Canada's NextTop Ad Execs take the title, and the cars

Catherine Lee and Gregory Duggan won Canada’s Next Top Ad Exec competition and each took home a Mitsubishi Lancer along with their new titles. This is the second year running that Queen’s Commerce has come out on top, with Monica Walker, BCom’07, winning in 2007.

The competition was held at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in March and was open to all undergraduate,MBA and business minor students. Organizers received 194 entries from 27 universities across Canada.

Ten teams from eight universities competed in the final round in Toronto by presenting their marketing plans for Mitsubishi Motors to a panel of 14 marketing experts from industry and academia.

Michael Wallace, left, and Sean Roberts finished third.Third place went to another Queen’s team – Sean Roberts and Michael Wallace, both in their fourth year of the Commerce program. Nick Bontis, Director of Undergraduate Programs at DeGroote School of Business and a competition judge, said of the winning team, “They went all the way, and looked at where the branding of Mitsubishi is today, as well as where the branding will be tomorrow.”

Student organizers said the event attracted the attention of key sponsors from the marketing and advertising world, all interested in encouraging new talent and furthering a program that is helping bridge the gap between industry and academia.