The Italtile/ University of Pretoria Student Programme is in its fifth successful year.

Having weathered two very difficult years of lockdown, Italtile’s teaching and internship partnership with the University of Pretoria Department of Marketing Management is now in its fifth successful year. Curated by Italtile Marketing Manager Nicole Russell in collaboration with Professor Melanie Wiese and Professor Danita van Heerden – both of whom believe implicitly in the value of bringing “the world-of-work” into the classroom – the programme seeks to educate students in the real world of retail by immersing them in the day-to-day challenges of the Italtile business. Following the year’s immersion, the programme then offers ten top students an internship within Italtile Retail.

2022 sees 79 third-year BCom Marketing Management students take on the challenge, with the following modules: Sales (Personal Selling and Account Management) Marketing Research, Strategic Marketing Management, an Integrated Practical Marketing Project, International Business Management, and finally, Business Analytics. All of them will be viewed through the lens of the Italtile business.

This year’s programme promises to be exciting and varied, and it all kicked off with a creatively inspired welcome at the Italtile Menlyn showroom: getting the measure of the showroom layout, unpacking fun brand boxes, enjoying a cup of Italtile’s signature blend Killer Coffee (an instore brand collab), and a highly competitive on-the-spot social media competition (which saw students creating hashtags and posting selfies with Italtile product).

As the year progresses, Nicole Russell will host online “Who We Are” training and info sessions to help the students with a deep dive into the Italtile Group and its business purpose. Italtile Director Paul Couzis will lead tile training sessions covering the history and manufacture of local and imported tiles, as well as innovations within the industry and sustainability. Chapters Interiors CEO Melanie Ewing, an expert in design trends in the built environment, will take the students through the world of Biophilic Design, which links strongly with Italtile’s LiveGreen ethos. Final examinations on this series of modules will form a major part of the students’ yearly marks.

As part of the final examinations, students will be required to put together a final presentation to their lecturers and Italtile’s Marketing Department, encompassing all the elements of their year’s learning. Based on these presentations, ten top students will be offered internships within Italtile.

As testament to the success of the five year old programme, the following past students are currently employed at various Italtile Showrooms: Marku Gouws is Assistant Manager at Polokwane Showroom; Max Silber is Branch Manager at The Glen Showroom; Dylan Murray is a Sales Consultant at Clearwater Showroom; Tamika Naidoo is a Sales Consultant at the Northriding Showroom; Solomon Mashaba is a Sales Consultant at the Bryanston Showroom.

For more information about the programme, please contact russelln@italtile.co.za