“LACOSTE Elevate Youth!” Forty college students shouted out, laughing as they chanted this slogan together.
The four-day LACOSTE Career Empowerment Summer Camp, which LACOSTE and Beyond The City (BTC) cooperatively organized, started from July 5, reached a successful conclusion in Yangpu District, Shanghai, on July 8, 2023.
The camp invited roughly 40 students with its “Career Empowerment for College Students” theme. These students are different in their backgrounds, ethnicities, and education, Majority students from 2nd & 3rd tier cities studying in Shanghai and some came from the universities in other cities. They all shared the same “little Crocodile” identity at the LACOSTE Career Empowerment Summer Camp. Throughout the four days, they got professional knowledge from various company executives and established new acquaintances during a series of collaborative activities.
Supported by LACOSTE, the camp aimed at helping college students with diverse backgrounds to clarify their career plans and master their professional skills, especially for those who aspire to develop into the fields of marketing and retailing, said Queen He, Vice President of Human Resources of LACOSTE Greater China.
What worth noting is that this summer camp is an entirely public welfare programme to empower college students from various backgrounds more effectively. It was supported by Lacoste foundation fund which China employees won Top 3 award from last year L1212 Challenge Campaign. There is no fee for all participants, and BTC will contract the transportation, meals, and accommodation during the camp period.
The camp lasts for four days and includes a rich schedule of activities.
The Opening Ceremony was held at LACOSTE’s corporate headquarters in Shanghai’s Jing ‘an District at 1788 Plaza on July 5. The participants were first given an overview of LACOSTE’s frontier marketing and retail strategy by Tracy Guo, Vice President of Marketing, LACOSTE China, and Vincent Allard, Vice President of Retail, LACOSTE China. Following that, Queen He and other corporate executives discussed their paths to professional success and offered real counsel on the key traits for new hires in the workplace. The trainees were also exposed to LACOSTE’s 90 years of enduring brand charms through brief skits and various forms facilitated by Jessy Cao, senior Retail Training Manager.
The participants spent the day of July 6 acting as “salespeople” in LACOSTE Boutiques stores. The participants understood the LACOSTE brand better through the product knowledge contest, mix-match wearing experience, magic hand-folding polocontest, and other exciting games. Through this rareopportunity to practice, they truly experienced the fun and challenges of engaging in front-line positions in the retail industry.
On the third day of the camp, the participants went to the office building of BTC to attend a series of courses aimed at improving core soft skills in the workplace, such as the “Pyramid Principal Course“ and the “Workplace Communication Course”. The novelty of “improvisational theater,” in which participants practiced teamwork through laughter, was also introduced to them after the training.
On the last day of the camp, Tracy Guo and Kay Cao from the marketing department met with the participants again. They guided them to conduct a marketing simulation roadshow with the background of LACOSTE’s new products of the season. Before the roadshow, several LACOSTE and BTC instructors systematically taught the participants the theory and practice of marketing. After a morning of learning and an afternoon of collaboration, each group of participants completed an excellent program presentation and received helpful comments from Tracy Guo and Kay Cao.
At the closing ceremony, 40 participants shared their excitement at making new friends across the country and their satisfaction at developing rich vocational skills during the camp through handwritten postcards and speeches.
Zhou Yazhi from Changsha expressed that she had traveled from Changsha to Shanghai to participate in this camp, but “I don’t regret it at all, and I even feel so lucky” for gaining a lot of valuable knowledge, experience, and friendships that were hard to reach in her past life experiences.
Many participants strengthened their bonds with the fashion and retail industries, and the LACOSTE brand itself.
The camp participants included not only marketing studentsbut also many science and engineering students. The attractiveness of this summer camp was that it not only drew college students with various professional backgrounds but also kindled the interest for marketing and fashion retail in many of them for the first time.
“I love LACOSTE’s values of ‘play as one team, with elegance, by daring and with tenacity.'” A student filled out a postcard.” I didn’t know much about LACOSTE before, and I was surprised to find out that LACOSTE’s brand value resonates so much with me .”
To build a stronger relationship with the participants and make the empowerment program sustainable, LACOSTE will also launch a Self-confidence Mentoring Program, where 10 selected students from the camp will receive individualized career advice from business leaders for a school year. More than 20 trainees applied for the program after the news was publicized.
In response to the participants’ hesitation during the closing ceremony, Queen He grinned and declared that this was not a farewell but a fresh start. She was happy to see how much the campers had grown in just four days and hoped that the experience would stick with them forever and be an invaluable tool in their future jobs. LACOSTE will keep collaborating with BTC on career empowerment for more and more college students in the years ahead.
