Marketing Management

Jessica Donald, '09

Senior Associate, Prophet
Associate Brand Manager (2009-2010), Krafts Foods

Previously with Deloitte Consulting in the strategy operations divisions, Jessica Donald, '09, gained exposure to industries ranging from wireless to health care before pursing a Booth MBA to switch from consulting to marketing.

"The one thing I really liked about all of my projects was that they dealt with understanding customer needs and figuring out how to make your product meet them, which is marketing strategy," Jessica says.

Jessica chose Booth for its analytic rigor, a hallmark of the Chicago approach, and its marketing program, whose reputation is on the rise she says.

“When I spoke to brand managers in the field, the actual work is highly quantitative - and becoming increasingly so,” Jessica says. “I took Data-Driven Marketing, which was much more data intensive than anything I'd done before. We used Nielsen data, so I understood what all the terms meant before I got to Kraft.”

As a summer associate brand manager with the snack food giant, Jessica was assigned to the California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) brand while interning with the firm. In assessing the competition, she looked at what CPK could do to increase its space in the market, reach new customers, and expand to new regions.

Within three weeks of her presentation, the sales staff reported that CPK's competitors were expanding to the three places Jessica had predicted.

"During the internship, I realized how incredibly comfortable my fellow Chicago Booth students seemed with the data and analysis," Jessica says. "Since Chicago Booth students are taught to question everything, I think we're better equipped to think outside the box."

M. Carl Johnson III, '72

Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Campbell Soup Company (2001 - 11)

Responding to a call from turnaround guru James Kilts, '74, seasoned marketer M. Carl Johnson III, '72, provided one-on-one mentoring for Marketing Fellow Goksu Nebol-Perlman, '08, in her move to brand management.

"I enjoy talking to students," says Carl. "Mentors give students a chance to talk to someone who's been through the business school experience, the search for an internship and then a job search, and launching a career.

"I also believe in giving back. If I can help someone in my field, I feel I've made a contribution."

Starting his career in the brand management group at Colgate-Palmolive, Carl worked for Kraft Foods before joining global food producer Campbell Soup, where he recently retired. Carl first learned the ins and outs of marketing and how to be a mentor from his father.

"My father worked in advertising for years, so I grew up in a marketing household back when ad agencies handled marketing - before the brand management system was imbedded," says Carl. "My father acted as a mentor. I'd also talk with many of his friends and associates."

In working with Goksu, Carl shared his knowledge of different companies, adding industry insights and contacts to Goksu's research for her job search, helping her to find a fit.

"Every company has different cultural rules and norms. You can do due diligence on a company before you get there but you never really know how you'll succeed in that kind of environment," says Carl.

"From a door-opening, networking standpoint, it can be pretty powerful. When it came to getting interviews, I could open doors that Goksu couldn't open. And I have knowledge of a lot of the companies that interest her. I know the head of marketing or the CEO, and I know what's happening at the company."

Jean-Pierre Dubé

Sigmund E. Edelstone Professor of Marketing

A faculty member since 2000, Jean-Pierre Dubé studies marketing decisions such as pricing, advertising and branding, and the role of competitive dynamics.

On a recent research project, Dubé took a closer look at brand patterns for consumer packaged goods. Starting with Folgers and Maxwell House ground coffee brands, Dubé and his coauthors explored why certain brands hold large market share.

"I went through company archives and traced when these brands rolled out in different cities. We did this for several product categories and found that being the first to roll out in these markets, sometimes over a century ago, is a very good predictor of whether a brand has the highest market share in that market today.

"The incredible degree of persistence is surprising both for academics and for brand managers in these categories," Dubé says.

On a follow-up project, Dubé explored why history would persist in the current performance of a brand. Examining Nielsen Company shopping data on 75,000 households across the country, Dubé and his coauthors surveyed the households about the city where the primary shopper was born, educated, and currently resides.

"We're studying whether people buy the brands that are popular where they currently live versus where they grew up; we're testing whether shoppers take their brand preferences with them when they move to a region that has different brand-buying habits."

Applying the Chicago approach, Dubé bases his research on core disciplines like economics and psychology, a method that gives Booth professors a broader audience and impact, he says.

"We publish research not just in marketing journals, but also the very top economics, statistics, and psychology journals." Dubé says.

"A lot of marketing groups are data rich and work on empirical questions, but what makes Chicago Booth stand out is our rigorous approach. The connections to core discipline training holds you to a certain standard."

Susan Gibbons, '10

Associate Brand Manager, Kraft Foods

"As an engineer at Abbott, I had the chance to work on cross-functional teams led by the marketing organization," says Susan Gibbons, '10. "I loved engineering, but I was attracted to marketing by the ability to work more directly with the consumer and the opportunity to control the strategy of a business."

