Students Talk Cobblers

24th Jun, 2008, by J Owens

Thanks to Marketing Department representatives from leading footwear retailer Clarks, Year 10 Business Studies students at The Kings of Wessex School on Monday 23 June 2008 learned some insightful lessons about how to market a piece of footwear for their "Cobblers" project.

Experts in graphic design, Stacey Cocker and Nick Reeve made a presentation to the students, explaining the marketing process at Clarks. This helped to guide the students in their task to design and produce a prototype and also model new shoes for the footwear market. They are also expected to present the pricing, promotion and distribution strategies, as well as justify the product itself. The students worked in groups to brainstorm their exciting new product and plan its important promotion.

The "Cobblers" project was pioneered by Teacher of Business Studies Jo Wilson last school year, when Clarks representatives from the nearby Street HQ visited school to share their knowledge. Commenting on this hands-on stage of the project, Subject Leader for Business Studies Martin Lee said, "This was a really beneficial experience for our students in bringing to life the marketing process of a new product. The students rose to the challenge and I am grateful to Stacey and Nick from Clarks for sharing their time and skills to help make our Cobblers project really successful. By offering to be involved at the start of the project, they have given the students real confidence in their initial ideas."

The students, who are nearing the first year of their GCSE course, greatly enjoyed the experience and were liberated by the potential of their wide ranging creative ideas to fit the particular design, including one group who were designing a shoe that could be turned inside out; whilst another were working on a design to make Wellingtons "cool". Other groups concentrated on branding, involving the development of their product name and logo to present both in a way that would appeal to the students' targeted market segment.

Stacey and Nick are due to return to Kings before the end of term to help judge the winning teams from each class and announce an overall winner