Marketlab

The “Marketing Bootcamp” was taught as a SIP course for which MarketLab participants received academic credit.

MarketLab is a student-run program that pairs Sloanies with top consumer and enterprise brands on marketing and strategy consulting projects. In 2008, over 120 MBA students worked on 22 projects for companies including Apple, Reebok, Estee Lauder, HBO, Time and others. For many years running, MarketLab has provided students with a unique opportunity to work closely with target companies and gain relevant marketing experience.

Upon becoming Co-Directors of MarketLab in the Spring of 2008, Shimrit Ben-Yair ’09 and Indrajit Sen ’09, saw an opportunity to expand the scope of what was already a great program. Like many of their peers, they saw MarketLab as part of a vital ecosystem bringing together students, faculty and the business community: MarketLab allows students to learn about marketing roles by empowering them with a hands-on experience, which has the benefit of translating into an instant conversation starter during the recruiting process. Shimrit and Indy wanted to retool the program to provide a better experience for the students and clients, as well as expand the client list to improve the visibility of the Sloan brand.

During the spring, they worked hand-in-hand with the administration, faculty and students to redesign the program and broaden its impact. Along with Prof. Sharmila Chatterjee, they set the stage for many changes, including a special "Marketing Boot Camp" to be taught in the fall that would cover all the qualitative and quantitative marketing tools students could use on their projects. For the first-time ever, they also included a non-profit organization into the client mix.

During the summer, they recruited many new clients, including Apple, HBO and Time, who are working with MIT Sloan for the first time, thereby creating numerous career opportunities for students.

During the fall the project process was revised, and now includes kick-off and mid-term reviews with Prof. Chatterjee and mentors, to improve the quality of the deliverables. More importantly, the “Marketing Bootcamp” was taught as a SIP course for which MarketLab participants received academic credit. The traditional MarketLab end-of-semester project was also retooled as a poster event showcasing the projects in front of a community of students, faculty and clients.

These new initiatives were made possible by the efforts of the MarketLab co-directors, Marketing Club Officers faculty and staff. They significantly improve the sustainability of the program going forward, as initiatives such as the SIP class, process and client relationships can be utilized in the future. They also improve the quality of the projects, making this a better learning experience for the students and more meaningful business impact for the clients, thus improving the MIT Sloan brand.