A team of students in the Stern School of Business took home first place in a competition to incorporate social and digital media to increase the consumption of Dannon yogurt. The NYU students beat out five other schools in the Trust by Danone: The Student Business Challenge National Finals last year. They will now compete in Paris in the international portion of the competition.
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In Paris, the team will compete with groups from countries like Algeria, Indonesia and Russia.
According to the official website , March's Trust competition was an opportunity for students to "gain real insight into today's biggest commercial issues."
The Stern group, named Team Awesome, is composed of Stern seniors Justin Song, Helen Zuo and Paul Katsnelson along with Stern freshman Dennis Katsnelson and CAS senior Carlos Fragoso. The diverse team consists of majors like film production, psychology and marketing. They explained that the contributions and expertise of each individual made the team "awesome."
"They were a very talented group of individuals who demonstrated leadership alongside Dannon's values in being committed, open and empowered to driving positive results," Dannon campus ambassadors Cecilia Assalini and Sarah Tantillo said.
After many hours of research, the team poured its energy into creating a seven page proposal for a new Dannon product, DanActive+. Their strategy was to create the lifelong male consumer, as the current market for yogurt is composed primarily of females.
"If you are a woman, you have a line of products that followed you through your lifetime, from Danimals to Light & Fit to Activia," Song said. "But what about meeting the guy's needs? We've found the 'dude dilemma.'"
"Guys are out looking for convenience and health," Katsnelson said. "So we came up with a Probiotic drinkable yogurt loaded with protein and multivitamins, which also fit with Dannon's pro-health image."
The team won over the judges with their edgy marketing campaign "Men Don't Spoon," promoted by virtual brand ambassador DanActiv Dan.
As for the next step of the competition, Team Awesome is ready for the challenge.
"I'm looking forward to sitting in a cafe, people watching, and eating as much food as I can stomach!" Zuo said.
Katsnelson added, "This final round is more reward than challenge. We are going to Paris!"
