Students Place Third in Nationwide Competition

Skills gained from university course proven usefulNicolas SonnenbergTHE SANTA CLARAMay 15, 2014[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hree Santa Clara MBA candidates reaped a $1000 prize after  competing in a Babson College marketing competition the weekend of April 11.Jason Kunkel, Michael Watson, and Doug Wilson, students in the Leavey School of Business, were brought together by a graduate level marketing class. Interested in applying their academic work to the real world, they learned of the competition and came to the university to ask for support.Upon arriving at Babson Collegeon Friday morning, the three-man team received their case. Within 24 hours they were tasked with formulating a plan to increase awareness about the software development company Dassault Systémes.“I studied mechanical engineering during undergraduate,” said Watson. “I had used some of Dassault’s software throughout my undergrad career and never knew that the company owned the software.”The Santa Clara team sprung into action and put together a three-pronged solution for the company.Their plan included inbound marketing, IP targeting and product placement. Inbound marketing entails moving the product’s Web site further up on Google searches, while IP targeting involves sending ads to IP addresses of businesses that would have an interest in Dassault’s software.“(Dassault) gave us really great feedback,” said Wilson. “Our solution, they said, was the most cost effective and market effective.”The team finished third among 24 other teams representing colleges such as Washington University in St. Louis, Boston College and Duke University. Kunkel, Watson and Wilson have used the prize-winning finish to further their learning outside of the classroom.“Using our success at the competition, we went to a company to pitch a project with them over the summer,” said Jason Kunkel. “We are doing an independent study for IDEO, a design innovation company in Palo Alto.”The three graduate students expressed deep gratitude for their marketing professors Juan Montermoso and Desmond Lo, in addition to Jana Hee, director of Graduate Business Academic and Records Support, who helped the team obtain funding for the competition. Contact Nicolas Sonnenburg at nsonnenburg@scu.edu , or call (408) 554-4852.