About the Annual Kellogg Marketing Competition

The Annual Kellogg Marketing Competition (AKMC) showcases the abundant creativity and marketing savvy of the students at the #1 business school for marketing! Teams of students each take on a real product and are challenged to market it to the Kellogg student body.

What if the product doesn't naturally appeal to this target market? Not a problem! Kellogg teams through the years have devised clever alternative uses for these products to help build interest, redefining the way that Kellogg students look at everything from food-storage containers to instant mashed potatoes!

After a few weeks of planning and a few days of creative on-campus promotion, the competition concludes with a final event during which each team has one last opportunity to show off their creativity and promote their products through demonstrations, games, and other fun activities. Participants in AKMC from previous years will tell you that it is a truly unique experience, a great opportunity to apply marketing skills learned at Kellogg, and a ton of fun!

Competition Overview

• Each team is self-selected and comprised of five Kellogg students in the full-time MBA program.
• Each team is assigned to a product for the duration of the competition. Products in previous competitions included both new (Splenda, Secret Body Spray) and established items (LifeSavers, Capri Sun).
• There are three rounds of competition: marketing plan, promotional period, and sales event. Each team must participate in all three rounds of competition.

Marketing Plan

• Each team must develop a STP (segment, target, positioning) plan that will be judged and critiqued by a panel of professors, students, and marketing professionals.

Promotional Period

• The goal of the promotional campaign is to drive awareness and build demand for products by implementing sound marketing practices.
• Tools available for promotion include the following:
  • Out-of-home advertising (e.g. posters)
  • Direct mail (e.g. mailbox stuffing, email)
  • Product demonstrations
  • Other guerilla marketing tactics as approved by the Kellogg administration
• Each team will receive a budget to spend against their campaign. Teams use this budget to drive the following decisions:
  • Promotional placement
  • Promotional timing
  • Mailbox stuffings
  • Email
  • Quantity of posters
• Prior to the posting of promotional materials, each team will submit copies of their intended marketing materials for approval by the Kellogg administration to ensure that the content and quality of these materials are appropriate for the Kellogg environment.

Sales Event: "Friday Night at the TG Mega-Mart"

• Prior to the Sales Event, the AKMC executive committee will administer a survey to the entire Kellogg student body. This survey will measure awareness levels for each team's campaign and product.
• "Friday Night at the TG Mega-Mart" will consist of sales booths, which serve as retail outlets for each team's product. These sales booths also serve as promotional areas to drive demand with product demonstrations, sampling, alternative product use demonstrations, clever salesmanship gimmicks, and other creative promotional ideas.
• Attendees will receive AKMC Currency to spend at the Mega-Mart and will use this fixed amount of currency to make purchasing decisions.