MBA students help non-profits, gain skills thanks to Google
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| Grindem |
Eleven students in the Broad School’s Full-Time MBA Integrated Marketing Communications course recently collaborated with Google’s Ann Arbor office on a project that helped them gain valuable experience, while also assisting local non-profits and potentially helping Michigan’s tough economy.
The students were one of the first groups to participate in the AdWords in the Curriculum program, which brings learning the ins and outs of Google AdWords into Michigan classrooms. Google hopes graduates will go forth and help Michigan’s companies succeed in a global, technology-based economy.
In addition, student teams were assigned local Google Grantees (non-profit organizations), and they worked together to apply their new knowledge and implement marketing strategies. Each team was given $10,000 per month for three months to spend on Google advertising for their non-profits, which included Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan, Looking for My Sister, Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness and The Children's Center. On average, each individual non-profit is now experiencing the equivalent of 2.5 million impressions annually and roughly 80,000 visits to their Web sites per year.
According to Marketing Professor Clay Voorhees, the work the students have been doing with Google is especially pertinent for MBA success. "In my opinion, the two biggest voids in the typical Marketing MBA program are an appreciation and understanding of marketing analytics and the process of intersecting communication with brand and product strategy. AdWords in the Curriculum provides the students with a great learning experience to take with them on the interview trail as well as their career."
Several students have been discussing their experiences with the Google AdWords project during interviews with impressive results. "The skills that I have learned from this project have helped me differentiate myself from other interviewees and demonstrate a skill that is not typically taught in most business schools," says second-year MBA student Reshmi Nath. "Going forward in my career this skill will definitely give me an edge over other marketers in devising the overall marketing strategy for any product that I work with."
According to Chris Grindem, the marketing instructor who teaches the course, "Business students consistently indicate that Google is a place they admire and would like to work for, so with AdWords in the Curriculum, our students got to experience first-hand what other business students believe they understand."