Ninety students from the Catholic University, divided into nine groups, battle it out with ideas related to the world of marketing and the need to correctly promote the products offered by local companies.
“When the sun sets and the streets light up, there is something magical in the air.” It is just one of the slogans thought up by the students of the Catholic University involved in business game organized by the university in synergy with the CGI Group represented by the founder Gianfranco Curti together with his daughters Elisabetta and Susanna and by the managers of the various companies linked to Gas Sales and Bluenergy.
The aim of the team game is to create effective communication campaigns, initiatives aimed at consumers and projects aimed at expanding the customer base. A day, Wednesday 18 April, entirely dedicated to the meeting between the academic and professional world. “An opportunity for growth for our company and for these guys who were able to win us over with their enthusiasm and their desire to emerge” the words of Elisabetta Curti, president of Gas Sales Energia who strongly wanted the realization of this initiative.
What it means to be a local company
To welcome the ninety students – enrolled in the course Food marketing and commercial strategies of the University of Piacenza – in the headquarters in via Fratelli Cervi in Alseno Gianfranco Curti was a good family man. “Welcome to our home – his words -, a home that I like to define as a local company. Because it’s not enough to have shops and facilities close to people. It’s not enough to have competitive prices. To be a local company you need to sow, harvest, but above all redistribute in the territory.” Curti then underlined that in 2023 the CGI group spent 15% of its profit on sports and activities dedicated to the Piacenza community.
Applause for the initiative also came from the president of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini who arrived at the Gas Sales headquarters at the end of the awards ceremony and spoke with managers and students, talking about work, the importance of continuing to invest in relationships between companies and universities and also sports: him, a great Modena Volley fan, in the home of the owners of Piacenza.
Business game about marketing
During the morning, the Cattolica students, divided into nine groups, challenged each other with presentations, videos, reformulation of social pages and information campaigns focused on energy consumption. “A wonderful opportunity, I thank Gas Sales for this training opportunity – the comment of the teacher Daniele Fornari -. The world needs young people and their ideas and when boys and girls are stimulated and put to the test they manage to amaze.” “We live in a constantly changing context – continued the economist -. The old marketing paradigms are outdated. The pandemic, inflation, wars, climate change are all phenomena that we must deal with in order to try to provide concrete answers and develop new and innovative paradigms”.
Environmental issues and more information for consumers
The Marketing manager of the CGI group Dakal Mussa shares his opinion: “These guys are excellent. Collaborating with them was an opportunity for growth for the entire group.” During the implementation phase of the communication campaigns, Mussa collaborated and interacted with the students, dispensing advice and being carried away by their passion. But will the ideas presented be realized in the future? “Absolutely yes – his answer – I am convinced that there are all the bases to be able to develop the projects presented by the students”. These include the desire to give more information to consumers on electricity and gas saving opportunities, create personalized packages based on age groups, create synergies with places of culture and agritourism companies, raise awareness of waste and environmental issues and promote the company through the promotion of the territory.
The voice of the winners
Three thematic areas addressed by the students and judged by managers, politicians and marketing experts: the creation of a new virtual desk in which Group 7 excelled, the implementation of a program of Loyalty (loyalty, ed.) won at the last point by Group 9 and the realization of a project Sports marketing where Group 3 arrived first of all.
The jury was made up of Gianfranco Curti (CGI Founder), Giuseppe Bongiorni (CGI Group General Manager), Dakal Mussa (CGI Group Marketing Manager), Riccardo Delfanti (Altrimedia Director), Elisabetta Curti (President of Gas Sales Energia), Stefano Perrucci (Municipal Councilor of Piacenza), Isa Delledonne (CGI Human Resources Manager), Susanna Curti (CGI Group President),
Vincenzo Fumarola (Director of CGI finance and control), Monica Uccelli (Head of Marketing Gas Sales Bluenergy volleyball Piacenza) and Davide Zucchi (Mayor of Alseno).
“A very exciting experience which made us understand the potential of working well in a group” said Vittorio Ingrosso, representative of Group 3 who focused everything on friendliness and the desire to involve the red and white fans, with the cup in hand.
Giuseppe Paparella, from Gruppo 9, spoke about their loyalty program like this: “we created a project to bring new users closer and increase the loyalty of existing customers, how? Through a mascot named Emiliano who will dialogue with consumers within a digital application offering information and loyalty rewards”.
Arrigo Zaino and Gruppo 7 convinced everyone with the project to redesign the company’s website and reposition it within the search results: “We also thought about the offline and online communication campaign to try to reach a vast and heterogeneous”.
Observation, listening and participation these are the key words that dominated the entire day. A day dedicated to the relationship between companies and the territory with a view to growth: that of the new generations.
Tags: Marketing sustainability territory Cattolica students Gas Sales
