Insight From Top Marketing MBA Students

As a professor, a common question I get from students is: “What will an internship project look like and how can I best prepare?” To answer this question, I partnered with Nicole Croft, a second year MBA student at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business to understand: 1) the types of projects assigned to marketing-interested MBA students, and 2) the approaches interns used to tackle their assignments. Below is insight that Croft gained through her research.

NICOLE CROFT, FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

Internship assignment: To evaluate the efficacy of different financial services, identify trends, and recommend next steps by analyzing customer survey data.

Objective: To help the business unit identify potential new product and development opportunities.

How to tackle the assignment: I started by digging into the data to understand the customer’s journey and how they interact with specific services. I then used analytical and visual tools such as Excel and Tableau to analyze and communicate the learning.

The key: Developing insight and communicating it, so that my boss could easily: 1) understand the new business opportunities I identified to create more value for customers, and 2) the underlying analytical rationale that supported the recommendations.

NATALIA ALVAREZ DIAZ, TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

Internship assignment: To create a strategy for growing sales of a cloud-based solution in a specific channel.

Objective: To help the business unit to increase revenues via a high-growth channel.

How to tackle the assignment: To deliver a comprehensive opportunity analysis, I conducted quantitative analysis on recent growth trends, and then spoke directly to channel partners to contextualize my findings and to understand existing gaps and growth areas.

The key: Communicating the why behind a recommendation, not the how!

JAKE BERLIN, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY

Internship assignment: To identify a new potential partner(s) and define what the partnership opportunity would look like and what investment would be required.

Objective: To improve health literacy and digital literacy among consumers.

How to tackle the assignment: I started by doing a thorough literature review and examining internal research to determine the correct target consumer segment. Once I identified the appropriate consumer segment, I performed some original research to learn more about that segment and needs those consumers in that segment face. Then I built a scorecard to evaluate potential partners and made outreach to the top organizations based on my scorecard analysis. Once I identified a promising partner, I was able to hone in on the partnership structure and benchmark against other programs to assess the investment that would be required.

The key: Don’t assume that there is always going to be an obvious “right” answer. In the real world, there aren’t always clear-cut right and wrong answers, and you have to be comfortable operating in that ambiguity. Showcasing the thinking behind your recommendation is in many respects more important than the recommendation itself.

MEGAN NASH, CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

Internship assignment: To define and develop a user study across the whole product line to understand usage, pain points, satisfaction, and feature requests.

Objective: Use customer feedback to improve the products and plan for the future.

How to tackle the assignment: I sourced questions for the survey from half a dozen engineering teams, since they are the ones building the product, as well as the research team and my global counterparts. It was important to focus the questions on what is actionable, so that the results are useful for the team of engineers, designers, and product marketers.

The key: I would meet with people to get information for my project, but then I would ask them to connect me to someone else to go even deeper or to get a different angle. Those secondary and tertiary connections gave my analysis more detail and texture. I think this shows initiative, especially in organizations where it is important to not be spoon-fed and to be able to go out on your own and create value.

ADAM SADIQ, ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

Internship assignment: Conduct internal and external analysis for long-established game brands in order to create a physical and digital growth strategy.

Objective: To help the brand achieve growth goals and understand the most effective ways the brand can reach them.

How to tackle the assignment: I spent the summer analyzing internal and external data, as well as getting further context from subject matter experts within the organization. I made sure to continuously present my findings to other employees in order to get critical feedback.

The key: Coming from a design/entrepreneurial role in the same space prior to this internship, I had to train myself to think less like a product designer and more like a marketer. To that end, I had to apply intuition less and use mostly analytical support when coming up with ideas. This was also valuable in preparing me to get buy-in for my proposals in the future.

JARED GRAHAM, ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY

Internship assignment: To develop the USA go-to-market launch plan for an upcoming new product.

Objective: To ensure an impactful and effective product launch.

How to tackle the assignment: I gathered as much in-house research as possible, including data on past similar products and general consumer segmentation work. I then identified the gaps in our knowledge of the market. Next, I built a new competitor analysis and worked with the Consumer Insights team to design two new consumer research projects to round out our understanding of this specific market.

The key: Existing data can only take you so far and collaborating with your team to understand gaps and areas of continued research to pursue is important. Understanding the company’s approach to assessing the market is valuable, but creating and using competitor analysis is just as critical.

SAMANTHA NEWBY, CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS — FOOD

Internship assignment: Conduct a competitive analysis of top threats and disruptors to a well-established food brand and form a strategic recommendation to combat this threat.

Objective: Develop an action plan to respond to current threats and potential disruptors in the marketplace.

