PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: The Secret to Customer Loyalty? Enderun Students Take Top 10 at Agora Youth Awards
PASAY CITY, Philippines — For hospitality brands, getting customers through the door is only part of the challenge. The bigger question is what makes them stay longer, return more often, and build a lasting relationship with the brand.
That was exactly what the Enderun Colleges Junior Marketing Association (EJMA) put to the test at the 34th Agora Youth Awards: The Search for the Philippines’ Next Gen Market Innovators, where the student organization was named among the Top 10 finalists in the competition organized by the Philippine Marketing Association.
In the competition, students were given a real-world business case involving Newport World Resorts. They had to study the problem, develop a solution, and present it to a panel of judges. The challenge centered on a familiar question for any hospitality brand: How do you get people to come back?
Their answer was a marketing application concept called "Epic Rewards Alliance.”
Turning One Visit Into More Reasons to Return
Created in response to the business case competition involved, the students focused on a specific segment of Newport’s market: corporate guests who visit the property for meetings, conferences, and other business events. While these guests may arrive for a single purpose, the team saw an opportunity to turn those one-time visits into longer-lasting relationships with the resort.
The concept explored how a rewards-based approach could create more opportunities for customer engagement. Their proposal brought together ideas around dining, accommodation, entertainment, shopping, wellness, and leisure, with the goal of extending the relationship between the guest and the destination.
After making it through the judging stages, the team achieved the Top 10 finish in the JMA category.
For EJMA, the experience was more than a competition entry. It became an opportunity to experience what it means to think like real-world marketers: to ask better questions, build with purpose, turn an idea into something, and mold that to create real business value.
"From 41 nominees, to 26, to the Top 10! [It's] Our first time joining the Agora Youth Awards, a national recognition that celebrates outstanding student marketing organizations.... In just two years since reviving EJMA, we’ve already made our mark among some of the best Junior Marketing Associations in the country.” the organization said in a public social media post.
Through its marketing degree programs, Enderun Colleges provides students with opportunities to develop skills across areas such as brand strategy, consumer behavior, digital marketing, and marketing communications, preparing them to approach the industry with both creativity and strategic perspective.
Experiences like the Agora Youth Awards give students a platform to put these skills into practice, compete alongside emerging marketers, and gain firsthand insight into the demands of the profession.
The Top 10 finish is a milestone. It’s a glimpse of what these young marketers can do when they are given a real challenge and the opportunity to rise to it.
And the question they were challenged to answer at the Agora Youth Awards is one they will continue benchmarking throughout their careers: How do you get customers to stay, come back, and choose your brand again?
About Enderun Junior Marketing Association (EJMA)
The Enderun Junior Marketing Association (EJMA) is the co-curricular marketing organization of Enderun Colleges, comprising over 100 members. EJMA serves as a platform for students to develop their marketing knowledge, leadership capabilities, and professional networks through industry engagement, competitions, and organizational initiatives.
Visit their official instagram account, @enderunjma and official Facebook account, Enderun Junior Marketing Association.
About Enderun Colleges
Enderun Colleges provides students with an immersive learning environment through its industry-specific programs, highly experienced faculty, and extensive local and international internship placements. The institution offers international-caliber Bachelor’s Degree programs in International Hospitality Management; Business Administration majors in Financial Management, Operations Management, Marketing Management, Technology Management, and Sustainability Management; as well as programs in Economics, Entrepreneurship, Architecture, Interior Design, and Multimedia Arts.
In addition, Enderun Senior High School provides excellent academic tracks in Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM); Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS); Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); and the General Academic Strand (GAS). Beyond the Department of Education-sanctioned strands, students may also earn advanced college credits through the globally recognized AP program.
Visit Enderun’s official website through https://www.enderuncolleges.com. For PR-related matters, visit https://enderunmarketing.com/.
