Past Events

Below are some of the ‘past events’ hosted by the MBA Marketing Association during the Fall 2007 semester.

A day in the life of a Product Director at Johnson & Johnson

Brand management at a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) company is the application of various marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. A Product Director at J&J is responsible in running his or her product like it is her own business; the only difference is the financial resources and human capital are provided by the parent company. The roles of a Product Director include coordinating the collection and interpretation of consumer insights, leading consumer promotion initiatives, working with cross-functional partners to launch new products, coordinating package development, and budgeting, analyzing and tracking forecasts.

At an MBAMA-sponsored event, a 2005 alum of the MSU MBA program spoke to students about her role as a Product Director on an international brand under the J&J umbrella. The purpose of this event was to provide MBAMA members with a more complete understanding of careers in brand management.

Marketing Speaker Luncheon: Mr. Chris Grindem

The MBAMA and the Marketing Department were proud to have guest speaker Mr. Chris Grindem lead a lunch-and-learn session in September. Chris was in advertising for 25 years, at agencies including Leo Burnett, Doner and JWT. During that time, he worked with clients in the FMCG, consumer services, co-marketing and retail industries. He was also Director of Marketing Services for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Chris is now the Executive Director, Marketing and Senior Lecturer, Marketing Communications at The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. Chris has ‘come home’ to MSU to help lead branding and marketing efforts for the Broad MBA programs, as well as to teach subjects like integrated marketing communications (IMC). During his session, Chris talked about the many exciting and interesting projects he worked on in his career and he provided good advice to students pursuing careers in marketing and brand management.

Marketing Trek: Whirlpool Corporation

On Monday, October 22, 2007, the MBAMA visited Whirlpool Corporation’s corporate headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI. Whirlpool Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances with annual sales of approximately $18B. It has more than 73,000 employees and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. Some of the highlights of the trek included touring the R&D and innovation center, meeting with brand managers to discuss product marketing, and participating in a brainstorming and innovation session with company leadership. In the marketing session, members of the Brand Portfolio team entertained questions from the group about the future of marketing and product innovation at Whirlpool. By far, everyone’s favorite part of the trek was cooking and then enjoying a meal in the state-of-the-art Whirlpool kitchen. Attendees were divided into teams that were responsible for a portion of the meal, (appetizers, entrées, and desserts). The group even had the opportunity to work with a professional chef to prepare the meals. See many of the great photos snapped during our day at Whirlpool!

Marketing Trek: Chicago Tour of Industry

PepsiCo Chicago. Energy BBDO. Lettuce Entertain You. Touchpoint Alignment Company. Cubs v. Brewers. If you were part of the April ’08 MBAMA Chicago Marketing Trek you would have experienced two days packed with an interesting array of businesses and entertainment. The Trek started off at Energy BBDO, a leading advertising agency, with the Director of Marketing Science guiding the group through a recent product launch marketing case (Wrigley’s "5" chewing gum). It was then a rush to Wrigley Field where the Cubs were taking on the Brewers. The afternoon at the ballpark provided a unique insight of culture and sports marketing for the international students, and social networking opportunities for others. Day two started at PepsiCo Chicago (formally QTG) with a session on the brand management of the Gatorade and Quaker Oats businesses, led by a Senior Manager of Integration and a Brand Manager. The next stop was at Touchpoint Alignment Company, a boutique marketing consulting company, where the owner of the business unzipped the minds of the group all over a tasty lunch and a discussion on "the customer experience". The Trek concluded at the Shaw Crab House with an interactive exchange of ideas about business in the hospitality industry with the VP of Marketing and the President/CEO of Lettuce Entertain You. The group completed the session by working through a brainstorming exercise on how to best create a successful marketing campaign for a specialty restaurant and presented these ideas to the VP of Marketing.