The Marriott Advantage

The Marketing Lab at BYU Marriott is different from any other marketing consulting agency. For starters, we’re a student-run organization, and have members in their final years of both undergrad and MBA programs.

We regularly work with dozens of top brands and offer valuable market research services at a competitive cost… combining “your business, our students, real impact.”

But there’s something else that makes the Marketing Lab different, too. As an organization functioning under the Marriott School of Business, we try to exemplify the Marriott School Values: Faith in Christ, Integrity in Action, Respect for All, and Excellence.

Dean Brigitte Madrian recently undertook a concerted effort to reemphasize these values in the business school. We’re grateful for her leadership and example.

The Marriott School Values:

Faith in Christ

“We value deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith gives us the capacity to envision a better future, the confidence to make that future happen, and the courage to act in the face of challenges.”

Faith is a principle of action. The Marketing Lab gives each of us opportunities to act on the things we learn—which includes a blend of spiritual and secular studies—to achieve a positive impact for our clients and for our own learning experiences. We start each Tuesday meeting with a prayer and spiritual thought, and strive to maintain a positive, Christlike environment.

Integrity in Action

“We value integrity and hold ourselves to the highest moral and ethical standards. Acting with integrity builds trust, strengthens character, and focuses our ambitions on things of eternal consequence.”

Consulting requires communication and trust, and an understood commitment to deliver on expectations. Sometimes, more effort is required to deliver what our clients are really trying to understand. Recently, Whitney Sannar shared a story from a project she was working on.

After approving a market research survey with the client for immediate release, Whitney took some time to review the lab’s Statement of Work, a documentation of the client’s goals and the lab’s timeline and committed deliverables. She began to realize that the survey that had been approved wouldn’t quite answer everything the client had originally wanted in the statement of work… even though the client had already approved the survey for publication.

Rather than shrugging it off, or asking the client what they should do, Whitney immediately went to work revising the survey to address the client’s other stated concerns. She sent this updated version to the client for one last approval and was able to publish the survey without much delay.

This is a great example of integrity and commitment-keeping in the Lab. Doing the harder right thing is better than doing the easier wrong thing.

Respect for All

“We value respect for all individuals as children of God and recognize the inherent worth, divine potential, and agency of each person. A climate of respect and belonging enhances our learning, facilitates collaboration, and encourages personal growth.”

Every member of the Marketing Lab has the opportunity to work on a variety of teams—from functional (marketing, operations, business development, analytics) to project teams. We have opportunities to lead, share our own personal expertise, and just as importantly, learn from one another.

This kind of collaboration wouldn’t be possible without the respect and comradery that we have in the Lab.

Excellence

“We value excellence in learning, teaching, research, management, and leadership. An expectation of excellence magnifies our influence and motivates us to continually improve.”

We strive to deliver quality work to our real-world clients. Our findings, deliverables, and recommendations go on to inform real business decisions with real consequences. We may be a student organization, but we’re committed to providing work that is up to par with industry standards.

Here’s what Jeff Jensen, CEO of Connecticut Electric, had to say about his experience with the Marketing Lab:

“The BYU Marketing Lab provides top tier, professional consulting at an economical price. The MBA students and professors are smart, insightful, experienced, and thorough. I’ve worked with the best global consulting firms, and my experience with the BYU Marketing Lab was a better experience and higher return on investment of time and dollars.

I highly endorse the BYU Marketing Lab for research, pricing strategies, brand studies, competitive positioning, go-to-market strategies, and more.”

We are all grateful for the opportunity we have to be a part of the BYU Marketing Lab. Being able to apply the marketing skills we’ve learned in classes into “real world” business cases is exciting and rewarding. And the positive environment and reputation of the Marriot School of Business makes it even better.