From the Director A message from Jack Nevin, academic director of the Center for Brand and Product Management

year in review Key information on our students and applied curriculum

alumni proFileCorporate partners, placement and salary statistics, and words from our graduates

branD anD proDuct managersTraining the Next Generation

annual report 2011/2012

This report is a sign of remarkable progress. A decade ago, the Center for Brand and Product Management was founded by Signe Ostby, former vice president of marketing for Software Publishing Corporation, and her husband Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit. Today, the center has become the premier source for brand and product management talent and knowledge.

I was honored to be a part of the center in its infancy, as we worked with industry and alumni to build a curriculum that matched our ambitious goals and helped fill the need for properly trained brand managers.

We are now stronger than ever, backed by one of the highest ranked marketing departments in the world and a newly energized staff who serve as a critical support system for students throughout their journey with us. We are pleased to welcome back one of our alumni, Erin McMillan (Wisconsin MBA in Brand and Product Management ’07), as staff director.

With the help of our alumni and executive advisory board, we have been able to produce graduates who go on to drive innovation at the nation’s top consumer packaged goods companies. In the past 10 years, we have graduated 139 students, and more than 90 percent of them are currently employed at leading brand and product management firms, a feat that shows our ability to help our students succeed over time.

We ensure students receive a well-rounded academic experience and focus on brand and product management throughout the entire program. Our students develop deep, unmatched expertise in marketing while

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obtaining critical skills in innovation, cross-functional leadership, strategic alignment, and planning.

An essential part of molding students into brand and product managers is the direct experiences we facilitate, including:

• Applied-learning sessions with industry leaders to learn lessons such as the value of working in small teams and how to use data to drive marketing initiatives

• One-on-one access to board members, who are industry leaders

• Unique courses such as Design Thinking for Business

• Initiating and planning the center’s global trips, working closely with the executive advisory board and staff

Since our founding in 2002, 100 percent of our MBA students have secured summer internships across the nation and more than 90 percent of our students have received full-time job offers within three months of graduation, all at leading companies.

Thank you for your continued support. We are helping to shape the future of brand and product management, and could not do it without you.

On, Wisconsin!

Jack Nevin Academic Director Center for Brand and Product Management Wisconsin School of Business

John “Jack” nevinAcademic Director for the Center for Brand and Product Management

Check out Jack’s faculty profile online

bus.wisc.edu/faculty/john-nevin.

introDucing new staFF

erin mcmillanDirector for the Center for Brand and Product Management

Erin McMillan, the Center for Brand and Product Management’s new staff director and “double Badger,” has dedicated her career to furthering her love of retail and branding.

Upon graduating with a Wisconsin BBA, Erin went to work for Target Corporation in their growing grocery business. Following Target, she went on to become the licensing manager at Pacific Cycle, where she was responsible for licensing the Schwinn, GT, and Mongoose brands for all categories outside of bicycles. She then returned to the Wisconsin School of Business as a member of the Center for Brand and Product Management’s Class of 2007, joining Procter & Gamble after completing her MBA. During her tenure at P&G, she was lucky enough to work on the COVERGIRL brand in global new product development, ethnic marketing, and in-store/customer growth roles.

Erin chose to return to the Center for Brand and Product Management as the staff director in 2012 to leverage her experience as a brand manager and CBPM alumnae to help mentor students and continually improve the program.

Farin hellenbrandAssistant Director for the Center for Brand and Product Management

Farin Hellenbrand graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with degrees in marketing, Spanish, and global business in 2009. Both during school and upon graduating, she worked for Macy’s as a sales specialist for Calvin Klein and Eileen Fisher. She later moved on to intern and executive-in-training for ladies apparel; then as sales manager for ladies apparel, shoes, and accessories; and finally ended her path at Macy’s as an executive trainer.

Farin’s new role as the assistant director for the Center for Brand and Product Management involves event planning/logistics, planning of the international trip, administrative processing, marketing execution, recruiting students, PA management, admissions assistance, and financial management.

The CBPM was a transformational experience for me, and I hope the same is true for our future students and all of you.

Throughout the past academic year, the Center for Brand and Product Management (CPBM) has undergone some exciting staff additions and revamped its academic curriculum. In 2012, the CBPM revised its applied learning curriculum to be more reflective of what students were learning in the classroom and added two new required courses: Design Thinking for Business and Consumer Behavior.

As part of the CBPM’s applied learning curriculum, students had the opportunity to travel to Singapore and learn about the challenges of cross-cultural marketing in a global arena. They also attended sessions, including “Creative Development” with Kimberly-Clark, “Critical Thinking” with WhiteWave Foods, “Nielsen Data Analysis” with Kraft Foods, and “Innovative Thinking” with Intuit.

incoming class 2012 2013 2014

Number of applicants 131 99 85

Percent admitted 42% 26% 25%

Percent accepts 62% 73% 68%

aDmitteD stuDents 2012 2013 2014

Median GPA 3.315 3.117 3.436

Median GMAT 625.60 655.75 666.70

Percent female 57.6% 26.0% 29.0%

Percent minority 27% 21% 24%

Percent international 4% 0% 6%

Percent Wisconsin resident

19% 26% 18%

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claire sutter Wisconsin MBA in Brand and Product Management ‘13 I’m fascinated and passionate about how companies create value through visual cues and brand promises. I am excited to become a brand manager and create strategic and innovative positioning between products and consumers.

