Two ITB students, Gabriela Rehuli Servitya Ginting from the SBM ITB and Regina Marvala from the Faculty of Industrial Technology (FTI ITB), have made history by winning the UFLL (Unilever Future Leaders’ League) Global Round 2024 along with Sekar Kinanti from UGM’s Faculty of Industrial Technology, they showcased exceptional talent and creativity, elevating Indonesia’s profile on the global stage.
UFLL Global Round 2024, organized by Unilever, is a prestigious event that tests participants’ ability to design integrated business solutions for global products. This time, the challenge faced was to design an end-to-end strategy to increase the penetration of the Philippine mayonnaise product, Lady’s Choice, into large retail markets overseas, focusing on the United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE) markets.
This challenge requires participants to consider marketing strategies and technical aspects such as export-import and supply chains. One of the team’s main pillars is benchmarking and making previously successful companies potential partners.
“We see companies like Jollibee and Heinz as successful examples in our target market. We consider them competitors and potential partners,” Gabriela explained when we met on Wednesday (24/7).
During the solution development process, the team often experienced confusion and felt their solution did not fully answer the challenge. Several times, they felt that our solution was inadequate and needed overhauling.
“However, the support from previous UFLL alumni helped us understand what we needed to improve on,” Gabriela added.
In addition, the team received valuable feedback from a Filipino professional working in Indonesia. This feedback provided a valuable perspective because of the relevant market understanding of their target. The insights provided greatly helped the team in refining the solution they developed.
Facing other more experienced participants with strong backgrounds, the team initially felt pressured. However, they changed their mindset from trying to beat each other to seeing the competition as an opportunity to learn and expand their network.
“We started to see this competition as an opportunity to open new opportunities and learn from other amazing participants,” Gabriela said.
Their success was also driven by their creative presentation method. The team made a replica of a TV using available materials to attract the judges’ attention.
“Our presentation was very creative and effective in interestingly conveying our ideas.”
As the youngest participants among 19 countries, the team is very proud to be able to bring Indonesia’s name to the global level.
“We are the youngest participants, but this victory proves that Indonesia can also compete globally,” they said.
They will also continue their journey by participating in the global immersion program, an opportunity to expand their network and gain valuable international experience. Gabriela closed the interview with an inspiring message.
“Just explore and delve deep into what truly excites you. Once you’ve found your passion, focus on it and become an expert.”
The success of the ITB team in the UFLL Global Round 2024 shows that with determination and dedication, limitations are just an illusion, and every challenge can be turned into an opportunity.