Web clicks and chocolate chips: Class brings marketing strategies to life

By Vicki Christian
Fisher College of Business

Claire Adams is always looking for ways to bring classroom theory to life for students. It was one of the most powerful lessons she learned as an undergraduate herself.

So when tech executive Nate Gulick spoke at Fisher last year, Adams knew she had a unique opportunity. She approached Gulick (BSBA ’13), a senior account executive for Google Display & Video 360 (DV360), about collaborating on a case study that would give her students hands-on marketing knowledge. Naturally, he said yes.

“Initially Nate and I planned to be the judges and give students a fictitious case to work on,” said Adams, a senior lecturer in marketing and logistics. “As things evolved, we thought why not bring in a business to provide a marketing ecosystem where the students would act as the marketing agency for the business and use Google platforms for media placement and buying.”

Wanting to show students how global tools could work for a local brand, Gulick leaned on his Buckeye network and thought of fellow alumni and friend Bradley Kaplan, founder, CEO and dough curator at Lion Cub’s Cookies.

The joint project fit perfectly into Adams’ digital marketing class where she teaches students how to utilize emerging electronic, online, social and mobile media to promote customer engagement, enhance traditional marketing mixes and measure marketing’s effectiveness.

“When I look back to my undergraduate and graduate work, case presentations in class were where I was able to demonstrate what I learned,” said Adams. “I want my students to build that ability in the classroom like I did.”

The class ultimately gave her students a broader hands-on experience that complements their traditional internships.

“In class you have multiple opportunities to learn about different companies,” said Jack Davis, a fourth-year marketing student. “This kind of learning gave us experience acting as an agency for a company. It’s new and fresh and the most interesting experience I’ve had so far at Fisher.”

During the case study, the students focused on Lion Cub’s Cookies’ marketing strategy including website design and usability, campaign messages, budgets, sales revenue and marketing analysis. They also considered the brand’s target audience and how to turn consumers into loyal customers.

“In our early undergraduate classes we talked about the marketing process like strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and competition, but theory doesn’t really click into place until you put it into practice,” said Julie Nichols, who graduated in December. “This digital marketing class and case study provided a touchpoint for my future career in marketing.”

Acting as the company’s ad agency, the students delivered a project brief that included branding, product competition, digital marketing ad buys, website design recommendations, campaign ideas and ways to promote brand loyalty.

“These types of experiences help students figure out how to map information to get answers, build muscle memory and provide the framework to apply the fundamentals they are learning,” said Adams. “What they are doing today in the classroom is what they will be doing tomorrow in the real world. We’re teaching them how to do it better and how to grow.”

For Davis, it gave him an understanding of what it would be like to work for an ad agency.

“It was a great opportunity for learning more about client engagement, how to read company representatives during a presentation, what businesses want out of creative business solutions and what to focus on as a representing agency,” he said.

Student teams focused on several solutions for the local cookie company including search engine optimization (SEO), easier ways to order cookies, increased website functionality, social and paid ads, partnering with influencers, creating videos and direct mail campaigns, and joining a food ordering app.

Kaplan (MBA ’19) loved the collaboration with the students and plans on implementing three of their primary marketing strategies to help Lion Cub’s Cookies grow.

The first idea involved joining Grubhub and promoting potential growth to Ohio State students and customers in central Ohio through the app.

The second focused on improving SEO by capturing certain high-volume keywords.

The third included a key principle Adams teaches students about website effectiveness and the principles of website design: converting visitors into customers once they're on the company’s site. Students recommended easier access to available cookie flavors and to make the site more browsable.

“I’ve had the experience of being the client, so I know what they're looking for,” said Adams, who has over 15 years of experience in corporate brand management and consumer packaged goods with companies like Abbott and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.

“That experience helps me give students strong feedback on what’s important in a presentation including the rationale of their recommendations, the creative messaging behind it and the cost of the project.”

Her goal in using hands-on experiences to bridge the gap between theory and real-world application is to help students be prepared for day one of their professional careers.

“It is incredibly important for students to be able to connect the dots,” Adams said. “We can teach them concepts and principles all day long but if they can't understand how it works in the real world, we're not setting them up for success. We need to give students the fundamentals and then show them how to use them.”

In class, Adams uses several examples of companies’ marketing efforts including product, price, placement and promotions. She invites Columbus advertising, marketing and branding companies to class, so students can speak with representatives doing this type of work. Students in her class also have the opportunity to earn three digital marketing certifications from Google, HubSpot, Meta or Amazon.

Davis was thrilled to gain hands-on experience through the class.

“This course bridges the gap of applying classroom learning to real business situations,” he said. “It has been the most applicable class to my future career in marketing. It provides the skills needed in the business world.”

Hands-on learning has been consistent throughout Adams’ classes. Last year, her students worked on a semester-long project applying the fundamentals of digital marketing to a project with Dentsu, a Japanese international advertising and public relations company, acting as their agency representative for client American Express.

“The students liked working with a global agency with high brand awareness and recognition. So I stuck with that idea but condensed it so students could take the full semester to learn everything and then spend two weeks applying it in a case competition style project,” she said.

Adams continues to seek out partnerships. Currently, in her eCommerce and digital advertising class, Adams is collaborating with marketing agency Global Overview. The company, which helps businesses succeed in advertising and selling on eCommerce websites, is co-leading the course with Adams, supporting instruction on how to advertise on Amazon’s platform.