Calm before the Brandstorm

MANILA, Philippines - Two things occurred to me as I received the media invite to this year’s L’Oreal Brandstorm competition. One: I couldn’t believe that it had been almost a year since Team Eves, composed of students from the University of the Philippines, bagged the championship and People’s Choice award in Paris, France for their award-winning “Bath Buddies” marketing strategy. That had been the first year that a Philippine representative bagged an international championship in the said competition. You could say it was the nationalist Janine Tugonon-esque victory that went slightly under the radar. Job well done! Two: scrolling through the email, I couldn’t help but notice that this year’s project managers for L’Oreal Brandstorm were two of the three winners themselves — Ivania Sy and Stephanie Gabaldon. It’s some kind of amazing to know that a triumph within the said competition can lead to a tangible career opportunity, something I couldn’t say for those reality competitions you’d see on TV.

This year’s Brandstorm competition is raising the stakes. With over 60,000 players from 280 partner campuses in 48 different countries, they move from last year’s Body Shop anchor to the company’s multibillion-flagship brand, L’Oreal Paris as participants are summoned to devise a new product range and strategy for the brand’s hair care and styling category. The competition hits even closer to home this year as participants are asked to focus on the South East Asian market, which according to brand, is one of their fastest growing beauty markets in the world.

Two stages await the contestants. First, a selection on what product range from the existing “hair care and styling” category would they launch in the region if they were to serve as L’Oreal Paris’ marketing director, and then how to operationalize this. Second, to develop a brand new product that would attract more consumers in the region.

Of the various participants, six teams have emerged as finalists: Team Istas and Team Vector from the University of the Philippines, Team Audacity and Team Southernsmile from De La Salle University, and Team Tiwala and Team Heights from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Find out who will bag this year’s all-expense paid trip to Paris, France, and the opportunity to compete for 10,000 euros and bragging rights to this year’s L’Oreal Brandstorm 2013.