Sony and the Gabelli School of Business Marketing Area Host GenZ-Focused Product Development Competition as part of Long-term Collaboration

Featured Events | Jan 16, 2025 | Gabelli School of Business

The Sony x Fordham “Create-Together” 2024 Competition hosted at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus on November 20, 2024, marked the lastest initiative in the ongoing partnership between Sony and the Gabelli School of Business Marketing Area. This long-term collaboration has focused on the intersection between academic research and industry innovation, offering students the opportunity to tackle real-world challenges and build invaluable skill sets. Previous initiatives within the larger collaboration have provided insights into the Gen-Z consumer mindset, that aligns with Sony’s empathetic approach to understanding its market. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO THAT PROVIDES A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPRESSIONS THAT WERE CAPTURED.

Since 2022, Sony has engaged the expertise of Gabelli School of Business marketing faculty members, including Luke Kachersky, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing; Hoori Rafieian, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing; and Mohammad Nejad, Ph.D., Marketing Area chair, and associate professor of marketing, who have executed creative and analytical research projects encompassing innovation, future technologies, and customer experience—all of which have led to several insight-driven enhancements to Sony’s personal audio products.

This year’s faculty-coached competition challenged Gabelli School marketing students to conceptualize innovative user experience (UX) scenarios to create a cutting-edge product targeted toward Gen Z. “This competition was more than brainstorming. It challenged us to think like visionaries, and craft ways to make this technology indispensable to a younger audience in the near future,” commented Yashawini Kataria, a member of one of the finalist teams.

Students had to dig deep into the Gen-Z mindset and reflect upon its consumer behavior, preferences and purchasing patterns, which reflect the experiences of college students themselves. Throughout the competition, Linda Luca, adjunct professor of marketing, and other faculty members mentored the teams, helping them to explore ideas, create concrete plans of action, and develop them into comprehensive pitches.

Nine finalist teams presented their strategies to a panel of six Sony members and two marketing faculty members. After delivering impressive presentations, a winning team was selected that included: Jiani Jiang, Moc Nien Nguyen, Thao Minh Nguyen, and Vi Than, who were advised by Anthony DeFrancesco, advanced lecturer at the Gabelli School. Sony generously provided cool, new speakers (ULT TOWER10, ULT FIELD 7) as prizes to the winning team, and ULT FIELD 1 speakers to all other finalists.

The Sony x Fordham “Create-Together” 2024 Competition was an outstanding learning experience for students to gain first-hand experience as well as a unique platform for Sony to obtain fresh, creative insights —true to Sony’s legacy of user-centric innovation. The Sony team offered high praise for the ideas presented by the finalists listed below. We extend our gratitude to Sony members, Nozomi Maeda, Fuko Nagano, Shunsuke Nakahashi, Ayaka Shima, Takayuki Ochi, and Takuro Yamamoto.

Congratulations to our finalists:

Amanda Lalezarian
Betty Guo
Carla Estefania Gomez Rivertt
Dhwani Badheka
Fiona Sheth
Hoang Thuc Uyen Nguyen
Isana Nambiar
Iuliia Isaeva
Jiani Jiang
Jiyeon Woo
Kurumi Aoki
Malina Au
Melanie Molina Munne
Moc Nien Nguyen
Natalie Freilich
Navya Maheshwari
Odette Ofosu-Siaw
Prathma Shah
Sajan Dihenia
Simin Wen
Thao Minh Nguyen
Triveni Rai
Vi Than
Vireak Eung
Xiaotong Deng
Yashaswini Kataria

Written by Aida Lahood, marketing area program manager and Yashawini Kataria, ’25, M.S. in Marketing Intelligence