AMA Chapter Receives Commendation at Nationals

The University of Miami chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) is thrilled to announce that, for the first time ever, they received a commendation for their work in the National AMA Collegiate Case Competition, sponsored by Mary Kay Cosmetics, at the 2018 AMA Winter Academic Conference, held February 23-25 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
AMA Chapter Receives Commendation at Nationals
The University of Miami chapter was listed as one of the top 40 chapters across the country that participated in the event. The AMA Collegiate Case Competition, which started in 1986, is “a yearlong event that brings together top marketing students to work on a marketing challenge submitted by a sponsoring organization,” according to the organization’s website.

Over the years, the UM chapter has worked with brands, such as Ice Breakers Cool Blasts, Take 5 Gum, and Vitamin Water through the AMA National Collegiate Case Competitions. This year, AMA worked to devise a 12-month marketing plan for Mary Kay Cosmetics.

The AMA Collegiate Chapter at the University of Miami is an association of individuals who share an interest in marketing. AMA strives to create connections with professionals and their peers by holding events, doing cases, and having fun. By being a part of AMA, its members gain experience and knowledge that prepares them for a successful career. 

UM’s AMA Director of Business Development, Lucas Settineri, who coordinated the competition case, said, “Our goal with this year's Mary Kay Case Competition was to create a welcoming environment for creativity, while still maintaining a focused and research-backed foundation. This proved to be an effective method, as we were all very impressed with what the teams came up with and ultimately with how our case came out.”

The entire chapter worked together to create a full report, which was sent into AMA Nationals for consideration. The chapter split the task into three phases, which spanned a total of 10 weeks. Each phase consisted of several smaller groups, which were led by a team leader. Each team leader was a chosen student that demonstrated strong leadership skills and enthusiasm. This gave members real-world experience working in and leading small groups. Team leaders were rewarded with products from Mary Kay Cosmetics, in addition to other small prizes.

UM’s AMA Chapter President, Briana Klein, said the entire chapter “was excited to be able to give valuable leadership experience to our members. This was the first year we organized the case competition emulating a real business hierarchy, and it paid off tremendously. It created an environment of teamwork and got everyone excited to work on the case together.”

Looking forward, the UM AMA Collegiate Chapter will host their first Marketing Week, from March 28 through April 3. There will be a series of events, which are free and open to all University of Miami students.

To become involved with AMA, please email umama.communication@gmail.com or follow @UMiamiAMA on Facebook and Instagram. Meetings take place every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Aresty 532 and includes other monthly professional development events.