Laurea University of Applied Sciences arranged the first international luxury competition for Finnish university students in 2018 but preparations, coaching, and lectures took place already in 2017. This was also the first time in Finnish history when a Finnish university arranged a luxury competition. Laurea made history as a first-mover. The competition was a partial race for the Mark Challenge, which is a luxury and premium business plan competition for international business students and it is powered by the International University of Monaco. The Principality of Monaco is a global hub in the luxury industry and her environment inspires to think differently. For Finland's luxury industry the competition is extremely important because Finland's luxury industry is very small. Statistics Finland does not even gather any information concerning the industry. This is also a sign that the industry is small but there are signs that the industry is growing because Finnish consumers are increasingly connected with luxury brands, tourism is growing, and Finnish hospitality brands are connecting with UHNWI clients. Thanks to global digital marketing luxury lovers have discovered Finnish brands. The global luxury industry is driven by middle-class consumers but Finland' geographical location is not bad because Finland is surrounded by Sweden and Russia, which have lots of billionaires and millionaires. To make progress, Finnish students must compete against international students to keep up with the latest global trends in luxury. Competition is always a good issue because every single student must exceed themselves. Arrangements for the second partial race are on their way and this time students of Laurea will be even stronger in 2019. Laurea is organizing “The Mark Challenge” Finland’s event: https://www.laurea.fi/en/projects/mark-challenge The Mark Challenge: http://www.themarkchallenge.com/index.php Published in Luxury Sales Academy. |