After being accepted to Booth, Susan quickly became part of the school's marketing community.

"As soon as I got in, several alumni who work at Abbott reached out to talk about their experiences and what they had loved about the marketing program," says Susan. "That spoke volumes to me. I found a high level of excitement around and at Booth, especially in the area of marketing."

In her second year, Susan served as co-chair of the full-time student Marketing Group, helping to drive Booth as a marketing force both on and off campus.

"Our overall purpose is to promote Booth as a premier source for marketing talent," says Susan. "We are currently one of the biggest career groups on campus," she adds, noting that the more than 200 members for 2009 - 10 was the group's largest turnout.

In addition to building relationships with fellow future marketers through the student group, Susan also noted the opportunities to connect with alumni in the field. Every full-time student who is interested in marketing is matched with a Booth marking graduate, usually a few years out of school, through the Kilts Marketing Mentor Program.

With the strength of the Booth community behind her, Susan earned an internship with Krafts Foods, developing a new product recommendation for the convenience store channel, before being hired by the firm in June.

"One of the most rewarding aspects of my summer internship was applying the skills I had learned in my marketing courses," says Susan. "Despite having only taken a few marketing courses going into the internship, I felt well prepared for the intern projects I was working on."

Ann McGill, MBA '85, PhD, '86

Sears Roebuck Professor of General Management, Marketing, and Behavioral Science

Ann McGill, MBA '85, PhD '86, Sears Roebuck Professor of General Management, Marketing, and Behavioral Science, joined the faculty in 1997. Her research interests include consumer and manager decision making with special emphasis on causal explanations, differences in judgment in public and in private, and the use of imagery in product choice.

One of her recent projects was inspired by watching people find seats in a crowded theater while waiting for a popular show.

"Five minutes before it started, the theater had almost filled up," recalls McGill. "Rather than sit separately, pair after pair said, 'Let's go to a later show.' I thought, If you're just sitting in the dark, why wouldn't you be willing to sit six seats away from each other?"

McGill observed that most people looked like they were going to sit quietly and watch the movie, but they sensed that sitting with friends created a different experience.

Working with associate professor of marketing Suresh Ramanathan, McGill pursued the phenomenon and examined how consuming a product with someone changes the experience.

"We studied three groups of people watching a movie," says McGill. "One set watched by themselves, another set with a stranger whose expression they could see, and a third set with strangers whose expressions were blocked."

"We learned that when people can see each other, they pick up on each other's facial expressions and gestures, which leads to sharing feelings, and that colors their ongoing evaluation of the movie so that they end up in sync during the show."

The conclusion drawn by McGill and Ramanathan from the study was that strangers attributed the good feeling of being in sync with other watchers to the quality of the movie and gave it good reviews. McGill and Ramanathan built on the findings by comparing reactions of friends to each other and to strangers.

"I'm almost always surprised by the results," McGil says. "That surprise in research keeps you modest. If the results aren't surprising, there's probably not a big reason to study it. You're trying to inform the world about the unknown and poorly understood."

Read about research by McGill published in Capital Ideas

Goksu Nebol-Perlman, '08

Senior Marketing Manager of Strategy and Operations, Skype

2006 Carl Johnson Marketing Fellow

With a background in marketing communications, Goksu Nebol-Perlman, '08, choose Booth to deepen her marketing skills and help her transition to brand management. She received support from M. Carl Johnson III, '72, in a one-on-one mentorship that boosted her networking opportunities.

Goksu and Carl were paired through the Kilts Center Marketing Fellowships program, made possible by a $1 million challenge grant from James Kilts, '74, that connects students interested in marketing careers with alumni in marketing roles.

"I was notified of my mentor in August, and within a few days, I got a call from my mentor, Carl," Goksu says. "From day one, he emphasized he was completely available via phone and email, and he has made it easy for me to reach out to him."

Goksu, named the 2006 Carl Johnson Marketing Fellow, previously worked at Grey Direct Chicago, where she managed domestic and international direct marketing for 25 million members of United Airline's Mileage Plus Program. Collaborating with Carl, Goksu tailored her job search fall quarter for her transition into brand management.

Now a senior manager for Skype, Goksu worked with Carl to develop a list of target companies based on her post-Booth goals and gained insights on the firms from an industry veteran.

"He reviewed my resume and gave me feedback. And although I'd been thinking mostly about on-campus recruiting, his connections opened the door for me at a number of off-campus companies and gave me the opportunity to interview with them," Goksu says.

"I was absolutely comfortable with sending Carl updates and asking him for his thoughts and advice," says Goksu. "This mentorship program gave me access to a very senior member of the industry where I plan to spend my career."

David Appel, AB '81, MBA '82

CEO, Vision, LLC

Before Orange Glo had infomercials with Billy Mays demonstrating stain removers OxiClean and Orange Clean, David Appel, AB '81, MBA '82, was promoting them alongside his sisters and brother at state fairs and home shows.

"It created a culture of demonstrations," reflects David, who returned to the family business with MBA in hand and served as chairman until 2006.

"What I got from Chicago Booth is a combination of intellectual tools and practice in collaboration, which helps me sort through the multitude of key priorities and figure out what's going to make a product fly," he says.

Orange Glo took off in the 1990s with infomercials that created "great awareness," for the brand, recalls David. "But there aren't great data services that track infomercial sales."

"By the time we hit our first retail shelf, we had a meaningful market share, but nobody knew it."

Still, the strategy worked. When Orange Glo was sold to Church and Dwight in 2006, the firm's annual revenue exceeded $300 million and its trademark product OxiClean led the U.S. stain remover category, beating out such industry giants as Clorox for the spot.

Now CEO of Vision, LLC, David continues to focus on bringing new ideas to market. Recently the firm has developed fabric protector Blox, bamboo clothing company Global Ghetto Organics, and a chain of pet hotels called Wag.

"I had a great course on operations research that was about using analytical tools to solve problems that weren't obviously quantitative," he adds. "We ask questions about margin contribution, but also, what are my strategic goals? What am I trying to achieve? Quantitative tools help you make good marketing decisions."

Günter Hitsch

Professor of Marketing

A member of the faculty since 2001, professor of marketing Günter Hitsch has taught the innovative Data-Driven Marketing course since 2004. An economist by training, he became interested in marketing questions while doing research for his dissertation.

Exploring aspects of optimal new product launch for the paper, he started applying statistical tools to analyze the detailed data he collected in such areas as consumer behavior.

Hitsch saw the work as practical, "but also a lot of fun," he says. "It's what brought me to marketing, and ultimately to Booth."

The issues Hitsch encountered - areas like pricing of products, measuring effects of advertising, and how a firm can influence the rate of which a new product is adopted - still shape his research interests.

These questions are "key to a firm's product management decisions," he adds.

In the classroom, Hitsch continues to explore how to analyze customer information with his Data-Driven Marketing course.

"I make the class very hands-on," Hitsch says. "Students analyze actual customer data using statistical tools."

In developing the curriculum for the course, Hitsch builds up from core disciplines like economics or psychology, and introduces students to the type of statistical tools he first started using in his PhD training.

"Of course, it's my job to make these tools accessible and to teach the students the limitations and potential pitfalls of using such tools in practice," says Hitsch.

"Booth students are very accepting of some pretty advance stuff," he adds. "They're willing to work hard and get involved in some fairly advanced, technical, quantitative topics."

Fred Jubitz, AB '85, MBA '89

Vice President, American Express Consumer Charge Cards (2003 - 07)

Working in financial services requires a different approach to marketing from the more traditional packaged goods sector, says Fred Jubitz, AB ’85, MBA ’89, vice president at American Express from 2003 to 2007.

“Financial services marketing is different from traditional packaged goods in that we have a direct relationship with the consumer, and everything we do is driven by data and assessing the value of individual consumers at the customer level,” says Fred.

American Express has recruited at Chicago Booth for more than a decade, and Fred worked on the team that seeks Booth students for positions across the firm’s different divisions.   

“We look for people who can take data, draw conclusions, and then build market-winning actions for us,” says Fred. “Chicago students bring a grounding in analytics, decision science, and most importantly, in taking that information and applying it."

“I’ve been increasingly impressed over the years with students we interview at Chicago,” he adds.

The expansion of internet capabilities and the shift toward a direct-to-consumer model that followed is one example where Booth students were prepared to think critically about new challenges facing the financial services industry.

“That type of marketing requires an incredible understanding of data systems and processes and consumer trends,” says Fred. “Chicago students can target that understanding to the right customer audience.”

Pairing that kind of detailed analysis with developed leadership skills is what makes Booth students attractive candidates for American Express, he says.

“If you’re a marketing executive, you want someone who can come up with the next great idea for your business,” explains Fred. “Chicago students have continually proven they can take insights from data and apply them to drive innovation in the marketplace.”

