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UPNVY Student Wins 3rd Place in Unilever Business Competition

UPNVY Student Wins 3rd Place in Unilever Business Competition
18 April 2023

JOGJA – Whira Purnama Rizki (21), a Communication Science student at UPN Veteran Yogyakarta, won third position in the group category of the business competition titled “Unilever Future Leaders League (UFLL) 2022” by Unilever Indonesia on Monday (28/3/2022).

Not just a business competition, the UFLL 2022 also brought 30 participants selected from 1,400 applicants to learn more about Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). FCMG are products that are frequently purchased, sold fast, affordable, and are daily necessities, such as hair care products.

As stated on its official website, Unilever mentions that implementing UFLL aims to encourage enthusiasm and potential for young talent. In addition, UFLL provides an accelerated space to generate ideas and solutions, both for business and various global problems.

At Unilever’s regular event since 2013, Whira collaborated with his team, Geraldus, a student from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and Ghofira Muna Khansa, a student at the University of Indonesia (UI), initiated creative business ideas to increase brand awareness and grow sales of Unilever hair care products.

“During the semifinals, we focused on solving the Tresemme product business case. I focus on marketing campaigns and the appropriate channels for marketing hair care products. Meanwhile, Geraldus, from ITB, focused on business financial strategy, and Ghofira, from UI, focused on supply chain issues,” said Whira when contacted Tuesday (29/3/2022).

Whira continued, his team offered seven marketing strategies. “But the main one is the development of business-to-business (B2B) with salons in Indonesia,” added Whira.

For this student of class 2019, participating in business competitions was new and unthinkable. However, based on his experience working at the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences (AIESEC) organization and his interest in the marketing communications class, Whira ventured to compete in the league.

“My initial target is actually only to be in the top 30 nationally, which is enough. The bonus was getting new friends from prestigious universities in Indonesia who supported each other. Plus, cool insights from Unilever,” said Whira.

Before winning the championship, Whira, along with 29 other participants from ITB, UI, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Gadjah Mada, UPN Veteran Jakarta, Monash University, Swiss German University, Universitas Prasetya Mulya, Universitas Pertamina, Institut Pertanian Bogor, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati, and Sampoerna University, underwent a five-day intensive training camp in Bogor, West Java.

“The materials provided were not only about FMCG, but also about leadership, insight discovery, and skill development as a preparation for solving cases in the business and non-business world.” said the woman born in 2000.

Whira hopes his courage to try new things will continue to bring him new experiences. “This is a stepping stone. In the future, Whira wants to focus on AIESEC organizations and student exchanges, hopefully I can achieve them,” Whira concluded.

Author: Khuswatun