NUS trio to represent Singapore in global business competition

SINGAPORE - National University of Singapore (NUS) students Yeo Yin Hong, 21, Zaneta Tan, 21, and Fang Xiuxian, 23, have emerged victorious at the L'Oreal Brandstorm 2013 National Finals.

The business competition, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious marketing games in the world, is in its 12th edition in Singapore. It attracted the participation of 174 local university students across 58 teams.

Teams worked through a gruelling 4-month period to formulate a comprehensive business strategy within rigorous authentic scenarios.

The winning team, "Team Aurora", will now move on to represent Singapore in the International Finals held in Paris on 20 June 2013. They will pit themselves against teams from 45 other countries to vie for the title of International Champions, which comes with an all-expenses-paid trip worth 10,000 euros to a destination of their choice.

Singapore teams have traditionally performed well at the international edition of the competition - in 2011, a team from Nanyang Technological University emerged as the global champions.

"The L'Oreal Brandstorm competition opens opportunities for Singapore's youths to gain international exposure to global ideas. Students are challenged to come up with creative ideas, and translate these into innovative products," said Mr Christopher Neo, Managing Director of L'Oreal Singapore.

"In the process, students are encouraged to take complete ownership of their ideas, beginning with the initial conceptualising of ideas right down to the final marketing strategies of their product."

In Brandstorm 2013, participants were tasked to assume the role of Head of ASEAN Hub, and develop and market a new product for the Group's flagship brand, L'Oreal Paris. Team Aurora impressed the judges with their proposal - Paradis Scalp Care - a scalp treatment range comprising an exfoliating gel and a scalp essence.

"The experience has been gruelling, but extremely satisfying. We spent countless nights refining and improving on our business ideas," said Tan. "But I'm glad we persevered, and we're all extremely excited to see our hard work pay off."

Other participants in the competition are not left out either. L'Oreal uses Brandstorm as an opportunity to recruit promising talent from all finalists.

"L'Oreal is excited to partner with our tertiary institutions to develop young talents through Brandstorm, and to offer outstanding candidates a chance to realise their potential with the group after graduation," said Ms Alice Lim, Human Resource Director of L'Oreal Singapore. "Brandstorm reaffirms L'Oreal's commitment to developing young talents, and serves as a testimony to the innovative approaches the company takes to recruit and engage new staff."