To celebrate its new status and the arrival of the 2013 marketing students, a unique partnership was formed with Gautrain. This partnership came about because of the link between the department's theme for the year, 'on the move' and the Gautrain slogan 'people on the move'.
The launch included two ex-students, Melinda Bam, Miss South Africa 2011 and Lorinda Hern, co-founder of the Rhino Rescue Project, as guest speakers. The launch ended with the release of 1000 red balloons donated by Gautrain and each first-year student received a Gautrain gold card with a pre-loaded trip, as a symbol of moving.
The department handed out textbook prizes to lucky first-year students with the help of Phindile Mdluli from Tuks FM. After releasing the balloons as a symbol of moving, students pledged their career aspirations on a banner and it was clear that many of them plan to be people on the move in the marketing field.
University of Pretoria was the first university in South Africa to offer a degree programme in Marketing when the first chair in Marketing Management was established as part of the then Department of Business Economics in 1970. The first degrees in B.Com (Marketing Management) were awarded in March 1973. The Department of Marketing Management is on the move and invites industry partners to become part of the new, innovative and inspirational direction it will be taking.
