Enterprise Rent-A-Car has teamed up with Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to give marketing students at the college a taste of a real-life marketing brief.
The students were divided into teams and asked to devise an advertising strategy, including a video element, to promote leisure car rental in the South East area.
Hazel McPartlan and Neasa O’Brien from Waterford City, Eibhlin O’Keeffe from Newcastle, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and Jenna Eustace from Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford – who together entered the competition as team ‘Media Edge’ – came out on top with their project called ‘ERAC Bucket List’.
The girls produced a video that featured them travelling by car to popular tourist spots in the South East that are not accessible by public transport, like Mahon Falls in Waterford and Hook Lighthouse in Wexford.
It’s a fun, creative video that showcases all the great places you can visit in the South East with the freedom of driving a rental car.
The release of the video coincides neatly with the recent launch of Ireland’s Ancient East tourism initiative, with the students tapping into the popular landmarks and hotspots along this newly promoted trail in the South East of Ireland.
Commenting on the winning project, George O’Connor, Managing Director, Enterprise Rent-A-Car said: “We were overwhelmed by the level of expertise, creativity, and enthusiasm that the students brought to this competition and I’d like to commend all participating teams on their great work. The winning strategy ‘ERAC Bucket list’ is a fun and original campaign that is on message and one that we could implement as a marketing campaign almost immediately.”
Marie O’ Dwyer, Marketing Lecturer, School of Business, WIT, said: “Live projects such as this enable the students to gain professional experience. Students develop useful skills and at the same time make a tangible and valuable contribution to the client organisation. This project had an impressive impact on student morale and students perceived it as a challenging but rewarding and enjoyable experience. We are very grateful to Enterprise Rent-A-Car for providing our students with this amazing opportunity and for hugely enhancing their learning experience in WIT.”
This is the fourth year that Enterprise Rent-A-Car has collaborated with Waterford IT to offer students this unique experience.
Caroline Kidd