Brandon Swalve, '06

McKinsey and Company, Inc. (2006 - present)

Drawn to Chicago Booth for its alumni network and analytical approach, Brandon Swalve, ’06, enhanced his MBA experience with Management Lab, an experiential course that connects student teams with executives at major companies to work on consulting projects.

“I spent a quarter in Russia working for Citibank,” recalls Brandon. “Not only did it provide the opportunity to apply my classroom education to a real-life setting, it also provided the catalyst for my decision to start a new career in management consulting.

“It was the most challenging, rewarding, and ultimately, the most memorable experience I had at Chicago Booth.”

The project Brandon and his Booth colleagues were assigned to investigated Citibank’s market penetration and branding options in the Russian consumer finance market.

“Getting a grasp of the breadth of the problem we were looking at and trying to get 10 different people aligned toward potential conclusions to make the team more effective was our biggest challenge,” he says.

That kind of intensive teamwork gave Brandon insights to his leadership style, he remembers, and allowed him to refine his approach.

“It teaches you about yourself and how you interact with your colleagues at the same level,” he says. “Learning how I act in that situation was the most valuable takeaway. I was able to apply those skills during my summer internship and also in small group projects for class.”

Now with McKinsey and Company Inc., Brandon has put his marketing concentration background toward building a career in consulting. He has been with the global management consulting firm since 2006.

“Before I came to Chicago, I felt like I had been pigeonholed in information technology,” says Brandon, who studied engineering as an undergraduate.

“Being on the Management Lab project for 10 weeks pulled me in a completely different direction and got me interested in going into strategy consulting – and prepared me really well for it.”

Sean Smyth, '05

Vice President of Business Development, Groupon

When Sean Smyth, '05, vice president of business development for Groupon, wanted to better define and understand his company's VIP segment, he immediately thought of Chicago Booth.

"We wanted to find some smart folks who could really dig deep into numbers and make recommendations about who our best customers were and why," Sean recalls. "We thought marketing students from Booth would be particularly well suited for the task."

Class of 2011 students Vishal Arya, Dilini Fernando, Jillian Gerngross, Stephen Hammond, and Brian Luerssen were delighted to have the opportunity to help the rapidly growing startup.

"They gave us an interesting problem, and the experience provided a fascinating glimpse into a very specific point in time with that company," recalls Stephen.

To better research Groupon's question, the team developed a process for gathering information from purchasing and consumer data, focus group responses, and a custom email survey of Groupon's subscribers.

Sean says the Booth student's findings have become part of Groupon's institutional knowledge.

"We have evolved since this project, but their findings have had a lingering effect," Sean says. "We remember certain statements from the focus group they assembled. We still talk about those customers and their attributes."

Equally memorable was the way the Booth students worked.

"As a team, I think they played to each other's strengths and worked in a manner where we as a client were not wholly dependent on the insight of just one individual," Sean recalls. "They presented a true team effort, and that really worked for us."

Sean explains that as Groupon continues to grow, it generates more questions because it wants to optimize and understand more granular parts of the business. "We know that in Booth we can find people who can make sense out of chaos, to take some data and make an informed decision or a recommendation for a decision," he says. "Of course we would love to have Booth come back."

Peter Carrillo, '98

President, Carrillo Holdings, Inc.

When Peter switched careers from investment research to the specialty food industry, he relied on the comprehensive market research from Booth students to launch Carrillo's Fire-Roasted Salsa.

Based on a perfected all-natural family recipe, the salsa needed to be taste-tested, introduced to shoppers, and branded. Executing a research plan as part of an experiential learning course, students gathered the full range of data, from organizing in-store samplings to designing the logo to conducting surveys.

“That's the kind of data I was looking for,” says Peter, who previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup before founding Carrillo Holdings, Inc.

“Chicago Booth students joke they can put a financial edge to anything,” he adds, noting how his team's ability to support qualitative anecdotal data with a quantitative approach is “second nature” for Booth students.

Their research project extended through two quarters and was overseen by marketing professors Oleg Urminsky and Suresh Ramanathan.

“They turned out to be interested in what [Carrillo Holdings, Inc. was] doing and wanted to incorporate our need for market research into their Marketing Research and Consumer Behavior courses,” explains Peter, who focused on finance as a student.

His one marketing class at Booth was with Ann McGill, Sears Roebuck Professor of General Management, Marketing, and Behavioral Science. She remembered Peter from class and, when he contacted her with his business plan, recommended he connect with Urminsky and Ramanathan.

“In a matter of weeks,” recalls Peter, “it went from that idea to a meeting in their offices to drafting a plan for working with student groups.”

Today, Carrillo's Fire-Roasted Salsa is sold on both the East and West coasts and is offered in six different flavors.