The challenge is a hands-on exercise which gives undergraduate and post-graduate students direct experience of online advertising as part of their course. Student teams receive the equivalent of US$200 to spend on Google AdWords advertising to work with a local business to devise an effective online marketing campaign. The teams have to outline a strategy, run the campaign, assess their results and provide the business with recommendations to further develop their online marketing.
Lee Hunter, product marketing manager, Google EMEA, says, “The huge response to last year's challenge was so overwhelming that we decided to make this an annual competition. Giving students direct experience of online marketing whilst they are studying is a great way for universities to provide students with direct practical skills they can use on graduation. Whether they find a job in marketing, accountancy, retail or set up their own business, graduates could always benefit from understanding online marketing. We hope students from across different academic disciplines will get involved in this competition.”
The challenge works like this: