My best friend lived in very difficult circumstances during his youth… ?

But he never gave up, after being in an institution (CKG Don Bosco) for a while, he received the opportunity to go to a foster family. He got inspired by the example from his foster father, who taught him the values of life and to do efforts for school ?

The past years, during our University studies, we talked a lot about the past, but also about the future, and what our dreams & goals were ?

A few months ago, I started with a charity initiative to support children in those very difficult circumstances! I want to give them an example, and enable them to take small steps in the direction of fulfilling their dreams.

That is the reason why I sell socks for charity!

We sold 800 socks already, but we still have 650 to go.

If you want to know more about it, take a look at the news article (in Dutch) here and order your socks on the website, a warm thanks in advance ?

To conclude I want to thank Eline, Alexander, Dries, Lara, Joyce, Kaat, Guillaume, Iris, Vlerick Business School, Lucy, Nina, Kathleen & Merchandise Essentials for being there along the road, thanks for all your remarkable efforts and making this action a succes ??

Thank you for supporting my cause and buying your pair of socks today (simply scan the QR code below or visit the website):

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to present a marketing campaign for senior and top management of Nestlé Nespresso in a contest together with my team mates Sara Blocquiaux and Nathan Holzken. It was an incredible experience, with many groups from all Vlerick Business School campuses presenting amazing ideas.

Furthermore, we are proud to announce that we have been awarded the first place in this contest with our ‘One Planet’ campaign, an incredible way to close off our Marketing Management course.

Lastly, we would like to thank Frank Goedertier (Marketing professor at Vlerick) , Joeri Van den Bergh (Co-Founder & Managing Partner InSites Consulting), Stephane Detaille (Marketing Director at Nespresso Belux), Oliver Perquy (Managing Director at Nestlé Nespresso SA Belgilux), Françoise Baumans (CRM Insights & Marketing Club Communication manager at Nespresso), and Michel Mersch (CEO at Nestlé Belgilux) for this unique opportunity and we look forward to the next challenge.

Many thanks for all the amazing campaigns we witnessed and congratulations to all participating and winning teams!

Maxime van den Besselaar (Masters in General Management, Leuven)

Looking back on 2020 and looking forward to 2021 filled with new opportunities and possibilties! ?

In the last week before the Christmas holidays, we (the MGM students) got served the Goldstein Brewery case. A case in which we had exactly 72 hours to tackle the problems the Goldstein Brewery is facing. 72 hours of hard work, little sleep and lots of bad humor. We were divided into groups of 4 and the end goal was to present a 100 days action plan to the board of directors, that consisted out of Vlerick professors Ann Vereecke and Robert Boute, supported by Koen Cobbaert (Director at PWC) and Koen Van der Taelen (Chief Supply Chain Officer at Duvel Moortgat).

As the title of this blog post reveals: We were again allowed to go to campus to tackle the Goldstein Brewery Case, this of course under strict safety measures. Nevertheless, it was wonderful to spend these 72 hours in the motivating atmosphere of the Vlerick Campus,  sensing the same levels of tension and business at the other teams.

The case started Monday morning with a plenary meeting in our beloved yellow room on Zoom. We received the general objectives of the case and some initial data that could help us to do a first ‘quick and dirty’ data-analysis. The goal of the first day was to identify the major issues at the Goldstein Brewery and to make an action-plan of how we would further quantify these issues. The main financial ratio that we would use to quantify our issues was the ROCE or Return on Capital Employed. The only thing that went on in the heads of an MGM student during those 72 hours was the ROCE. Some of us hung it on their walls, some wrote it on a whiteboard and some even had dreams about it.

The second day was all about using company data to uncover the issues and to quantify the impact on the ROCE. To help us with the data-analysis, we were supported by a tool that was designed by PWC, namely Equazion. At 9 am, when we got access to tool, the race against the clock began. The following 48 hours were filled with Excel sheets, bad jokes, burnouts, stressful moments and lots of Deliveroo (because of course, we did not had the time to prepare food ourselves).

On Thursday 3 am (5.5 hours before the deadline), the MGM-Ghent group chat was still on fire. Most of the groups were finetuning their presentations, while the deadline came closer and closer. By the time most groups finished and got to bed, there was not a lot of room left for sleep.  That morning, fueled by coffee and adrenaline, everybody delivered a great presentation. At noon the Goldstein Brewery case was closed by a plenary debrief. The jury members were impressed by the level of professionality of our presentations and the quality of the analyses! Four groups out of twenty-two were elected as winners, and will receive a nice prize from Duvel Moortgat.

