What do you get if you challenge 100 undergraduates from 10 of Britain’s top universities to learn about your brand, test your products and turn what they learn into eye-catching digital content? SEAT UK finds out in an innovative new project.
“We wanted to try something completely different and get a fresh view on who we are and what we feel like as a brand,” said Head of Marketing, Chris Stevens.
“We’ve tasked some of the brightest young minds in the UK to give us their take on SEAT. How would they market the brand if they were in charge? If they deliver great ideas, we will use them to promote SEAT. Imagine having that on your CV when you are starting out in your career!”
On Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 February, two groups of 50 undergraduates arrived bright and early at Volkswagen Group’s head office in Blakelands, Milton Keynes.
“We thought it would be a series of dry Powerpoint presentations with a bit of driving thrown in,” said Charlie Borley from Kingston University. “But it’s been much more open, engaging and great fun.”
Armed with video cameras to film their day, the visitors were treated to a brief presentation from SEAT UK’s Director Peter Wyhinny before being taken on a lightning-fast tour of Volkswagen Group’s other brands at Blakelands. A 60-minute road trip followed, where the students got to drive all of the cars in the SEAT range.
The morning session ended with some madcap fun: the undergraduates were left to make their own footage of themselves enjoying the cars, from exploring every nook and cranny to squeezing as many people as possible into an Alhambra.
“It’s the perfect combination – Spanish flair and German reliability. In football terms think Bayern Munich meets Barcelona! We just need to get that message across.” Oxford University student
“I used to think SEATs were okay. But now I want one of these cars!” Loughborough University student
“The day has been fantastically planned. We didn’t know what was expected of us, but right from the first minute my expectations were met and exceeded.” Oxford University student
In the afternoon the action moved to Bedford Autodrome. There was a short presentation about the project and a visit from SEAT UK’s own Stig, aka Product Marketing Assistant David Foster. Then a group of fearless rally drivers treated everyone to edge-of-the-seat thrills round the track in a number of powerful Leon Cupra Rs.
Now it’s down to the serious stuff
The students will spend the next two weeks putting their ideas together before presenting them to a board of industry experts in London at the end of February. In March the students will create their digital content and submit it to SEAT UK. In April we’ll assess the results.