Cardiff Students Set the Bar With Precious Metals Marketing Project

Marketing postgraduates from Cardiff University have gained a valuable insight into The Royal Mint after planning a campaign to promote a new gold bullion bar ahead of Chinese New Year.  

Eight MSc students from Cardiff Business School were invited to plan a mock marketing campaign ahead of the launch of our new Guan Gong 20g gold bar. At the end of the two-month project, which took place over the summer, they presented their findings to members of our Precious Metals marketing team and lecturers, impressing the panel with their research and evaluation.  

The Guan Gong 20g gold bullion bar is the first Chinese-inspired gold bar from The Royal Mint, and is the perfect gift for Chinese New Year, which takes place on 22 January 2023. The launch of the bar follows the success of our Shēngxiào Collection, a series of 12 coins celebrating the Spring Festival, as the Chinese New Year is also known, which continues in 2023 with the Lunar Year of the Rabbit.  

MSc student Isaiah Vaughan said: “There was so much information about the Mint that I found interesting, and this project definitely provided some practical insights.  

“The main challenge was just how short a time we had to complete the project, but as a team we were able to complete it in an efficient way and I have definitely learned a lot of skills, knowledge and experience that I can take into future jobs.” 

For the project, the students researched the gifting culture and traditions of the Chinese community and identified potential barriers to a successful campaign. They created a detailed questionnaire, which was completed by more than 50 British Chinese people living in the UK, and reported back on their findings and analysis. Their work was overseen by Dr Nazan Colmekcioglu, Dr Carmela Bosangit and Saloomeh Tabari of Cardiff Business School and followed the guidelines of Cardiff University School Research Ethics Committee. 

Student Padraig Ifans added: “It was very interesting to learn the traditions and cultures of Chinese people around gifting and their behaviour around it, particularly that they are quite giving people around the year, not just for birthdays.  

“I knew a bit about The Royal Mint and the fact it made coins, but I didn’t know about the gold bars and collecting coins. It was really nice being able to do this in a university setting and it provided me with experience going into a marketing job in the future.”  

The Royal Mint’s Senior Precious Metals Marketing Executive Jon Clements said: “We were so impressed by the findings and ideas that were presented to us by each Cardiff University student who participated in this project. Their ideas have played an important role in the launch campaign of the new Guan Gong 20g gold bullion bar. We hope that this experience gives them all real confidence when applying for professional marketing roles in the future.”