Coca-Cola Sees Opportunity to Strengthen Teams Through Student Competitions

The finals of the Event Management Contest took place at the premises of Coca-Cola HBC Croatia, where eight of the best teams presented their ideas for promoting the premium whiskey brand The Famous Grouse.

The finals were held at the beginning of the week, and in the final, Coca-Cola representatives and jury members faced a challenging task – to select the team with the best and most innovative idea among the eight finalists. Due to their creative ideas, dedication to solving the task, and significant progress during the competition, Nedeljko Lužija and Petra Golubiček were chosen as the winners of the Event Management Contest. The winning team was awarded 7,600 HRK, and all participants had the opportunity to gain experience by working on a real business case.

– Due to the intense competition, we felt a degree of uncertainty, but we tried to be as creative and original as possible, hoping that the jury would recognize that. The organization of the competition was at a high level, and additional consultations and collaboration with Coca-Cola’s brand management manager greatly helped us. We believe that this experience will be an excellent springboard and entry into the background of something great, something we as students do not have the opportunity to try – proudly stated the winners of the competition, Nedeljko and Petra.

However, before the start of the finals, Maria Anargyrou-Nikolić, the General Director of Coca-Cola HBC for Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia, and Luka Šlibar, the president of the eSTUDENT association, signed a partnership agreement. The signing of this agreement opened numerous opportunities and confirmed the successful cooperation between Coca-Cola HBC Croatia and the eSTUDENT association so far.

– We are extremely pleased to collaborate with young and ambitious people and to pass on our knowledge and experience through practical examples like this. This is also our opportunity to recognize potential talents and leaders who may become part of our successful team in the future, as well as to be even more strongly recognized among students as one of the most desirable employers in the Croatian market, which is confirmed by a series of awards for successful human resource management – stated General Director Maria Anargyrou-Nikolić on this occasion.

– It is always pleasant to collaborate with a company that invests effort and time to support student projects. We believe that we will continue to successfully collaborate with Coca-Cola on numerous other projects and create new opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills on concrete business problems – added Luka Šlibar, president of the eSTUDENT association.

It is worth noting that more than 300 student competitors applied for the competition in over 120 teams. To further educate and prepare students, consultations were organized during which teams had the opportunity to collaborate directly with Coca-Cola’s category development manager for strong alcoholic beverages.