Teams from seven universities competed in the annual event which involved devising a solution to a real-world marketing problem, provided by corporate giant Frucor, with a limited budget and within a short timeframe.
Students were judged not only on their ingenuity and creativity, but also on the quality of their presentation, research, justifications and the financial information which underpinned their recommendations.
The competition was presented by the Student Development Society and hosted in Auckland by the University of Otago.
One of the challenges faced by universities was keeping research and teaching relevant, and ensuring there was a connection between academia and business.
The Brand Challenge was a ''brilliant'' platform to achieve that, SDS chairman Dr John Guthrie, a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Otago, said.
Chief judge Debra Hall said the event was a great opportunity to see the ''amazingly talented young people'' who were the future of business in New Zealand.
There were excellent presentations from this year's teams and a ''real tussle at the top'' between what were the ''most exceptional'' presentations from Otago and Victoria universities.
The Otago team, comprising Jake McKay, Grace Fuhrer, Geena Billows and Hilary Derrick, was presented with a trophy at the recent TVNZ marketing awards gala dinner in Auckland.
The University of Otago also recently hosted the SDS International Business Case competition in Queenstown.
The Otago team of Frankie Hart, Logan Anderson, Elliot Chow, Robbie Allen and Ms Derrick narrowly missed out on the final.
The competition was won by a team from the Queensland University of Technology, and the University of Florida was runner-up.
