2024 AMA Collegiate Case Competition
Each year, AMA National will work with a single company to sponsor the Collegiate Case Competition. Two years ago, it was Prime Student; last year, it was The Wall Street Journal; and this year, the competition was sponsored by the Sheth Foundation. The case prompt was “to help increase marketing’s influence in the development of a more sustainable society. Specifically, your task will be to create a strategic, integrated marketing communications plan to assist marketers and marketing organizations who want to take leadership in creating a more sustainable future.” The brief was very nebulous this year compared to previous years, which dealt with distinct brands with clear goals. The Sheth Foundation did not want to be included in the IMC, so our team was able to make it however we saw fit. Our team functions like a class that runs over the entire academic year. We meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for 50 minutes. The class offers credit to marketing majors if they have the proper prerequisites as well. In the Fall semester, we analyze the case and conduct primary research through IDIs, focus groups, and social listening. We then conduct market research in teams to better understand the industry and how we will create strategies to suit it. After that comes tactics development, and we build the branding, resources, and identity of the IMC. All of this work culminates into a 40-page case document. The document is submitted to the judges, and the top 10 teams are selected to move on to the finals. There were 74 teams competing in the competition this year, but TU-AMA managed to make the top 10. This initiates the Spring semester work. Making the finals means presenting to the judges in New Orleans at the International Collegiate Case Competition. Our team split into two groups: script and graphics. The script team will use the case document to draft a presentation that is no longer than 25 minutes. There are five case presenters and I had the privilege to be one of them this year. Our team works together to build a strong structure, flow, and cadence for the presentation. The graphics team is responsible for creating the slide deck that will supplement the presentation. At midway through the semester, both teams come together to start practicing the case. The result was fantastic this year. After dozens of hours of work from the whole team, we placed second in the competition. It was a massive success. I learned how to conduct extensive research and how to use the Qualtrics platform to set up and manage our survey data. In the spring, I learned how to translate a document with a plethora of qualitative and quantitative information into a concise oral presentation. After hours of memorizing lines, I can say with confidence that my public speaking has greatly improved.