Hult Future Leaders Challenge
Welcome to the Hult Future Leaders Challenge—where teams of high school students from all corners of the globe will participate in 11 weeks of ideation, teamwork, and challenge-based learning with a live client brief from Dolce&Gabbana.
2024 Challenge
Renowned luxury fashion house Dolce&Gabbana has joined forces with Hult International Business School to present this year's exciting live client challenge. This competition will hone your teamwork skills as you develop innovative solutions to key business challenges faced by Dolce&Gabbana Beauty.
This year's challenge is to design an innovative beauty product tailored specifically for Gen Z. The goal is to ensure that the product resonates with their unique preferences and values. Describe how the product should be customized to address Gen Z's distinct needs and expectations in the beauty space.
The Client
Founded in 1985, Dolce&Gabbana has become synonymous with Italian luxury and style, extending its influence beyond fashion to include a prestigious line of beauty products.
From their iconic fragrances to high-quality cosmetics, Dolce&Gabbana Beauty epitomizes elegance and sophistication.
This challenge offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to the future of a brand celebrated for its creativity and timeless appeal.
What you'll learn
Business fundamentals
Broaden your business knowledge through a series of Masterclasses and Virtual Skills Lab sessions. Connect with world-class Hult professors on the latest topics and trends through live interactive workshops.
Teamwork & collaboration
Build a better understanding of yourself and your ability to work as a team through Hult's mentorship and team coaching. Gain in-demand skills and leverage your team’s unique experiences to get results.
Presentation skills
Learn how to tell compelling stories that communicate your ideas and inspire others. Whether it's sharing your thoughts with your team, connecting with the client, or doing a presentation.
Client consulting
Gain industry insight and professional experience as you work in teams to solve some of the biggest challenges facing global companies today and pitch your ideas to industry experts.
The Journey
Working in teams of four to six students, the Hult Future Leaders Challenge will take your team on an 11-week journey of challenge-based learning.
All teams will participate in the first four weeks of the challenge. During week five, all proposals will be assessed and successful proposals will progress to weeks six and seven. After the live regional presentations, teams will again be assessed during week eight.
The top 10 teams will advance to the final four weeks, which end with our live global finals.
Weeks One to Four: Let the challenge begin!
Challenge launch & client brief
Hear directly from representatives from Dolce&Gabbana on the problem that your team will try to solve. Pay special attention to your brief to ensure your team has all the information you need to be successful.
Who's your customer?
Learn more about customer personas and how brands use them to market their products to the right audience.
Understanding the luxury market
The luxury market is full of contradictory forces that depart from effective non-luxury goods and services management practices. In this session, we introduce the fascinating nuances and peculiarities of the luxury market.
First submissions and feedback
Initial Submissions Due: October 18
Feedback: October 23
Weeks Five to Eight: Road to Regionals
Bringing ideas to life: Turning concepts into reality
Get ready to explore how to turn ideas into real business solutions.
Client session
It's time to check-in with your client. During this session, you will take a deeper look into Dolce&Gabbana's beauty brand.
Neuromarketing and its impact
Get ready to explore neuromarketing, a fascinating blend of brain science and marketing.
Effective storytelling
Enhance your presentation skills with this session on effective storytelling.
Weeks Eight to Eleven: Heading to the Finals
Semi-final presentations
Lights, Camera, Action!
Each team has 5 minutes to presents their proposal. 15 slides maximum.
Post-presentation feedback
After the semi-final presentations, our coaches will provide your teams with feedback and inform you whether you have made it to the final.
How to build an integrated proposal
During this session, you will delve into the process of crafting an integrated proposal to help solve a problem.
Practice your pitch
You've done the work so now let's take time to prepare. You'll get 1:1 time with one of our professors to practice your presentation and receive feedback.
Week Eleven: The Finals
Finalist presentations
The big day is here!
After all of the teams have presented the winner will be announced.
The Mentors
Throughout your journey, you will be mentored by world-class Hult professors on the latest topics and trends through a series of Masterclasses and Virtual Skills Lab sessions.
More from future Leaders
"The students really enjoyed the challenge and I think it gave them a taste of working in marketing."
Kelly Elan
College Counselor at Lotissement Le Park Alarobia
"We hope to continue working with Hult in future challenges."
Jimena Obiols
College Counselor at Colegio Interamericano
“At its core, the Hult Future Leaders Challenge reflects our educational philosophy as a business school—putting doing at the center of learning.”
Mona Dhillon
Executive Vice President and Provost
Hult International Business School