Scotiabank on Friday announced its ten finalists for the 2009 Change-Maker Challenge contest and a Guyanese has made it through to the shortlist phase of the competition.
After 1300 marketing visions from 14 countries were submitted for Soctia-bank’s new adult-focused programme, Scotiabank Be, the ten selected to move on are: Debbie-Ann Estwick of Barbados, Fabian Fernander and Janairo Turnquest of The Bahamas, Kayla Hall of Belize, Roma Singh of Guyana, Janelle Brown and Sandre Malcolm of Jamaica, Tarek Mohammed and Afeisha Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Roleza Samuel of St Vincent.
The Scotiabank Change-Maker Challenge asked contestants to create a marketing strategy for Scotiabank Be, Soctiabank’s young adult banking platform. The challenge was developed to reflect the importance the Bank places on its young customers and their ideas. Summaries of the submissions of the finalists are now up for peer evaluation on its website, www.changemakerchallenge.com.
Since being posted, Guyanese, Roma Singh’s submission has the third highest rating on the website. Singh’s presentation proposes an “integrated marketing approach to bridge the gap between the target audience and the product/service under consideration”.
She said in her proposal “I would utilize an integrated marketing approach geared towards bridging the gap between the target audience and the product/service under consideration. The young adult population is characterized by high disposable income, highly sociable, high energy and a strong need for personal identity. Inherent in the above is a populace that is entrenched in an active lifestyle which includes studies, work and a lot of play (sports, social, shopping, concerts etc.). The Scotia Bank BE Program is a fundamentally strong proactive initiative which forms a solid platform to create strong and bright futures for the target audience. Given the increasing cost of advertising coupled with the fight for Advertising space/time and target audience has meant that the effectiveness of TV advertising is now being questioned. I am the firm believer that personal communication via on-the-ground execution excellence is the best approach to market Scotia Bank’s program.”
More of her presentation can be read on the website as well as those of the other finalists.
Meanwhile, the Bank’s Senior Vice President for the Caribbean, Pat Minicucci, stated, “The calibre of creativity in the Caribbean is outstanding and the submissions for this year’s Challenge have further confirmed this. The essays showcase the unbelievable talent coming from the future business leaders of the region.”
The top ten finalists will be narrowed down to three and will be flown to Jamaica to personally present their submissions to the judging panel. The judges are made up of senior Scotiabank executives, local academic leaders and media persons.
The top three will be selected after examination of the peer evaluations and evaluation by the judges.
The winner of the contest will be announced at a press conference on July 17. The individual with the most innovative idea will receive US$10,000 while the second and third place recipients will receive US$5 000 and US$3 000 respectively.
