates were invited to take part in a company-wide meeting where they were able to catch a sneak peek of an upcoming General Mills campaign and even meet Olympic Gold Medalist Vicky Sunohara. Nevertheless, competitors were able to brush off their excitement and keep their composure as they prepared for their presentations.
Desiree Brassard (Associate Director, Top 30 Under 30) kicking off Round 2 of the Apprentice
Judging the competition was an esteemed panel of General Mills judges featuring: JP Del Carmen (Associate Marketing Manager), Luke Allen (Sales Director), Nicole Korb (Associate Marketing Manager), and Jacky Lam (Account Development Manager).
While competitors only had one week to tackle the case, it did not stop them from bringing their A-game to the competition. Across the board, the panel of judges praised Schulich students for their high level, creative, and implementable solutions to the case. These sentiments were notably echoed by Judge Allen who, while a devout Laurier alumnus, jokingly declared that he now may consider allowing his children to apply to Schulich after seeing the quality of the presentations!
Competitors also had a lot to say about their experience at General Mills. Connie Quach noted, "presenting at the General Mills office was an exhilarating experience. I was able to learn about their amazing corporate culture, learn from their current employees and see the impact they have on the community". Monique Mai added, "presenting to General Mills representatives was definitely an eye-opening experience. I was really nervous, but everyone there was so welcoming and supportive that it eased my nerves instantly. It‘s definitely an experience I would do all over again".
JP Del Carmen, Luke Allen, and Jeevan Grewal (Senior Trade Marketing Analyst) announcing the Top 5 teams from Round 2 of the Apprentice
Despite all of the excellent presentations, unfortunately only the top five teams could advance to Round 3 of the Apprentice. Congratulations to the top five teams: Fire and Desire (Hiba Shaikh & Siyara Jayasinghe), Pretty Little Marketers (Connie Quach & Nicole Tsinas), MJ (Junjun Liu & Meena Shan), Team M&M (Monique Mai & Monica Peav), and Lucid Dreamers (Jenny Chu & Amir Larjani).
If there is anything that Round Two showed us, it's that Round Three is looking to be an epic finish to an already historic competition. Who will rise to the challenge and take it all? Find out on November 17.