About us
Experiential learning philosophy
Experiential learning is learning by doing. Experiential learning programs such as QUTopia provide students with hands-on experience, real world business competence and valuable skills, ensuring they are well equipped for the world of business upon graduation.
The story of QUTopia
Once upon a time, there was a small village in a far away land called QUTopia. This land was hidden in another dimension within the sub-tropical town of Bris-vegas with a purple-brick road the only access to the real world. The entry-point to this real world lies between the Magic Gardens and the foot of Storey-land Bridge, which when lit with incandescent purple light, illuminates their path of knowledge and aids QUTopians to graduate to the real world that lies beyond.
This town was visited often by tourists who loved buying the local handicrafts lovingly created by the QUTopians.
The Qutopians study hard to graduate from their village, undertaking a core marketing subject at the legendary University for the Real World. As part of their training to be marketers of the future, QUTopians form businesses and sell products at the famed QUTopia marketdays.
The QUTopia marketplace is built on the back of the purple cow; the native animal of QUTopia. This animal is rare. QUTopians have adopted the purple cow as their city mascot and design their businesses to stand out from the crowd through innovation in design, branding, packaging, market stall design and social media strategies.
The QUTopia logo, consisting of a cityscape in a snowglobe, reflects the ‘other world’ nature of the city; where QUTopians operate in a safe, contained environment. This allows them to take low-stake risks and innovate to be a purple cow and prepares them for the harsh reality that lies beyond the purple brick road – the real world.
So as the sun sets on this sub-tropical city, we know there are many stories of adventure, heroism and quests yet to be told. But these, dear reader, are a tale for another day.
Purple cow thinking
Purple cow thinking
About purple cow thinking
The purple cow metaphor was developed by US marketing guru Seth Godin in his book 'The Purple Cow' to represent standing out from the crowd.
Many new products fail to stand out from the crowd and consequently fail or have mediocre performance. Products such as smokeless cigarettes, Ford Edsel, Par Bake bread rolls and the McLean burger. To read more about being a purple cow read 'In praise of the purple cow'.
Watch QUTopia student documentary
Purple cow thinking and QUTopia
Each semester in QUTopia we encourage the students to innovate and stand out from the crowd with their products, branding, stall design and promotional strategies. Those businesses that demonstrate innovation receive a Purple Cow award.
Semester 1, 2013 award winners
Semester 2, 2013 award winners
QUTopia timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | First QUTopia Marketday |
| 2006 | Removal of exam assessment |
| 2009 | Change of location from Old Government House to Z Block |
| 2010 |
Online silent auction for stall purchase Facebook page created |
| 2011 | QUTopia TV video website and Twitter account started |
| 2015 |
QUTopia webstie developed 10th Anniversary celebration |
This timeline reflects the key developments in the QUTopia simulation
Many of the features of QUTopia have been developed by students:
- The QUTopia logo – designed in 2009 by Ebony Johnson
- The online silent auction process – designed by students in Q-Services 2010 including Lachlan Mills and Songsil Adamedes
- The Facebook Page – started in 2010 by an unknown student in the unit
- First QUTopia website – designed in 2015 by Mackenzie Geeves