An emphasis of the Bryan MBA curriculum is to put students in situations where they have to create solutions to real-world business challenges. For Dr. Lew Brown’s MBA 626: Strategic Marketing Management this past semester, MBA students did just that. Professor Brown divided the class into three teams and in collaboration with the North Carolina Zoological Society, presented his MBA students with the challenge of strategizing for an eighteen-month marketing plan leading up to an exhibit scheduled at the North Carolina Zoo for the summer of 2008.

After visiting the North Carolina Zoo for a tour and meetings with zoo officials at the start of the course, the teams had the rest of the seven-week module to analyze the situation facing the non-profit organization and to develop a comprehensive marketing solution. At the end of the fall semester, the teams presented their proposed marketing plans to Dr. Brown and the Associate Director of the Zoological Society. The winning team, composed of Carlos Castro, Hayley Dunn, Enache Enache, Aaron Hunt, I-Chieh Li, and Matt Plowcha, received a $500 award from the Zoological Society for their recommendations.

MBA student, Aaron Hunt, found the project particularly beneficial to his goal of a career in marketing. “More than anything I gained a better awareness of how much time and creative thought needs to be invested in a project of this magnitude. The experience allowed me to simultaneously learn new things about developing a marketing strategy and to apply this knowledge to a real situation.”

This project is the latest in an ongoing relation between the Bryan MBA program and the North Carolina Zoo and is an illustration of the Bryan School’s outreach efforts to the local community.

December 2006