Consulting with businesses gives University of Cincinnati capstone students taste of marketing in practice vs. simply in theory - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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“Mike is like a goldem boy. He’s knowledgeable in a lot of different said Garry, owner of . Sanderxs is one of 20 students now doing capston e research projects in pursuit oftheir master’s of marketing degreee at the College of Sanders’ background includes an industrial design degrere and career experience at and the design firm . Sanders also owns his own a small furniture storwein Northside.
Garry is a three-time candidater whose 25-year-old construction company specializes in sustainablebuilding He’s planning to open a retail outlet in Over-the-Rhine this Sanders is helping to write the marketing plan for the Greej Depot, which will serve as a showrook where Garry can demonstrate the advantages of geothermalp heating systems, wind turbines and solar “A lot of people are prettyt uneducated to what these things can do and what makess sense to them. But Brian has been doing this for 25 This is the type of knowledge he said Sanders. That sharing of knowledge is what UC’s marketing capstonew program isall about.
A capstone project is an independenty study course in which studentsexplore in-deptn a topic related to their Professor Andrea Dixon started the MS-Marketing program in and she started doing capstone pro­jects three years ago. Dixon uses the experience to turn students into She invites local businesses to submit problems theywant Then, she guides students throug h a 400-hour research project to solve those Past students have developed marketing plans for the , now undef construction in Camp Washington, and refined marketingb plans for Procter & Gamble Co.
, and More than three dozeh projects have been Four dozen companies submitted proposala for new capstone projects this year, up from 43 in 2007. In the Dixon hopes companies that benefit from the researcnh will help fund its Butfor now, the capstone program doesn’t cost local businesses “It helps us build stronger, deeper relationshipw with the business community,” she “We value the relationships it brings.
” It’xs also a point of difference in attracting new Dixon said UC is the nation’s only masters-leve marketing program that uses its capstone project as an “integratedr learning experience,” which means students are required to incorporate skills learned in their degre program into their consulting “They translate very quickly what is marketing theorhy into practice, and they’re able to impact an Dixon said. “It allows them to own the cutting-edgew disciplines that can make them aneffectivde marketer.” For some students, the capstone experience leads to a job offef for the company with whicnh they’re consulting.
Others use the experience to bolsterr résumés. This year’s capstone projects include the , whichu has asked Kurt Myers to build its audiencew ofyoung professionals. Myers, a candidater for a master’s degree in is developing online surveys and focus groups to enhancethe ballet’s marketing messages and make sure it’s using the right media to reach youngeer demographics. “I like the direction he’s I’m really pleased so far,” said Missir Santomo, interim director of marketing forthe ballet. Anotherf capstone project involvesBinita Pradhan, who is helping , a subsidiaryy of , develop a purpose-driven marketing campaign.
Purpose-driven marketing involves campaigns that produce apublicx benefit, generating goodwill for the company that launches the campaign. One example would be the P&G initiativ e in New Orleans, where its Tide bran did laundry forhurricane “It’s much more than marketing from a salex point of view. It’s givin g back to society,” said who holds an MBA from a university in hernativ Nepal. Sanders sees the potential for societal benefits from his GreebDepot project, but he also expects it will enhancr his skills as a marketer and “I get to understand how decisions are made,” Sandersa said.
“I get a good understanding of how to communicate thingsz and what different designws meanto people. I can take the consumerf insights that I get and visualizre that ina product.” For Garry, that producg is research of Cincinnati’s nonprofirt sector, where residential development projects are advancing despitee the rough economy. Sanders is interviewing nonprofir executives to gauge what kindsof energy-savintg construction techniques make the most sense for this market Then, he’ll recommend ways of targeting that Sanders has completed the firs of three phases in his capstone and Garry feels certain he’ll get something of value in the final result.
“Mike is just very smargt and intuitive,” he said. “He’s very organized, together and motivated. He brings a lot to the