We’re sure that this case was the icing on the cake of our first semester. We were challenged to perform under significant time pressure, while putting everything we have learnt so far into action. Right now, we all need to reload our minds and take a small break from Vlerick. Sadly enough, going on a little trip is not possible this year, but the lovely Belgium will certainly do for now!

We’re looking forward to more on-campus moments in 2021!

Wishing you a happy, healthy & satisfactory new year!

Bart & Delphine

Keep your feet warm and support children in need with a pair of Vlerick socks! 

Hereby it’s official: we have started an action to sell as many socks as possible for the good cause: Ckg Don Bosco

It would be great if you support this action by buying socks ? and sharing the project with family, friends and colleagues.
It’s almost Christmas ? & who knows, these socks might be a nice present ?.

For more information you can visit the website or simply scan the QR code ?

A Warm Thank you ??

#charity #Christmas #presents

Special Thanks to Merchandise Essentials for creating these cool socks & Vlerick Business School for supporting this initiative ✨

In October the second COVID wave hit us all… on-campus classes were no possibility anymore, we had to shift to online in a blink of an eye! Problematic you would say? Not for Vlerick students, current times ask you to be flexible and being able to adapt. The #VlerickSpirit plays an important role in our persistence to make this an incredible year and fully exploit the learning journey!

Networking events with companies, (international) alumni are continuing in a virtual format. Thanks to the Vlerick network, many alumni and companies are eager to organize “Vlerick exclusive” events to enhance the networking capabilities. Whether your interest is in consulting, fast moving consumer goods, private equity, or any other industry, the possibilities to connect and share are endless. Fact: did you know that each programme has their own dedicated career advisor who is there to assist you in your job-hunting process?

 Work hard, play hard, right? Even at Vlerick we need to blow off steam from time to time, in the MIMS group we have an array of ambassadors who organize amazing events, such as:

• Weekly workout sessions
• (Un)Lucky Friday the 13^th
• Mash up event with last year’s MIMS class

Additionally, our international ambassadors have created language groups, where we in small groups, teach each other a new language! Eager to find out how a year at Vlerick looks like? Keep an eye on the blog and our social media (Instagram & Facebook)!

We’re not going to lie to you, it has been a challenging year so far. Given the current COVID measures and lockdown 2.0 it has been very difficult to stay connected to each other. However, we tried our best to keep in touch and organised some fun Zoom evenings. One concept that two fellow MDT-members, Henri Wuyts and Vincent Meyers, came up with is called MDT Radio. The concept consists of planned Zoom evenings that include fun and personalised quizzes, DJ sets, and talks about mental awareness. But who can better explain this concept than the creators themselves?

How would you describe the concept of MDT Radio?

H: I call the project MDT Radio because it represents the catch-up conversations on the one hand, and the dancing on the other hand. I felt the urge myself to connect more with my friends from school, so I facilitated that need. The responses of the class are so heartwarming and energising to plan future episodes. When I prepare an episode, I call my friend Vincent. If we have fun making the next episode, we already feel that a great night is around the corner.

V: MDT radio is a concept created at the beginning of the second lockdown. Now that we can no longer see each other on campus or in a cafe, Henri had the idea of starting his own radio show. The concept is actually very simple. We meet each other virtually via Zoom where we first check with everyone how they feel and how they are doing. Then, a fun activity is added. This can vary from a short game round to a quiz. Finally, there is a short DJ set by Henri Wuyts. It is heartwarming to see all the positive reactions from the group. Everyone has a need to keep seeing each other and not feeling alone. And if we can help the group in this, we are happy to do so.

What type of planning and organizing goes into these events?

H: I attach a lot of importance to the fact that all participants are heard and have had an interactive moment in the show. I prepare a bowl with all names and then randomly ask a friend of class to tell us something about their day, how they are dealing with the lockdown or (most importantly) who they want to share a drink with. Then there is also a gamification included to get the dopamine levelled again. Last episode, Emilia and Aurélien took over the mic and organised an awesome quiz.

