Tippie takes 2nd at Strategic Case Competition

By
Annie Leonhart
– May 8, 2012Posted in: Finance Academy, Life at Tippie, Marketing Academy, New Posts, Strategic Innovation Academy, Student Bloggers

Team Tippie (left to right): Eric Talmage, Ben Clark, Uday Mathur, and Annie Leonhart

Tippie captured 2nd place in the 2012 University of Illinois Strategy Case Competition, Feb 9-11, 2012.  The team of MBAs included:  Ben Clark (1st year, Strategic Management & Innovation), Annie Leonhart (1st year, Marketing), Uday Mathur (1st year, Marketing) and Eric Talmage (1st year, Marketing).  Ben and Annie received individual recognition with Best Speaker awards for the preliminary round.  Ben went on to receive the Best Speaker Award in the final round.  The winning team was prepared by coaches Meg Thompson (Business Director, Strategic Innovation Career Academy) and Stephanie Miles (Coordinator, Student Services and Communications).    Twelve MBA programs participated, including Purdue, Ohio State, and University of Minnesota.   Iowa State and University of Illinois took home 1st and 3rd places, respectively.  Corporate sponsors included Whirlpool Corporation, HD Supply and Trizetto.

Teams were given a written case posing a business problem and 24 hours to prepare a presentation outlining each team’s proposed solution.   Teams then present their solutions to a panel of judges, composed of academic and business professionals, often including representatives from corporate sponsors and the company presented in the case.  This year, the case focused on Louis Vuitton’s declining sales in the Japanese market.   Team Tippie proposed a solution to promote long-term sustainability and luxury-brand positioning :  (1) avoid diversifying to lower price-point products just to capture sales, and (2) refresh Louis Vuitton’s luxury brand status with a new aspirational item, designed to appeal to a younger demographic yet maintain the classic, recognizable Louis Vuitton styling.

The team is proud to bring home a trophy for the MBA office, and looks forward to the success of other Tippie teams in future case competitions.

Annie Leonhart

About Annie Leonhart

Hey everybody! This is Annie. I’m a Cedar Rapids native, and got my B. S. in Theatre from Northwestern University. Before coming back to B-school, I lived and worked in New York, Chicago and LA as a professional actress (yep, you probably saw me on TV). I transitioned into business, found out I love marketing, and came to Tippie to advance my marketing career. When I’m not doing homework, I’m watching or performing music, reading, running outside, or writing a play in my head. I’m energized by being around others, so I fit right in with the team-oriented coursework at Tippie.