Case Competitions

Case Competitions

 
Students across all MBA degree programs gain invaluable marketing expertise by having the chance to participate in case competitions. Oftentimes, case competitions will be sponsored by companies to allow students access to (past or present) real-world problems that the company's marketing team has had to deal with. This gives students a chance to test their knowledge and decision making skills, as well as preparing them for some of the issues they may need to tackle in their post-MBA careers.

The Elite 8 Brand Management Case Competition takes place annually at the Carlson School of Business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The same eight business schools have competed for the past 15+ years, and every year there is a new sponsor company with a real-time marketing problem to tackle. Teams are given approximately 36 hours to prepare their presentations before delivering them to a panel of judges. Anderson's 2017 team consisted of three second-year students and two first-year students pursuing post-MBA careers in marketing.

Teams were asked to develop a marketing strategy to target a new customer segment for a large commercial building automation system and HVAC equipment company. After about 20 hours of work (and a little bit of sleep), a few hours of presentation practice, and a 20-minute presentation, the Anderson School of Management team was awarded second place in the competition. The team was complimented for the execution and financial detail their presentation provided. After a great first competition, the two first-year MBA students on the team are excited to return in 2018 to tackle a new problem for a new company.

The Morrison Center sponsors a team or teams each year to ensure UCLA Anderson’s brightest can shine on a national level.

To find out more about the Elite 8 Case Competition, click here.