The Pitch 2025: Marketing students respond to creative challenge from Dogs Trust 

• Students set creative challenges designed to test their marketing skills and deliver real-life marketing experience
• Competition open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) partnering with Dogs Trust
• Top teams will be invited to present their ideas to expert judges at live finals in March 2025 

CIM’s 2024/25 global student marketing competition, The Pitch, has launched to students around the world and is accepting entries until Monday 02 December 2024.

The competition is open to university students based anywhere around the world, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, where students are studying for a marketing degree, or a business degree containing a marketing module.  

Now in its fourteenth year, the competition challenges aspiring marketers from across the globe to react to a real-life brief from a top organisation. Finalists will then go head-to-head in the hope of impressing a panel of expert judges and securing the coveted ‘Marketers of the Future’ title. 

This year’s competition is being run in partnership with Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, dedicated to improving the lives of dogs and promoting responsible dog ownership. Founded in 1891, Dogs Trust has been working to create a better future for dogs for over 130 years. As well as its work all over the UK, Dogs Trust runs and supports projects on five continents, in countries including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia, USA, Ecuador, Malawi and Galapagos.

It has become increasingly vital in today’s economic climate for charities like Dogs Trust to leverage effective marketing strategies that not only attract but also engage their target audiences. This year’s challenge will see student marketers tasked with developing a marketing plan to grow the membership of Dogs Trust’s Companions Club with undergraduates and postgraduates competing in separate competitions.

Discussing the launch of the competition, Debbie Clark, group head of individual giving at Dogs Trust said: 

“Dogs Trust is thrilled to partner with CIM for The Pitch 2025. This collaboration offers aspiring marketers a fantastic opportunity to gain practical experience by solving a real-life challenge and developing a marketing plan for Dogs Trust’s Companions Club. It’s a wonderful chance for students to have fun, engage in creative thinking and showcase their skills which will undoubtedly be beneficial as they embark on their marketing careers.”

Successful teams will advance to the finals and be granted the chance to pitch their ideas and impress a panel of judges. There will be two separate finals of ten teams, taking place on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March 2025. The winning teams from both categories will be announced after the finals conclude.

The competition is designed to provide students with experience pitching their ideas to industry experts, allowing them to develop their experience and boost their employability, helping them stand out in an increasingly competitive job market. 

Discussing the competition and its significance, CIM’s director of qualifications and partnerships, Maggie Jones, commented: 

“The quality of teams entering The Pitch is always impressive. Every year, the innovative ideas and concepts from the participants show the huge potential of student marketers and the value The Pitch provides as a platform for them to develop their skills, build their confidence, and offer them a glimpse at how rewarding a career in marketing can be.

“The experience of entering the competition can bolster a CV and provide future marketers with a competitive edge when starting out in the profession. There are also plenty of benefits and prizes for the teams who win, including: a year’s CIM membership, money off a CIM qualification and the coveted ‘Marketers of the Future’ title.”

Last year’s undergraduate winners, The Three Marketeers, a team comprised of Lauren Parr, Mehek Hathiramani and Jenny Vu, from Newcastle University said:

“Embarking on such an exciting challenge and receiving positive feedback from the judges during the live final was a real ‘pinch me’ moment for us. We are immensely grateful to The Chartered Institute of Marketing and Every Youth, for the opportunity to showcase our skills in such an interesting and unique competition.”

Lucy Cassels, Lucy Mitchell and Cara Garvie from University of Strathclyde who made up last year’s winning postgraduate team, the StrathStrategists said:

“Taking part in CIM’s The Pitch was at times difficult but a very fulfilling experience. Working together as a team allowed us to utilise our strengths to overcome any challenges and, in the end, help us improve our professional and personal development.”

The initiative has been so successful over the past fourteen years that it is recognised across the country and now integrated into the degree programs of many UK universities. The Pitch is also part of a wider initiative that runs alongside the CIM Accredited Degree partnership programme, mapping marketing and business degrees against learning outcomes within CIM qualifications. Eligible students can use their work as part of the competition to complete the Marketing in Action assessment to gain the Certificate in Professional and Digital Marketing.