Niagara College team of Business – Sales and Marketing students Niall Cain, Natalie Piccirillo and Katherine Heykoop placed third place in their division at the Scotiabank Vanier College Marketing Case Competition 2020 in Montreal.
After weeks of preparation, a team of NC students were in the market for success at one of Canada’s most prestigious college marketing competitions – and brought home hardware to prove it.
The team of three second-year Business – Sales and Marketing students including Katherine Heykoop (St. Catharines), Niall Cain (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Natalie Piccirillo (Niagara Falls) placed third in their division at the Scotiabank Vanier College 2020 National Marketing Case Competition, which was held in Montreal from February 8-9. The weekend case competition drew top marketing students from 25 colleges across Canada.
The competition is fierce, with students competitors from across Canada eager to showcase their skills and abilities, but NC’s team stepped up to the challenge, noted Terri Champion, professor and coordinator of the Business – Sales and Marketing program, who coached the team with School of Business Management professor Malcom Howe.
“Placing third overall in their division is an amazing accomplishment,” said Champion. “We couldn’t be happier with our team and we know they will go on to do great things in the future. Their efforts and enthusiasm are a great example of the great things happening in the School of Business at Niagara.”
During the case competition, student teams are isolated for three hours to analyze a marketing problem, develop a presentation and then present a marketing plan to a panel of judges. The teams were judged on the value of their recommendations, creativity, practicality and the quality of their presentation skills.
“The competition is a very unique learning opportunity, a great example of experiential learning that provides students with the opportunity to showcase the skills and knowledge they have gained from their program of study, as well as well as push themselves outside of their comfort zone by stepping up to compete in a pressure-cooker environment,” said Champion.
“Our team delivered a well-thought-out, persuasive presentation and were able to successfully defend their strategies during the Q and A period. In addition to that, they were one of the most outgoing and social teams at the weekend competition, making friends with competitors from across Canada and cheering on the other schools that advanced to the final round.”
For Heykoop, competing in the Vanier competition has been a goal even before she enrolled at NC – from the time she watched a video about NC students participating in the competition, which was posted to the College website.
“I told my friends and family ‘I’m going to compete in this, I don’t know how but I am going to make it happen,'” she recalled. “I really wanted to set high goals for myself because it was my second chance coming back to school and Vanier seemed like the ultimate challenge, it seemed impossible and that’s what made it so appealing.”
Heykoop now has two Vanier competitions under her belt, as well as two Ontario College Marketing Competitions. She won first place (Pearson Marketing Award) at OCMC 2019 and won first place her first year as well. She also received the Tyler Santing Spirit Award, granted annually to an outstanding Sales and Marketing student, in spring 2019. Competing at the national level has equipped her with confidence.
“Niagara College provided an opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and, in doing so, I went from looking at others in admiration thinking, ‘wow that person is really capable to do that,’ to being able to see myself that way,” said Heykoop. “Participating in this competition has given me the courage to overcome situations I’ve found intimidating and I know this skill will be an asset to any company.”
For Piccirillo, the experience proved that hard work and dedication pay off.
“It really is a pressure cooker, and to actually be able to perform, and perform well, under such pressure to me is an accomplishment on its own,” she said. “I feel like I will be able to handle any task thrown my way when it comes to a new work environment.”
Piccirillo and Cain also partnered at OCMC 2019 and captured third place in the retail case category.
One of the aspects she valued most about the experience was the opportunity to network at the event.
“Many people don’t take advantage of this, but that little added touch of kindness or just simply not being afraid to start a conversation can go a long way, ” she said. “You never know where a connection will be five to 10 years from now … I always try to look at the big picture with these opportunities.”
Cain was interested in competing at Vanier because he wanted to see what it takes to compete at the national level. The experience taught him a lot.
“I feel like the challenges within the Vanier cases are very realistic and require very well thought out, detailed solutions with numbers to back up your recommendations,” he said. “Overall, the Vanier format does a great job of preparing you for real-world business challenges. ”
He noted that he was pleased with the team’s third-place finish within the division, and was proud of his team’s accomplishments.
Cain, as well as his teammates, noted how grateful he was for the support of their coaches.
“The work they put in to aid us in our success at Vainer was nothing short of amazing. It was truly a pleasure to get to know both of them better over the last couple of months,” he said. “It’s amazing to see two people who are so clearly committed to making our college experiences just that much better.”
For participating students and their coaches, the Vanier competition was on the heels of the Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition 2019, hosted by Niagara College. The event was held November 21-22 in Niagara Falls. Champion and Howe co-organized the provincial competition, which drew top marketing students from across the province. View Nov. 19, 2019 news release here.