NASHVILLE, January 8 - At this year’s Owen Marketing Camp, the message was loud and clear: Building the brand is paramount to marketing success. The fourth annual Marketing Camp, which was held at Owen January 3-5, 2007, included senior executives from Cracker Barrel, ESPN and Brown-Forman, each of whom heralded the brand as the foundation for everything they do.
Organized by the Owen Career Management Center, Marketing Camp is designed to help students translate what they are learning in the classroom to the real world of marketing. The event includes industry speakers, mock interviews with professionals and a site visit. Marketing Camp not only provides an exclusive view into the day-to-day life of marketing managers, it provides critical job interview preparation.
Jack Kennard, Senior VP and Director of Global Marketing Services for Brown-Forman, centered his presentation on branding. “A brand is the company’s promise to the customer,” Kennard said. “A true brand is that promise kept.” Jack Daniel’s, the company’s flagship product, has been ranked among the Top 50 Global Brands by BusinessWeek. Kennard said Brown Forman continually invests in building brands by hiring people and investing marketing funds to ensure a strong future.
Beyond branding, the speakers covered a wide range of marketing topics, including licensing, online marketing, corporate and social responsibility, innovation and multicultural marketing. Presentations included:
- Simon Turner, Senior Vice President–Marketing and Innovation & Chief Marketing Officer, Cracker Barrel; “Defining and Reinvigorating the Cracker Barrel Brand”
- Meredith Ashley (pictured above), Associate Director Licensing, ESPN Consumer Products; “Sports Marketing and Licensing”
- Gigi Abbadie (pictured below), Global Marketing Director, Aveda; “Corporate and Social Responsibility in Marketing”
- Laura Braunecker, Insights/Innovation Manager, Kimberly-Clark; “The Innovation Process in Product Development”
- David Rados, Professor Emeritus, Owen; “Pushing the Numbers: Financial Metrics in Marketing”
- Manuel Delgado, Founder and CEO, REALITY; “Hispanic and Multicultural Marketing”
- Brent Turner, Vice President and General Manager, Corporate Strategy and New Products, aQuantive; “A Day in the Life of an Online Marketer”
Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. “The speakers were unbelievably good—each carrying an equally pertinent message,” one student said. “I feel 100 percent more prepared for the internship season.”
Marketing Camp also includes a half-day of mock interviews. These are especially valuable for first-year MBA students, who begin internship interviews in January. Each student is interviewed twice by two different interviewers, who provide immediate, constructive feedback at the end of the session. This year, interviewers included Owen marketing alumni from McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Yahoo!, Dell, Chase Card Services, Lowe’s and other respected companies.
“The mock interviews were very challenging, which was exactly what I needed,” another student commented. “Both interviewers provided me very constructive criticism that I just couldn't get anywhere else.”
The camp also included an off-site visit to the Grand Ole Opry, which included a tour of the facility and a conversation with marketing executives. Previous year visits have included Gibson Guitar, the Tennessee Titans and Gaylord Entertainment/Nashville Predators.
Alumni in marketing positions are invited to be a part of next year’s camp, either as presenters or mock interviewers. Participation gives alumni an opportunity to help students on a one-on-one basis, reconnect with the school, meet with Owen administration, and network with and learn from other senior marketing executives. For more information email John Hamilton, Associate Director of the Career Management Center, at john.hamilton@owen.vanderbilt.edu.
