Black and Gold take Gold at Wake Forest Marketing Analytics Summit

On April 10th, the Wake Forest Business School hosted the twenty-sixth annual Marketing Analytics Summit, which runs in conjunction with the Inmar Analytics Forum.

This three-day symposium features executives and leaders from multiple industries, who have insight and experience into the importance of data in making business decisions. Graduate and undergraduate student groups presented to a panel of judges from the promotion, healthcare, and supply chain industries from top organizations around North America.

The hundreds in the audience served as the competition’s fifth judge, voting via text message.

Eight MBA teams and six undergraduate teams from universities all over the world were present, including Wake Forest University’s own School of Business. About two weeks before the event, groups were given a case and were assigned to present a solution to a problem in the health-care industry.

Summit participant and winner, Ella Ryan, a senior Business and Enterprise Management major, said: “this year, the case was about coming up with a business and marketing strategy for a retail health clinic.

“Overall, the purpose of the Summit is to expose students to real problems that industry leaders are facing today. The case we were given was incredibly realistic, allowing us to gain valuable insights into what the retail healthcare industry looks like and where it is headed.”

Ella and her teammates, senior Mike Thomas, senior Emily Bandyk, junior Jack Troller, and senior Alyssa Norton, addressed the changing face of healthcare. She added: “In 2015 alone, Americans spent over three trillion dollars on their health. Through our surveys and interviews, we found that people no longer think of health as remedying themselves when they’re sick.

“Now, it’s all about creating and achieving wellness goals. With that being said, we think there is also a perception around current retail health clinics that they’re only there for you when you’re sick. We wanted to create a retail health clinic that helped its customers both when they’re feeling sick, and even when they’re not. Our solution was a retail health clinic called WellWorks, which would be there for you ‘in sickness, and in health.’

“This proposed wellness experience would be supported by a mobile application, a robust loyalty program, and significant key partnerships, including FitBit and gyms like Planet Fitness.”

WFU School of Business graduate and undergraduate teams celebrate double first place wins for the first time in the history of the School’s 26-year-old Marketing Analytics Summit. Pictured left to right: Alex Ji, Emily Bandyk, Ella Ryan, Corinne Chia, Michael Whitt, Pat McGrath, Jack Troller, Alyssa Norton and Marlon Romulus.

Ella believes their proposal won the undergraduate portion of the summit because of their “ability to tell the story of our solution through a family.” Through their surveys and interviews, Ella’s group learned that health is a family matter. She said: “40% of millennials said the first thing they do when they’re sick is ‘call a parent.’ Additionally, 80% of survey respondents were on a family medical plan. It became obvious to us that people care about the health of their family members — which is why we decided to create a mobile application for our retail health clinic that was family focused.

“Similar to a Netflix account, everyone in a family could be on the same account and then have their own individual profile. That way, if something changes with the insurance, mom or dad can easily go in and change the settings for everyone.

“Overall, I think our ability to show how each member of a family would benefit from out retail health clinic strategy was what drove our solution home for the judges.” As winners of this summit, the team was awarded ten-thousand dollars.

“The Wake Forest team did an excellent job from start to finish. They set up the situation very clearly and established what their solution was right up front,” said judge Whitney Hardy, vice president, marketing & enterprise branding at CVS Health.

He added: “Throughout their presentation, they reinforced and were singularly focused on their solution. It was a strong delivery and a solid approach to a very real business challenge. They also brought innovation, thinking through ways to enhance experiences, especially for a millennial audience.”

The Washington University in St. Louis Olin School of Business team took second place and received an $8,000 prize. Wake Forest graduate students also took first place in their division, winning twenty-thousand dollars.

The Marketing Analytics Summit brought over seven-hundred people to campus.