Italtile and University of Pretoria Partnership I Prize-giving Event

September 10, 2024

Italtile and the University of Pretoria Celebrate a Productive 7th Year of Collaboration and Student Success.  

The evening of 29 August 2024 was a moment of great joy– and a certain amount of relief, too – as the University of Pretoria’s final year marketing students received well-deserved recognition at their final prize-giving. The occasion marks the close of the 2024 Italtile/UP Marketing Management Department Student Programme, now in its 7th year. 65 third-year students and their lecturers were hosted at the Italtile Menlyn Showroom and were treated to Italian-themed hospitality. 

The prize-giving evening is the culmination of the year’s retail module in both theoretical and practical sales and marketing, guided by the lecturers from the UP Marketing Management Department, in conjunction with Italtile’s Marketing Manager Nicole Russell. The event serves as a platform to hand the students their final results, after the final practical examination day, where the groups of students made their final presentations to a panel of specialists. Prizes presented included: Best Overall Team, Best Implementation Plan, and Most Dedicated Student, among other accolades. 

 

Italtile curates a portion of the sales and marketing curriculum for the third year students and, during the course of the study year, is involved with the guidance of students through the'real world’ of sales and marketing. This includes inviting students into Italtile’s showrooms to gain real time sales experience, visits to Italtile’s partner factories, role play, and the translation of marketing briefs into workable marketing and creative strategies for the Italtile Brand. All the activities and learnings channel into the final marketing exam and form part of their final marks. 

Third year Marketing Management lecturers for the year: Dr van Heerden, Dr Verbeek and Dr Wiese. 

It was, as always, a deeply immersive year and strong bonds were formed during all the challenges, so it’s with a measure of sadness that Italtile bids the 2024 students a fond farewell and wishes them well on the next steps of their chosen journey. 

2025 will bring a fresh intake of curious young marketing minds and both UP and Italtile are excited for the next year’s project.