Sheridan students test their skills at the Ontario Colleges’ Marketing Competition

This past November, 16 students from across Sheridan’s Pilon School of Business (PSB) Marketing and Advertising programs headed to Blue Mountain Resort for the Ontario Colleges’ Marketing Competition (OCMC), hosted by Georgian College.

The annual two-day event, which took place on November 16 and 17, is a student-focused learning experience that gives participants the opportunity to showcase their essential, vocational and employability skills before industry professionals. Thirteen Ontario colleges competed in this year’s competition.

The OCMC kicked off with the Quiz-Bowl event – a fast-paced trivia-style challenge where teams of four test their knowledge of marketing concepts and current events. Third-year students Maham Madani (Advertising and Marketing Communications – Management), Oliver Nguyen (Business Administration – Marketing), Rasleen Kaur Sandhu (Business Administration – Marketing) and second-year student Ayush Padwal (Advertising and Marketing Communications – Management) secured a spot in the top three.

“By joining the Quiz-Bowl team, I learned how to build strong team collaboration and how to read and analyze questions to answer them correctly,” said Nguyen. “It was an incredible and fun experience where I learned many new skills not only from my coaches, but the competition itself.”

Madani also noted that the Quiz-Bowl event was a challenge she was proud to overcome. “It was something I didn’t think I would be able to succeed in, but with the help of my coaches [Marianne and Margaret] and the rest of my team, I was able to do well,” she said.

On Friday, student teams prepared for the case study events, which included the topics of integrated marketing communications, entrepreneurship, sales, marketing and more. Teams were tasked with developing creative and strategic solutions to real-world issues. For example, one team was tasked with creating a marketing campaign for the Toronto Blue Jays to help the brand appeal to a younger target audience, while another delivered a sales presentation to Flynn Group of Companies – a commercial roofing, glazing and cladding contractor.

“Without the team of people who were with me to help me along the way, from my coach [Kade Kirkham] to the Sheridan faculty, the life-changing experience of OCMC would have been something that may have passed me by,” said John Monroe, second-year student in the Advertising and Marketing Communications – Management program and first-place winner in the Sales Presentation event at the OCMC. “I would highly recommend other students try it out and challenge yourself.”

The OCMC and similar competitions, such as Scotiabank Vanier College National Marketing Case Competition, are an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge outside the classroom, explains Sheridan marketing professor Michelle Guile.

“Time and again, students have shared that OCMC was one of the greatest experiences in their academic careers,” Guile said. “I’m proud that PSB recognizes the value of these experiential opportunities and that our students meet the challenge with hard work and determination. It’s amazing to see our students’ growth.”

View the team rankings below:

Sales Presentation – 1st Place

Competitor: John Monroe (second-year, Advertising and Marketing Communications)

Coach: Kade Kirkham (Bachelor of Business Administration – Marketing Management, ‘23)

Job Interview – 3rd Place

Competitor: Rasleen Kaur Sandhu (third-year, Business Administration – Marketing)

Coach: Annette P, Professor, Sheridan Pilon School of Business

Quiz-Bowl – 3rd Place

Competitors: Maham Madani (third-year, Advertising and Marketing Communications), Oliver Nguyen (third-year, Business Administration – Marketing), Rasleen Kaur Sandhu (third-year, Business Administration – Marketing) and Ayush Padwal (second-year, Advertising and Marketing Communications)

Coaches: Marianne Sy-Lucero (Business Administration – Marketing, ‘16) and Margaret Bawtinheimer (Bachelor of Business Administration – Marketing Management, ‘20)

Direct Marketing – 4th Place

Competitors: Simran Dhanoa (second-year, Advertising and Marketing Communications – Management) and Moiz Gittham (third-year, Advertising and Marketing Communications – Management)

Coach: Georgia Mello, Marketing Professor, Sheridan Pilon School of Business