Brandon Mabry was named this year's Associate at the final boardroom meeting on Monday. After competing since February, Mabry won the grand prize, a job offer with Bank of America.
The Associate, a take off of NBC's hit reality show "The Apprentice," was first sponsored by the College of Business and Economics last spring. This semester it involved eight seniors who vied to win a job at Bank of America after they graduate.
Before announcing the winner, Frank Bramble, member of Bank of America's board of directors and head judge for the competition, spoke about the judges' decision.
"We wanted to make sure we got it right," Bramble stated. "The program mattered a great deal, but we also looked at performance throughout the competition."
He continued by saying that Mabry's team won the final case study. Along with that achievement, Bramble stated that, overall, Mabry had the edge in ideas generated, while Santiago Hernandez, a finance major and the last fired candidate, had the edge in Web creativity.
This week's real-life case study involved Bank of America and Orioles baseball forming an alliance. Both teams had a $25,000 budget to create the best marketing plan.
Mabry chose Matthew Haggerty and Peter Sclafani as teammates while Hernandez chose Courtney Anderson and Ankur Ponda.
Both candidates discussed how they chose their fellow teammates for the last case study.
"I chose [the] numbers guys, good workers," Mabry said. "I knew I could trust them and that I could handle the presentation side of things."
Hernandez had similar reasoning.
"A lot of strategy actually," Hernandez said. "The Bank of America case was a big numbers case. I picked who I thought were the best presenters."
Mabry's team focused on target audiences such as kids (through Little League) and baseball fans at games. Also, inside Bank of America locations, stickers and pictures would have bank managers standing with the Orioles bird.
Hernandez's team emphasized a radio contest called "A Suite Treat" in which prize packages to watch a baseball game from the Bank of America suite would be given to winners. They also created a new logo to accentuate the merger between MBNA and Bank of America and to also highlight Bank of America as an official sponsor of Orioles baseball.
Bramble spoke about the results of both team's efforts from this week's case study.
"The client was impressed with both marketing strategies. It was the best use of budget that we've seen by both [teams]," Bramble stated.
John Cochran, a primary marketer for MBNA, which recently merged with Bank of America, made the job offer presentation to Mabry, the newest Associate. Mabry was offered a spot to work in a project with 11 internally hired professionals.
After the event, Mabry discussed his overall experience with the Associate competition.
"It was a lot of hard work," he explained, "but the job offer was a good offer, too good to pass up. I encourage anybody in the business college to seriously consider applying for this program." Not only did Cochran offer Mabry a spot on the team, but he explained to runner-up Hernandez that he should interview with Bank of America and have them consider only hiring 10 internal employees instead of 11.
Hernandez discussed his positive Associate experience and his plans for the future.
"I have known that in the end it would be Brandon [Mabry] and I in the last boardroom," Hernandez said. "While the decision was not in my favor, I think both Brandon and I would agree that this process has brought out the best in both of us. I am happy and excited for the prospects in my future as well as his. Who knows, we both could end up working for Bank of America together."
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