Kelley school teams with Scotts Co.

Students in the MBA program at IU's Kelley School of Business now have a chance to take part in a program which will allow them to gain not only class credit but real business world experience as well.\nThe business school teamed with Bloomington Brands, LLC, created by Robert Stohler, an IU alumnus and former employee of Scotts, the company known for such products as Miracle Gro. \nWhile the company is widely known for its miracle plant growth enhancer, it also manufactures other home and garden products with less recognition across the nation. Osmocote, a plant fertilizer, is one of those products. \nAfter retiring from Scotts, Stohler wanted to give something back to his alma mater and thought it would be a perfect match to let students in the business school work with Osmocote's marketing needs, allowing students a chance to try out their own marketing strategies.\nThe program, which began around October 2003, is overseen by Jonlee Andrews, clinical associate professor of marketing and director for the Center for Brand Leadership.\n"For the first year, we definitely needed enthusiasm," Andrews said. "Students we were looking at had all had summer internships, so they had a little bit of marketing experience.They had a good understanding of marketing and a real desire to do this kind of thing as a career for the future." \nThe program accepted three marketing students and one student as the financial manager.\nScott Berg is one of three students who was chosen to be a marketer for the product.\n"It's a unique opportunity to practice what you're being taught," Berg said. "You can apply skills you are learning (in class) in a real-world setting with real-world consequences."\nBerg said this year the students have put an emphasis on Osmocote's marketability and the way it is seen by consumers.\n"What we did this year was stood back and took a look at the brand and how it is being seen in the marketplace," Berg said. "We took a look at where we were showing our ad -- if we were reaching the appropriate consumer. If we're selling a garden product, it can't be (advertised) in Sports Illustrated."\nBerg said the students have worked with an agency to design new creative strategies for the product with the goal of appealing to "everyman and everywoman."\nAt the end of this year, the four students currently in charge of transforming Osmocote will graduate and hand over the reigns to new students.\n"They (the students working with the product) started in October, and now they're getting ready to select their successors," Andrews said. "They will be selecting and doing initial interviews, all things they'll be doing in the future."\nBerg assured that there would be plenty for the upcoming students to do.\n"It's going to be a multiple-step process to change the brand," he said. "We started this year with how we're reaching the marketplace and it will continue to evolve. (The next students) will do a lot more work on understanding the consumer and market research."\nAndrews said the program is the perfect way for MBA students to apply things they learn in the classroom into the workplace.\nThe program enables the students to implement the skills they learn in classes, Andrews said. One way was by distributing pins to promote Osmocote to large retail stores like Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Home Depot. Andrews said the students designed, purchased and distributed the pins across the nation.\n"All these things they are actually doing," she said. "It's so different than any other way of learning."\nBerg said he believes the project has been beneficial to him.\n"I think for a graduate student like myself who had already been in the business world ... it is a great opportunity for me as a career changer to get a glimpse in my future career," he said. "I can make sure it is what I wanted to do and it is as exciting as I thought it would be."\n-- Contact assistant copy chief Brittany Hite at bhite@indiana.edu.