Pinnacle College Linden takes top spot in IIE-Vega VIBE
14 teams from eight Johannesburg high schools battled it out for the IIE-Vega Interschool Brand Experience (VIBE) 2025, with Pinnacle College Linden taking first and third spots.
Pinnacle College Linden was crowned winner at the recent Johannesburg regional Independent Institute of Education (IIE)-Vega Interschool Brand Experience (VIBE) 2025.
VIBE is Vega’s national inter-school brand challenge, where high schools take on a real-world brief, by a well-known brand.
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The school hosts the annual competition across its four campuses in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, and Pretoria, with regional winners competing for the national title.
This year, 14 teams from eight Johannesburg high schools: Crawford International Lonehill, Fourways High School, Hoërskool Kempton Park, Hoërskool Roodepoort, Jeppe High School for Girls, My Tutor and Training Centre, Pinnacle College Kyalami, and Pinnacle College Linden, each tackled a brief from Plato Coffee, a growing speciality coffee business.
The challenge was to help Plato Coffee connect with younger customers through an innovative campaign, all while keeping its older clientele engaged.
Pinnacle College Linden went one better this year, after placing second in 2023. “We all feel really accomplished and proud, as we were all very passionate about winning the IIE-Vega VIBE Johannesburg regionals. We hope to do as well in the nationals,” said Sophia Jordan, who spoke on behalf of her team.
Their business studies teacher, Carl Teunen, was extremely proud of the teams, saying they came up with their concepts on their own. “I was just there to guide them. When it came to their strategy, it was about applying what I teach in the classroom. We talk about show and tell. Here, the team not only spoke about an app for Plato; they also built the app.”
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Teunen added that they returned to the brand challenge to show the children what career opportunities are available to them. “Our business studies curriculum, and the way we teach, is very much aligned with that of IIE-Vega. We wanted to provide them with real-world experience, and show them that what we teach in the classroom can be applied, and does apply, to the real world. With IIE-Vega VIBE, we’re showing them that the world is their oyster.”.
Each regional winner now goes through to the national judging round, where a final winner will be selected based on their presentation and artwork.
Regional winners walked away with a R7 000 Takealot voucher for the school and a R1 000 Takealot voucher for each team member. The regional team that came second received a R3 000 Takealot voucher for their school and a R500 Takealot voucher for each team member, while the regional team that came third received a R2 000 Takealot voucher for their school.
The finalists were:
• First place: Pinnacle College Linden Team One
• Second place: Pinnacle College Kyalami
• Third place: Pinnacle College Linden Team Two
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