A social enterprise which helps restaurants to raise money for children’s charities is launching in Australia with help from The University of Queensland Business School Advertising students.
BAMGAM (Buy a Meal, Give a Meal), which already has operations in San Francisco and South Africa, is now launching in Brisbane.
In participating BAMGAM restaurants, each time a customer orders a specific item on the menu, the restaurant donates money to BAMGAM, which in turn passes it on to a children’s charity. In Australia BAMGAM will be supporting ACT for Kids and Variety Australia.
Groups of students competed to pitch their marketing ideas to BAMGAM, with the winning team being offered an internship to put them into practice.
Natalie Frost, who led the winning presentation to BAMGAM, said being involved with the project had been a fantastic experience.
“It allowed us to apply what we were learning in the Masters program directly to an industry challenge,” Ms Frost said.
“I am honoured and excited to work with BAMGAM and my group to incorporate elements of our recommendations and see the venture really take off in Brisbane.”
Michael Eales, co-founder of BAMGAM, said the students had shown valuable business acumen.
“The recommendations and discipline applied to the project proposals have enabled us to determine a direction to take with greater confidence and clarity,” Mr Eales said.
The five-strong winning team will work with BAMGAM on the Australian launch.
Other social enterprises which UQ Advertising students have been working with include Sandlewood Op Shop, GIVIT Kids, Spinal Injuries Association Queensland, Brisbane Youth Services, Buffed, The Flower Project and The Pyjama Foundation.
Louise Shellshear, whose team won the competitive pitch for the Sandlewood Op Shop, a second-hand store in Moorooka that gives to the community, said she is looking forward to helping the shop restructure its website and optimise its social media presence.
“It was a great opportunity to create a proposal for a real organisation,” Ms Shellshear said.
“This project taught us how to tailor advertising needs to a specific organisation as well as work within the constraints of a limited budget.”
Both undergraduate and postgraduate Advertising students took part in the exercise.
UQ Business School’s Dr Nicole Hartley said these projects are the first of their type to be offered to Advertising students at both levels and we have had a very positive response.
“They allow students to gain hands-on experience in a real-life organisation, and hopefully provide valuable input for the social enterprises taking part,” Dr Hartley said.
Media: Tanya Hagedorn, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, UQ Business School, 3346 3052 or t.hagedorn@business.uq.edu.au.
