Hult International Business School and Luxury Fashion House Dolce&Gabbana Announce 2024 Hult Future Leaders Challenge Winners

Annual competition introduces high school students worldwide to experiential learning; allows them to experience real-world problem solving via a live client challenge

BOSTON, December 18, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–High school students from Hawaii and Indonesia have been named 2024 Hult Future Leaders Challenge winners, following an 11-week competition aimed at helping to solve a key business challenge for luxury fashion house Dolce&Gabbana. Students from 45 countries took part in the competition.

The annual Hult International Business School Future Leaders Challenge provides opportunity to thousands of young learners across the world each year as they participate in ideation, teamwork, and experiential learning, while also gaining experience working with real-world companies. The competition was launched in 2022; student team members must be 15-18 years old to take part.

The 2024 Challenge was designed to help Dolce&Gabbana reach a younger generation of consumers by creating a signature fragrance for Gen Z. The competition started with 518 student teams, 2500 students in total. Participants were asked to map out the “4 Ps” of Marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) for a new perfume brand. After receiving a client brief from the company, teams moved through a series of weekly modules focused on progressing their ideas – from better understanding branding to effective storytelling to turning ideas into solutions. Teams also had access to weekly Masterclasses and Virtual Skills Lab sessions taught by Hult faculty mentors from Hult’s global campus network.

Challenge winners were announced in Boston and London, where Hult has main campuses. The team “MoneyMaxxing Munchkins” from Punahou School (Hawaii) won the Boston competition, and “Luxe Bloom” from Taman Rama Intercultural School (Indonesia) won in London. Each member of the winning teams receives a scholarship of $15,000 USD per academic year to study at Hult’s Bachelor of Business Administration program. Second- and third-place winners were also named, with each receiving scholarships of $10,000 USD and $5,000 USD, respectively, to study at Hult.

The winning ideas included “Infinito” perfume, based on the romance of Italy and mapping to Dolce&Gabbana’s Italian heritage. The Punahou School team included special marketing touches like an “empathy map” and influencer marketing strategy as part of their winning pitch. Taman Rama School’s winning product also brought Italian influence into their pitch with “The Heart of Sicily” daytime and nighttime scents, packaged in innovative treasure box and promoted via a sensory pop-up store.

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