To view all of the 2012 and 2013 student profiles, visit us online

bus.wisc.edu/brandstudents.

curriculum For the wisconsin mba in branD anD proDuct management

semester 1 (18 credits required) semester 2 (17 credits required)

Core Required: Financial Accounting (3) Intro to Financial Management (3) Marketing Management (3) Data Analysis and Decision Making (3) Leadership Teams (2)

Core Required: Ethics and Social Responsibility (1) Operations Management (3) Economics for Managers (3) Business Strategy (3)

CBPM Required: Applied Learning (1) Brand Strategy (3)

CBPM Required: Applied Learning (1) Marketing Research (3) Marketing Communications (3)

semester 3 (10 credits required) semester 4 (1 credit required)

CBPM Required: Applied Learning (1) Marketing Channels (3) Consumer Behavior (3) Design Thinking for Business (3)

CBPM Required: Applied Learning (1)

global experiencesThe world’s population has nearly reached 7 billion people, and a vast majority live in Asia. Living in a global economy, it’s never been more important for MBA students to learn about and understand consumers in Asian countries.

In January 2012, a group of CBPM students traveled to Singapore to learn about the challenges of adapting products and marketing to different cultures. The students visited global companies including Harley-Davidson, 3M, Kraft Foods, and Intuit, as well as the U.S. Department of State and the National University of Singapore.

The group returned with insights on the differences between Asian and U.S. consumers. One key insight was that global brands require an authentic—and local—approach. For example, Oreos in the United States are traditionally sold as a chocolate cookie with vanilla filling, but the Asian markets prefer a more exotic flavor, such as green tea or raspberry/blueberry.

CBPM global trip: Singapore (January 2012).

innovation spurreD From “two-pizza teams”How did Intuit®, Inc., use rapid innovation and agile management to evolve from small-business accounting software into financial management solutions for multiple consumers? Despite the fact that the company has just begun marketing the Intuit name to the general public, its flagship products QuickBooks®, Quicken®, and TurboTax® are ubiquitous in the business world. Scott Cook, co-founder and chairman of Intuit, visited the Center for Brand and Product Management to describe his impressive approach to quickly acquiring and maintaining market leadership.

Regardless of its enormous growth, Cook insists that Intuit’s greatest innovation always comes from small, energetic teams working to accomplish their goals. It’s an approach he calls “two-pizza teams.” All of the Intuit projects that won innovation awards in 2010 were created and worked on by teams who could easily share two pizzas.

Cook taught CBPM students the value of using small teams to accomplish goals through hands-on activities.

applieD learning highlights

alum

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le graDuating class 2010 2011 2012

Class size 20 23 26

Placed at graduation 20 23 25

Median base salary $94,000 $96,000 $95,000

Median signing bonus $22,167 $22,260 $20,471

Percent receiving bonus 88% 95% 100%

Percent with international experience 95% 75% 73%

where in the country are our alumni?

TOTal graduates/alumni: 139

sean nobuiWisconsin MBA in Brand and Product Management ‘05 Brand Manager, Kimberly-Clark

The classes and experiences at the Center for Brand and Product Management provide relevant real-world lessons and skills. When I joined Kimberly-Clark, I was able to immediately make an impact on the business and get my career moving in the right direction.

59%

19%

3%2%

13%

Top inTernships for The class of 20133M, Abbott Nutrition, American Express, Campbell’s, Dish Network, General Mills, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft Foods, MillerCoors, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé Purina, SC Johnson, WhiteWave Foods

Top employers of The class of 2012

a special thanks to our corporate partners

annette knuckle Wisconsin MBA in Brand and Product Management ‘12 Marketing Manager for Consumer Cards, American Express

Our active executive advisory board is a really integral part to the success of students in the Center for Brand and Product Management. They come in to help us. They want to understand what our career goals are and…work to help us reach those goals. They act as mentors, confidants, and our internal support system.

For more alumni profiles, visit us online

bus.wisc.edu/brandalumni.

2012rankings Wisconsin MBA ranks

#25 among graduate business programs by

U.S. News & World Report

#25 Wisconsin MBA

marketing programs rank #4 in the world

by The Financial Times of London

#4 Wisconsin MBA ranks #24 among graduate business programs by

Poets and Quants

#24

bus.wisc.edu/mba/brand

contact us Farin Hellenbrand Assistant Director fhellenbrand@bus.wisc.edu office: 608-265-1860

Erin McMillan Director emcmillan@bus.wisc.edu office: 608-265-2997

John “Jack” Nevin Academic Director jnevin@bus.wisc.edu office: 608-262-8912