MUSE: AMA 2006-2007

The American Marketing Association is one of the largest professional organizations for marketers. MUSE became an official collegiate chapter in 2005 and has benefited greatly as a member.

AMA holds an annual case competition for its collegiate chapters, involving a challenging marketing problem that student teams must work together to solve. Not only does it provide participants an opportunity to gain real-world experience but there is also the chance for recognition through awards.

On March 25, 2006, the Marketing Undergraduate Students Establishment (MUSE) attended the American Marketing Association Collegiate Conference Awards Ceremony for the first time. In our first year of affiliation, MUSE, the University of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the AMA, was honored to receive awards for Outstanding Chapter, Best New Chapter and to be named winner of the 2006 American Marketing Association Collegiate Case Competition. The eight MUSE members who attended the conference left Orlando a little more tan and a lot more relaxed knowing the time and energy put into bridging MUSE and AMA had been well worth the effort.

Orlando was a lot of fun and an eye-opening experience. At the conference, MUSE had the chance to interact with other collegiate chapters from around the world and witnessed the spirit and dedication of these chapters as they accepted their awards and presented their chapter exhibits. As the first and only undergraduate marketing club at Penn, MUSE previously had role model organizations or expectations to meet other than those of its leaders and members. AMA affiliation not only required MUSE to meet and report its performance on an expanded set of requirements, but it also inspired us with the precedent and high standards set by other AMA chapters.

To replicate our success in 2006, we knew MUSE would have to rebuild its structure and renew the dedication of its members, hence this year’s theme, “Rebuild and Renew.” This theme also reflects the topic of this year’s AMA Case Competition: Renew New Orleans. Also, at Penn, architectural blueprints and landscape plans are being drawn for the eastward expansion of our campus and serve as the inspiration of the artwork in this year’s Chapter Plan. While MUSE, New Orleans and the University of Pennsylvania may seem like incomparable entities at first, all three are undergoing dramatic change in order to establish a presence, be it mental, emotional or physical.

We recognize that such rebuilding efforts can be challenging, but after all the kinks have been worked out, we believe there will be a much stronger foundation on which to build the future. From personal experience, I know the support of our Chapter Advisor, Dr. Keith Niedermeier, the support of the Wharton Marketing Department, Penn Career Services, our alumni and our friends in the MBA Marketing Club will help us at this exciting stage of our growth. Now, more so than ever, it is an honor to be part of MUSE. The New Orleans renewal progress will be judged by the destination tourist numbers over the next few years; the progress in Penn’s expansion will be seen by the construction on the East Side of University City; the progress made by MUSE can be judged by its performance on the goals outlined in the following pages. We hope you enjoy learning about then as much as we enjoy striving to achieve them.

Best Regards,
Nancy Lee
2006 President
MUSE, Marketing Undergraduate Students Establishment

"The tourism industry has an immense economic impact on the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. Since Hurricane Katrina hit one year ago, New Orleans lost a significant amount of business through the travel and tourism industry. As the entire region continues to rebuild from the devastation of Katrina, the travel and tourism industry in New Orleans needs your help in bringing visitors back to the area. With this in mind, the main problem for chapters to address is how to increase tourism to the New Orleans area, especially though not limited to the 18-30 year old market. Teams should develop a target marketing and segmentation plan, as well as focusing on positioning for the city of New Orleans. As part of this marketing plan, special attention should be paid to creative, promotional and media strategies that can be used to attract tourists to the city including (but not limited to): television, radio, direct mail, internet, and sales promotions.

AMA Chapters are invited to form teams to develop a written solution for the marketing challenge. Eight finalist teams will be selected to participate in an oral competition on Thursday, March 29, 2007, at the AMA’s 29th Annual International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, LA. The eight finalist teams will compete for 1 first prize at $3000, 2 second prizes at $2500, and 5 third prizes at $1500."