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Press Releases

Marketers from General Mills, Mondelēz, Nestle, Sodexo Will Mentor Student Contestants in GfK’s NextGen Competition

Press Releases

Marketers from General Mills, Mondelēz, Nestle, Sodexo Will Mentor Student Contestants in GfK’s NextGen Competition



Annual event gives undergraduates firsthand experience with marketing, market research, Big Data

Marketers and market researchers from four major brands — General Mills, Mondelēz International, Nestle S.A., and Sodexo – will provide expert guidance to students taking part in this year’s GfK Next Generation (“NextGen”) Competition. Now in its 6th year, the contest provides undergraduates with a chance to design, execute, and interpret a market research project, focusing on key issues facing marketers today.

Click here to learn more about the 2016-17 competition
and access the entry form.

NextGen Mentors will provide a variety of help to the students, from evaluating initial entries to selecting the winner and then critiquing a presentation by the winning team when it visits New York City next year. Mentors who have signed on are:

• Julie Rose
Global Consumer Insights Director
General Mills

• Barry Calpino
Vice President, Innovation Hothouse
Mondelēz International

• Mary Colleen Hershey
Vice President, Consumer & Marketplace Insights
Nestle S.A.

• Rick Ortman
Vice President, Global Category Development & Shopper Insights
Sodexo

Possible topics and methods for contestants to study include the mobile consumer, “omnishopping,” user experiences, innovation, and Generation Z. The winning team will receive a $1,000 cash prize, as well as a visit to GfK’s New York City headquarters (for two team members plus a faculty advisor), where they will receive feedback on their work and learn about market research as a career.   

Initial entries, in which students submit proposals for their research projects, are due November 1st, 2016. GfK will select several finalist teams – to be notified on November 28 – who will complete their proposed studies and submit reports for consideration. GfK will announce the competition’s winning team on March 17, 2017. Past winners of the NextGen Competition – from Aurora University, Chatham University, and Purdue University (Calumet) – focused on topics such as mobile apps, social media, Hispanic consumers, and crowdsourcing.