How to tackle the assignment: I spent time analyzing Nielsen Connect data to find patterns and trends and then worked with cross-functional team members to identify key threats in the category. I also ran consumer interviews to develop three comprehensive 4Ps strategies to address market threats.

The key: In a world where we are overwhelmed with more data than ever, it can be difficult to identify what is important and what is noise. By using a discerning eye to evaluate data, you can glean clearer insights from it to inform your action plan.

KATIE MANDEL, CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS — FOOD

Internship assignment: Perform competitive launch analysis of prior major entrants into the category market for the past five years to build an impact model for the company.

Objective: Create a competitive response playbook, outlining how the company should assess and categorize competitive threats, as well as the appropriate response model based on threats to the company’s position in the market.

How to tackle the assignment: I analyzed POS scanner data from IRI to understand the launch strategies of various company and competitor products, including distribution build over time, class of trade mix and types of promotion. I used this data to infer whether any particular launch lever led to the relative success or failure of a new product launch. I used this data in conjunction with consumer insights to deliver a strategic response playbook and roadmap for competitive defense against new brand/product launches.

The key: Success or failure is often not defined by one specific action or strategy. By developing insights using multiple data sources and comparing to other brand/product insights, I could make more concrete recommendations for future strategic actions.

ALEX GOODMAN, FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM

Internship assignment: Create a strategy for the refresh of a key credit card for the five key international markets.

Objective: To maintain the company’s competitive advantage in the premium credit card space and coordinate strategies across major international markets.

How to tackle the assignment: I started by talking to anyone and everyone who would communicate with me – across functions, products, and time zones. Ultimately, I found that before hopping into the suggestions, we needed to reframe the way we approached customer needs data. I then worked with my manager on a needs evaluation plan.

The key: My biggest takeaway was the CARDINAL rule of marketing, “I am not the consumer.” Too often I and the people who were tenured at the company viewed marketing strategy from a perspective of “what would I want” or what would we historically do. By taking a step back from this approach and thinking from the outside in, I found major and fixable gaps in our product.

JAMES TRAVIS, CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS — BEVERAGES

Internship assignment: To understand and perform the roles and responsibilities of a full-time associate brand manager and complete an internship project to help drive category growth.

Objective: Build a roadmap for a carbonated soft drink brand to grow from a regional favorite to a national brand.

How to tackle the assignment: I started by digging into shopper data and current positioning to understand who was drinking the brand and why they were drinking it. After proposing a broader target audience, we tested new positioning statements to determine how messages resonated with consumers. I outlined a strategy with the right tactics to drive growth, based on where the consumers sat in the marketing funnel, and the optimal distribution and product mix based on my analysis of the competitive landscape. I also sized the potential opportunity and impact to company profitability to justify a ramp-up in investment.

The key: The decision-making process is as valuable as the actual end project. Leadership wants to know that you are capable of analyzing data, gaining valuable insights, and understanding what drives the growth of the brand. Developing a plan based off these insights and confidently and articulately communicating “why” you believe it is the right path forward is as important (even more important) as the plan actually working. At least for an internship!

PATRICK FASANO, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY

Internship assignment: To analyze a market leading OTC topical product and explore adjacent categories for expansion opportunities. I was encouraged to investigate all possible adjacencies including competition, shelving, pricing/margins, etc., and provide a POV for the brand’s ability to play and win in those categories with a final recommendation of where the brand could possibly stretch.

Objective: To help the business develop innovation opportunities that could be added to the products innovation pipeline in the medium to long term range (3 to 7 years out).

How to tackle the assignment: The first half of my summer was heavily focused on analyzing consumer purchasing data and the competitive set for these categories and collaborating with Medical and Regulatory to see what was permissible to pursue from both a legal and medical perspective. Later, my work became less analytical and more about collaborating with the various teams internally (core Brand team, Medical, R&D, packaging, and the media teams in my case) to turn my analysis into actionable recommendations for the business. This involved developing a point of view about how the business should grow and selling that narrative to our cross functional teams so they could provide their opinion and ability to help the business execute on this strategy.

The key: The worst thing you can do is have the individuals in the room during your final presentations be surprised by the information you are delivering. Meet with them early, keep them up to date and seek feedback throughout the process to ensure this does not happen. These interactions will also make you more collaborative, receptive to feedback, and coachable – all great qualities to demonstrate as an intern.

Join the Discussion: @KimWhitler

About Nicole Croft: Nicole Croft is currently a second year MBA student at the Darden School of Business pursuing a career in marketing and entrepreneurship. Prior to entering Darden, she spent several years working in marketing roles for companies such as The Motley Fool.