UP, AIM win big in Google Online Marketing Challenge

MANILA, Philippines - Two teams from the Philippines bested 12,000 students in 80 countries in the recently concluded Google Online Marketing Challenge.

A team from the University of the Philippines composed of Jeanina Melissa Tee, Martin Joseph Alexandre Gonzaga, Wesley Paul Cortez, Francis Louie Karunungan, Nigel Williamson Lee and Erika Kathleen Uy was declared the global winner of the Adwords Awards competition for their marketing campaign on Sun Cruises Philippines, a tour services agency in Corregidor Island. The team was mentored by Professor James Ryan Jonas.

Meanwhile, a team from the Asian Institute of Management was declared the Asia Pacific winner with their work on Happily Unmarried, an online lifestyle store. The team was composed of Kaushal Pilikuli, Madhu Konanur Venkataram, Sangamesh Desai, Matthew Chua and Pratik Piyush, mentored by Professor David Gulliver Go.

Each competing team was given $250 to create a three-week advertising campaign for a business or non-profit organization through Google Adwords or Google+ pages.

Google said this is the most competitive year yet after five years of participation from over 50,000 students and professors from almost 100 countries.

“This is (Asia Pacific's) first championship in the competition, and we are proud that teams from Philippine schools landed it for the region. The double victory is a great testament of the quality of instruction we have in our universities and also of the Filipinos’ online marketing talent,” said Ryan Morales, Head of Marketing at Google Philippines.

Among other prizes, winners get a trip to the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.