The Lawrence Kinlin School of Business announced on November 17th, that Fanshawe’s very own marketing team has won the 2024 OCMC.
“OCMC is an annual competition amongst Ontario colleges.” says Team Head Coach and marketing Professor Jack Michienzi.
“It’s been 36 years that they’ve been running this event and it’s just an exciting way for students to be able to apply different marketing skills in an environment outside of a regular classroom.”
OCMC logo (credit: OCMC)
OCMC stands for Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition. Not only did Fanshawe’s team win the competition, but they also broke 2 records: a score of 72 points in the competition, and 5 gold medals won, the most in any single competition.
“I can’t even explain the emotions.” says member of the team and gold medal winner Jaedyn Laanstra.
“As a second-year student the OCMC competition is usually for third-year students so, to be able to even be on the team in the first place is already a huge, exciting moment for me. But to be able to actually pull out a win is absolutely incredible. To be able to go and pull out a win, it feels so amazing knowing that all of your hard work and dedication really paid off.”
Two other members of the team that brought home gold for Fanshawe Joshua Millard and Connor Latchford, spoke about some of the nerves that went through their heads as they waited for their results.
“We didn’t feel poorly about it, but we didn’t feel fantastic. It didn’t feel like the judges received our message super well. They were very stoic and very hard to read, so it was difficult. We were really nervous not knowing if we placed first, but hoping we at least placed.
“Then they announced fifth and fourth along with third and second, and we felt there was a chance we didn’t even place. We were kind of feeling down and then they announced us as winners and we were just like, wow. It was insane, we were super worried.”
Millard and Latchford also spoke about how Fanshawe is different from other Ontario colleges that attended the event as well.
“When someone on Fanshawe even got third or fourth, not even in the first top two, the whole team would go crazy at this gala and then all the other teams. They had some energy for who won, but you could see that our team was so much tighter when we would blow up as soon as somebody got third, fourth, second, first.”
Michienzi went on to discuss why the OCMC is so important for the students on the team and what they can take away from it moving forward.
“I think it helps to build confidence. But to be honest with you, it’s not always about winning. I think that just going in and competing sometimes provides a situation for students where they can rise to a different challenge, and there’s benefits for that. Just being involved in the competition is helpful. Obviously, it’s great to say we won, and that’s something that everybody is proud of.”
“But I’ve been involved with this event for a while, and I think year after year it’s really good to see the development that the students make and I know it’s something that benefits them. I know it’s something that will benefit them in terms of building confidence, improving presentability, marketing skills and their careers moving forward.”
Fanshawe’s OCMC team (credit: Lawrence Kinlin School of Business)
When you finish on a high note in a competition like this, it gives Professors like Michienzi lots of hope for the future of marketing at Fanshawe.
“I hope that it builds some excitement around our programs and in the team because this is something that we do every year. It’s open to marketing students in certain programs, our diploma program and our advanced diploma program and those marketing students are eligible to participate in this great competition. I’m hoping that it raises a lot of awareness in terms of this event and get students to want to participate in future years.”
The full list of Fanshawe Teams that placed:
Here are the individual event results:
Marketing – Gold Medal – 1st in Ontario – Conner Latchford & Joshua Millard – coached by Mike Tucker
Interactive Marketing Communications – Gold Medal – 1st in Ontario – Allie Rossiter & Jaedyn Laanstra – coached by Dhaval Motwani & Diego Figueiredo
Advanced Marketing – Gold Medal – 1st in Ontario – Avery Norris & Marion Denny – coached by Simone Moreau-Rodgers
Retail Marketing – Gold Medal – 1st in Ontario – Lisa Jane Dawson & Elise Carlson – coached by Soph Katsademas & John Trembley
Prospect Pitch – Gold Medal – 1st in Ontario – Conner Latchford & Joshua Millard – coached by Michelle Lau
Job Interview – Bronze Medal – Jeff Bowden – coached by Cliona Geraghty
Market Research – Bronze Medal – Malcolm Hartland & Ryan Usher – coached by Kristin Cadotte & Natalie Gaudet
International Marketing – Bronze Medal – Elise Carlson & Mackenzie Preszcator – coached by Lina Manuel
Entrepreneurship – 4th place – Lisa Jane Dawson & Elise Carlson – coached by Soph Katsademas & John Trembley
The competition took place November 14th and 15th hosted by St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario.
