A group of talented Year 10 Business students reached the national finals of a prestigious marketing competition hosted by JD and Hoodrich. The challenge was to develop a compelling campaign for the popular streetwear brand Hoodrich, sold at JD Sports.
Selected from hundreds of entries nationwide—including submissions from sixth formers and grammar schools—the group demonstrated exceptional creativity and strategic thinking. The finalists, Nepharah, Teo, Milli, Anh, and Maja, were accompanied by Mrs Evans and Miss Liu to the TikTok headquarters in London for a day full of exciting activities, including a surprise appearance by YouTuber Niko, a fast-paced TikTok challenge to promote JD, and an interactive workshop led by JD experts.
The students then had to present their marketing ideas to a panel of judges from Good Stuff, JD Sports, and TikTok, in front of a large audience.
The judges were thoroughly impressed. One of the Nova teams was praised for delivering “one of the most prepped presentations we've seen,” while another was commended for their “really good strategic thinking with the brand at the core.”
Maya and Anh’s team secured second place in a field of almost 50 competing teams, with them each winning £150 worth of JD Sports vouchers.
I was nervous at first but once I got into it, doing the pitch was one of the best experiences I've had so far.
Nepharah
When we first got to the TikTok offices we felt overwhelmed by the other students as they were much older than us. However, the 4 minutes of our speech went really quick and we felt really relieved. It was the best experience and we'd do it again.
Maja and Anh
It was a really interesting experience to see how marketing really works at big companies like TikTok and JD and it was a good experience to speak and pitch our ideas in front of completely new people.
Milli and Teo
Mrs Evans, their Business Studies teacher who coached the teams through the competition and proudly accompanied them to the final, said
“Their professionalism, creativity, and business acumen stood out in a highly competitive field. This achievement is a testament to the hard work and talent of our students, who represented our school with pride and excellence.”