Today, I got to scratch my travel itch by making the trek to Minneapolis! As part of the Marketing Leadership Institute (MLI), each semester we take a trip to experience firsthand various types of marketing companies across a range of industries to further enhance our marketing exposure.
Kicking Off at Ovative
After a long yet fun bus ride, our first stop was Ovative, a prominent marketing agency that has partnered with many major brands and even created its own unique metric to measure impact. Ovative gave us a deep dive into its company culture and what sets it apart from other marketing firms. The company is built on a foundation that prioritizes its employees, focusing on what truly matters: being a community-driven organization that fosters an inclusive and safe environment to develop effective leaders and build a strong, cohesive team. This foundation has fueled their continued success over 16 years of operation.
In addition, we learned about a transformative aspect of the agency, its award-winning metric. Unlike established industry metrics such as ROAS, Ovative’s metric captures customer, brand, and revenue impact through a holistic lens to truly understand campaign performance on a deeper level. While this metric is currently unique to Ovative, the team hopes it will become an industry standard in the future. Lastly, we were let in on a hidden gem within the firm, so if you’re ever in town, be sure to ask about the story of the angry lawyer. Trust me, they’ll know what you mean.
Next Up: General Mills!
Shortly after Ovative, we explored a pioneer brand from my (and many others’) childhood, General Mills. The tour began with a brief introduction, where we learned firsthand about the various roles within the Brand Management track and how the different teams operate. I had no idea how vast the department was, with roles spanning Strategic Growth Channels, Established Brands, Innovation, and more.
We then explored the impressive campus for a deeper discussion, taking in all the perks of being an employee, did you know they have both a nail salon and a mechanic on-site?? After wrapping up the tour, we returned to the conference room to tackle a case study, getting a glimpse into the types of questions Associate Brand Managers (ABM’s) solve daily. Fun fact: our team’s solution was the one the Gushers team implemented! Maybe there’s a future for me as an ABM, ha-ha.
Until Next Time…
I want to thank the MLI, Ovative, and General Mills for continuing to provide us with these incredible opportunities and granting us a peek into what our future careers might hold. I’m genuinely excited to see where our class ends up post-graduation and who knows, maybe Minneapolis will be seeing us again very soon.