V: The preparations for these shows usually take a few hours. It is mainly about coming up with a theme and concept and then giving it a creative interpretation. The best part is working around a theme. As the last episode was in the theme of Halloween. This is the most fun because then you can easily create a storyline through the show. For us it is important that the episodes do not last too long. Due to the fact that we have been sitting behind our computer screen all day, it is important not to make our episodes too long. It is mainly meant to enjoy a virtual evening with each other. In the end you get a lot of positive reactions and you see that everyone is happy then it has been really rewarding the preparation.

What is your favorite part of MDT Radio?

H: I feel the class needs a dancing from time to time. I enjoyed playing some music for class so much and see them sing along with guilty pleasure music. I hope MDT Radio will have a physical episode really soon. But until then we go live from our studio.

V: My favorite part of MDT radio is dancing to today’s latest music. It’s great to dance together with the group and see how everyone shows their best moves behind the camera. It’s great to belong in such a group where everyone cares about each other and everyone is trying to make the best of it. It is a fantastic group with which we hope it will soon be possible to organize the MDT radio sessions offline. Then I can assure you one thing: “The roof will go off”.

Thank you for your time guys! We applaud you for making these next months a bit less challenging.

Below you can find some atmospheric images from previous MDT Radio sessions.

Recap Monday is a format where you read about inspiring events from the past week! I can assure you, it was incredibly busy: this time you can read the summary of no less than 6 events.

E1: E’ship talk with Bram Vandeperre (founder of Scooty):

Bram told us to diversify, to communicate about ‘going all-in’ to peers & co-founders and said that CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is crucial, because the customer is always right.

Following quotes describe how Bram experienced founding Scooty:

“Being an entrepreneur is an emotional and financial rollercoaster with no personal life, where everyone is your boss, especially the end-customer. The opportunity costs are not to be neglected if you have your own business”.

“When you finally have investors and employees who are supposed to make your life easier, it turns out that they are in fact making it even more difficult”.

“But sacrifice will pay off (not speaking financially) in the long term, so it is worth it”!
Thank you, Bram, for sharing your experience, and being honest about the not-so-easy-life of an entrepreneur.

E2: Startup Club

Andries Bruggeman & Thomas Jacob, Vlerick Alumni and founders of Hector shared their story in the first edition of the Startup Club.

Hector is an innovative & sustainable advertising startup that puts your brand directly in the costumers’ hand!

With your brand on Hector’s biodegradable cups, you create brand awareness, sensibilization, employer branding, and a phygital link (QR-code on cups) to connect your offline marketing campaign with an online touchpoint!

The time to consume one coffee is on average 13 minutes, so your brand is incredibly long visible, the reach is targeted, and the brand recall lays high! These are huge and unique advantages in comparison with traditional advertisement. Billboards have a 10 – 20 seconds exposure time, while the reach is non-targeted, it costs a fortune, and the brand recall is rather small.

Andries compared the life from an entrepreneur with that from an employee. As entrepreneur, you need to handle a lot of insecure circumstances, to sacrifice life freedom in order to have work freedom, to deal with a wide range of responsibilities and a hectic schedule.

Therefore, you best have a complementary team!

“No one can whistle a symphony alone”.

The Startup Club is an initiative from Vlerick MIE student Leon. Thank you for organizing such a cool event, and I am looking forward to the weekly stories from different entrepreneurs.

E3: Greenhill Capital, open student investment fund Leuven

A livestream with Stephan Desplancke, Head of Wealth & Retail, BlackRock

We learned more about portfolio management, which strategies and techniques there are & what the expectations are about the American elections.

Covid-19 caused a reshaping from the investment landscape and will change the society, economy and financial markets for years to come.

“Strategic allocation decisions should be reassessed to make portfolios resilient to this new landscape”

E4: Masters Open Day

Alexander and I were signed in as the Vlerick Brand Ambassadors of the MIE program. We answered a lot of questions from the prospective students, and we wish everyone the best with the admission test!

If there are questions, do not hesitate to send us a message. We are happy to help you out.

#LiveLearnLeap #VlerickMasters @VlerickBusinessSchool

E5: Elegnano

Katrien Herdewyn was a guest speaker for the Vlerick Business School students and talked about her experiences as a founder from Elegnano.

Her company stands for ELEGance and NANOtechnology. High Tech in High Heels!

