The brief, which sets the challenge to increase Guinness brand affinity at home and in bars, invites the students to propose how Guinness's relationship marketing programme could be used most effectively to increase its volume share within the customer's drinking repertoire, while working within the guidelines laid down by the Diageo Marketing Code.
Neil Skinner, of the Guinness brand team GB said: "To be able to present students with a live challenge is genuinely exciting for us and, having seen the quality and variety of previous winners, we are all really looking forward to enjoying the students' creative solutions for the Guinness brand."
Each year, a leading direct marketing agency and household name brand join forces with the IDM to present UK students with a live marketing brief for the National Student Direct Marketing Competition.
Previous brands include Volkswagen, The AA, Oxfam, BMW and Orange.
Year on year, the volume and quality of entries has grown. Last year, an estimated 2,000 students used the materials as part of their studies and 450 entered the competition.
The brief is now being promoted to the UK's 150 universities. Many lecturers will incorporate the brief into their syllabi in good time for the closing date for entries in May.
The winning team of students receive a cash prize of £1,500, while their project supervisor gets a trip to the 2005 DMA Conference in the US.
The runners-up receive a cash prize of £800, while their project supervisor is awarded a free place on the three-day IDM Symposium in London in May.
For more information on the competition and to see the brief in full, visit
the IDM's graduate website .
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