On your market...

11/18/2013 -

	View a photo gallery of the event

A group of bow-tie wearing Snickers sellers and a Manwich with a cabbie cap walked into the Jacobs Center Friday night.
 
It might sound like a setup, but the Annual Kellogg Marketing Competition is no joke, rather a competition for students to pull together the most creative application of Kellogg’s core Marketing courses.

Each year, dozens of teams apply for entry into the AKMC, each pitching a product of their choice to the judges. The teams selected for the final competition were each randomly assigned a new-to-market or yet-to-be-launched consumer product.

They then had to:

• Build a marketing plan that addressed segmentation, targeting and positioning, presenting that plan to brand managers at their product’s sponsoring company.
• Promote the product within Kellogg, bidding on resources such as banner placement and booth location at Mega Mart.
• Price their product and come up with a presentation that will sell the product at Mega Mart.

Fun hides business savvy

Although all the products were new or pending, many were tied to known brands, such as Snickers, Manwich or Kraft Mac 'N Cheese.

The team selling General Mills’ new BFast Breakfast Shake didn’t have that brand recognition to work with, so they decided to make some of their own. At least within Kellogg.

“We went with a guerilla marketing campaign,” said team member Aditi Nath ’15.

They created "BFast Man," who has been around campus all week, serenading students with Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” during lunch and playing ringleader of “The BFast Hunger Games.”

Other teams brought their signal through the noise in a more literal fashion.

At the Mega Mart, the Snickers Bites team set up a game of bags where contestants would try to fling Snickers Bites packages into a hole on a slanted plywood platform. Cowbell ringing and shouting would greet the winners.

Beyond the fun, this was also part of the team’s sales plan to grab attention in the crowded room.

“We set a higher price and we thought we would set up an incentive,” said Snickers Bites team member Rhett Braunshweig ’15. “We also thought we would create a commotion that would draw people in.”

Kellogg students were each given 20 tickets to purchase products given the best combination of price, marketing and utility.

“I went all in on the Windex,” said Mike Joyce ’14, showing off his bag of Windex Touch-Up Cleaner. “Six tickets, so it was very price sensitive.”

But there was a reason beyond the economics.

“My wife told me to come back with something useful,” Joyce said, chuckling.

The Manwich Pouches team of Kathryn McKinley '15, Kenny Leavitt '15, Taleen Sarkissian '15, James Ward '15 and Greg Rossi '15 won Best Overall, Best STP Presentation and Best Promotional Period Results.

The Clean 'N Clear Gel Moisturizer team came in Second Overall and won Best Booth. The Pantene Keratin Repair Shampoo tam came in Third Overall and won Most Profit.

Further reading:

• Watch video of the 2012 Annual Kellogg Marketing Competition