Buzz unleashed
Group photo of the judges, organising team and students from the Education Buzz competition.
The Department of Marketing at the School of Business recently hosted Education Buzz 2025: Learning LOUD, Talent PROUD. The event brought together the department’s brightest students to showcase their creativity, communication, and industry-ready skills. It comprised two key elements: the Student Talent Competition and the Student Assessment Exhibition, both of which took place on the same day.
The competition format was redesigned this year to highlight three essential areas of marketing practice: personal branding, on-demand marketing, and pitching. The main objective of the competition was to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their employability and marketing skills in a competitive environment. Judging the competition were Associate Professor Dewi Tojib (The Deputy Head of Marketing Department, Monash University), Benjamin Woo Lik Kang (Head of Consumer Marketing Communication, Astro), Hariz Shazalli (Group Head Brand Building and Marketing, ParagonCorp) and Afifa Hanom Dean Azahar (Head of Media, Telekom Malaysia).
The Student Talent Competition consisted of three sections, each designed to test a critical professional skill in a high-impact format. The first round of the competition, Personal Branding, involved students delivering a self-presentation to recruiters. The second round highlighted On-Demand Marketing that allowed students to deliver an impromptu pitch, selling their assigned product or service to the designated target audience. The final round was dedicated to storytelling and pitching, in which students presented a personally chosen product or service to potential investors, and in this case, the judges.
In addition to the Talent Competition, selected students’ work from across the Strategic Marketing and Digital Marketing majors was exhibited in the library. These projects represent the innovative assessments designed within the department, serving as exemplars of student creativity, research, and applied learning.
From left: Chun Sern Ng (First runner-up), Xin Ying Teng (Winner), and Cheryl Ka Xuan Lee (Second runner-up).
The winner of the competition, Xin Ying Teng (Miyaki), pitched an idea for Malaysia’s first-ever dating app designed for people with disabilities in the third round, aiming to stand out with a realistic and fundable concept. The application, named “OkYou”, which is a creative blend of Orang Kelainan Upaya (OKU), drew our attention to the problem of at least 736,000+ Malaysians with disabilities struggling to find love online. Miyaki stressed that 78 per cent of people with disabilities find mainstream applications inaccessible and not inclusive.
In her pitch, Miyaki highlighted key features in the application, including voice navigation, screen reader support, and OKU-verified profiles to help ease the dating process. This ensures that only those with an OKU card can register themselves in the application, thereby precluding any potential misuse.
When asked about her experience participating in the competition, Miyaki described it as a rollercoaster ride with various challenges, including on-the-spot marketing, pitching, and showcasing creativity and visibility in minutes. “When I received the question, the first thought in my mind was how I could stand out, and portray the service in a realistic way as I’m technically asking for funds from my investors,” noted Miyaki. To her, the competition was a new and interesting experience. Miyaki shared that in preparation for the competition, she drew inspiration from famous shows such as Shark Tank and TED talks to engage with the audience effectively.
Other contestants also captivated the judges with their unique and innovative ideas. Some of them were: Reset, a 60-second relaxation solution designed to help users unwind from stress; Funko, a playful collectable concept that resonates across generations; EcoVerve, standing out for its sustainability-driven approaches by turning mindful consumption into a daily habit; and Giftr, an application that offers a seamless gifting experience that blends convenience with heartfelt connection. Each pitch reflected the students’ ability to think critically, creatively, and commercially.
Education Buzz 2025: Learning LOUD, Talent PROUD not only demonstrated students’ marketing skills and abilities but also served as an inspiring celebration of creativity, adaptability, and professional excellence. Through its innovative competition design and curated exhibition, this year’s event has elevated the visibility and talent of Monash University Malaysia’s marketing students, showcasing their idea creation and talent on the real-world stage.