"I was impressed with the depth of research and professionalism of the Case Challenge participants. They demonstrate that knowledge obtained from MBA education makes a difference -- the various analytical tools they employed generated innovative marketing strategies for Tsingtao," said Cheung Kong GSB Strategy Professor Teng Bingsheng, who served as one of the competition judges.

At the competition, which included teams from 8 top MBA programs, students analyzed Tsingtao Beer's current US marketing strategy and made innovative proposals for 2008. The panel of 12 judges included senior executives from Tsingtao, their US distributor Crown Imports, as well as distinguished professors. The Tsingtao case, written and researched by the Cheung Kong Case Center, illustrates common challenges faced by Chinese companies selling into overseas markets.

The first-place Mixed Team included Patricia Enzmann (Cheung Kong GSB), Jennifer Chen (Chicago GSB), and Benjamin Chen (Darden). Recommendations for Tsingtao Beer by the two winning teams included pairing Tsingtao Beer together with seafood to leverage the "light" taste of the beer and the coastal beauty of Tsingtao City, as well as launching a new brand targeting "millenials" using the simplified name of "Tao".

Tsingtao Brewery International General Manager Wang Zhiguo and Crown Imports EVP James Ryan presented trophies and prize money to the two winning teams.

The winning team from Foster was advised by Prof. Ming Fan and included Adam Martin, Josh Holt, Ryan H Cassidy, and Carrie Pederson. The second place team from Ohio State University's Fisher School of Business was advised by Professors Marc Ankerman and Kewei Hou, and included Christina Deitch, Jamie Levine, Ben Hummel, and Mandi Stowers. Second place mixed team winners were: Afei Feng (Cheung Kong GSB), Ariel Emmett (Tepper), Trisha Patel (Chicago), and Josh Holt (Foster)

Initiated by Prof. Baohong Sun of Tepper and Cheung Kong GSB Visiting Professor, The 2008 East-West MBA All-Star Case Challenge is China's first international case competition, featuring teams with perspectives from the East (Tsinghua, National University of Singapore, Cheung Kong GSB) and the West(Chicago GSB, Darden, Carnegie-Mellon, Ohio State, and University of Washington).

In order to highlight these different perspectives, and in an innovative twist on traditional competition structure, Day 2 of The 2008 East-West MBA All-Star Case Challenge also featured presentations from "mixed teams," comprised of participants from different schools who in teams worked throughout the night to create compelling presentations.

Students from diverse ethnic backgrounds represented participating schools Carnegie Mellon (Tepper), Cheung Kong GSB, Chicago GSB, Ohio State University (Fisher), National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University, University of Virginia (Darden), and University of Washington (Foster).