Before you can put a brand successful in the market, you have to conquer a bumpy road! It all starts with purchasing raw materials and designing a prototype. Katrien assured us that you need a huge number of different parts and factories in order to create a markable product. When you have the final prototypes, you start selling B2B in order to know how much you have to produce. After that, the distribution & B2C sales can start, if Covid-19 does not blow everything up of course…

Therefore, it is crucial that you as entrepreneur are prepared:

1. Diversification in revenue streams
2. Remote working
3. Diversification industries
4. Online store
5. No seasonal sale

While finalizing the prototype from the first season, you must start with designing and purchasing raw materials for the next season! I can imagine that you need a crazy amount of planning skills to work this through!

A lot depends on inner motivation:

“The question isn’t who’s going to let me, it’s who’s going to stop me”

Thank you Katrien for your inspirational words and motivation! Good luck in the future!

E6: EBBC, Launching the Leuven Chapter

Colleague students Julie, Ruben and Wim launched the Entrepreneurial Business Book Club (EBBC) in Leuven.

The purpose is that high potentials read the same book. Every last Thursday of the month, there is an (online) event to discuss and debate the content and gain different new insights. The participants try to activate their self-educated knowledge, learn from different perspectives, and share their own insights.

First, we listened to the Zero to One (Peter Thiel, founder Paypal) book pitch.

Key takeaway: Make something new!

Problem: A copy of a previous technology or business does not work and adds nothing. The reason why many start-ups fail, is because it is just more of the same (= Horizontal Innovation)!

Solution: Bet on a contrarian truth!

“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”

The answer shows a hidden truth to escape competition 

“All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition”

Start by being a dominant in a niche (small) market

“Whoever is first to dominate the most important segment of a market with viral potential will be the last mover in the whole market”

Strive to be a monopoly, there are 4 possibilities to become the best in something:

1. Branding: Apple
2. Economy of scale: Amazon
3. Network effect: Facebook and Instagram
4. Technology: Google

In the second part, we went in depth through discussing several statements in online breakout rooms. The event closed with a free stage, here presented the founders from Hector their business.

I am already looking forward to the next EBBC Leuven event. We will discuss ‘The Book of Real-World Negotiations’ written by Joshua N. Weiss. If you don’t want to miss the next event, make sure you follow the EBBC page 😉

Thank you for reading my first blogpost, I hope you have found this useful – and do let me know if you have any tips. I have shared what I have picked up – I am sure there is more to learn!

Thijs Devos (current Masters student in Innovation & Entrepreneurship )

A couple of weeks ago, all  masters students had the opportunity to take part in the Deep Dive Challenge. This year’s challenge was presented by Smartphoto.

First, we listened to the CEO Stef De Corte, who gave us an insight in the company and the challenges we were going to tackle in small groups. In just two days we had to come up with a solution, which we had to present at the end. All groups came up with great, diverse ideas. To provide a holistic view on the solution, our programme directors installed several feedback sessions. Those were very useful to optimize the solutions and look at them from different angles.

At the end of the two days we presented our solution to several Smartphoto boardmembers and Vlerick professors. I never would have thought that the feeling of victory and pride of finishing this case succesfully, would be so big. I believe we learned a lot during this challenge and I am already looking forward to the next challenge.

Written by Lara Barrezeele (current Masters in General Management Student, Leuven)

The first of September, our Vlerick adventure started officially with the virtual kick-off, where we got to know the program directors and the other students.

Almost directly after the kick-off, it was time for our first class: presentation skills taught by Prof. Goedertier. To be honest, beforehand I was afraid of the impact online learning would have on this particular course. However, Prof. Goedertier made sure that we learned a lot. Sometimes the whole group was shouting answers to the screen, other times we were discussing our elevator pitch in break out rooms or discussing speeches from Steve Jobs. The class was organized so well remotely, that I don’t believe we missed any learning opportunities.

The third of September, an exciting day was planned for us: our first time on campus, a photoshoot and our presentations. After getting to know the campus and also the other students in real life and giving our best smiles to the camera, it was time to deliver our presentations. You could feel the energy rising in the room as everyone was as well excited as nervous to present. The first presenters started and immediate I was intrigued, the level of all the presentations was extremely high: both the subjects and the presentation styles. The subjects were very diverse: from a trip to Mars, to building your own business, to Balthasar Boma and Mustaches. You have to believe me, you couldn’t have left the room without feeling inspired.

Friday, we had the introduction to financial accounting, taught by Prof. Stouthuysen. In just one session we were able to make the balance sheet, income statement,…

It proved me that we definitely are going to learn a lot, I am excited for everything that has yet to come!

Written by Lara Barrezeele (current Masters in General Management Student, Leuven)