Victoria Williams
Planning an advertising campaign for a major American fashion company is an accomplishment Victoria Williams, a student at the Jefferson Davis Campus, can add to her resume. Williams, along with other students involved in the Delta Epsilon Chi National Management Institute, created winning marketing plans for Rue 21, a specialty fashion retailer. Her team, responsible for introducing clothing designs for snowboarders, won second place in the national contest.
“During the National Management Institute (NMI), you are divided into random teams,” Williams explained. “I was on a team with three other people – from Washington, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Each team was given a case-study situation involving a business client, in this case Rue 21, who is looking for new and creative ideas for his or her company. Acting as consultants, the teams visited the client’s place of business and met with representatives of Rue 21. Each team then had to gather the necessary information for making a professional presentation to the client.”
NMI, part of the Delta Epsilon Chi National Conference, is sponsored by Piper Jaffray & Company, an investment-banking firm. Participants are able to network with Piper Jaffray and their NMI client to build on their marketing and business skills, practice their written and oral presentation skills, promote themselves to the business community, and learn to analyze a business situation, present winning strategies, and work as a team to achieve success.
“We had three days to work on our plan once we met with Rue 21 representatives,” Williams said. “The competition was fierce, with 15 teams competing. While it was a stressful time, I feel like I learned a lot from the process.”
The team’s winning design revolved around the slogan they created, “R U Rue-Ready?” and encompassed direct mail, magazine, newspaper and e-mail advertising. “It was an incredible opportunity and my team was absolutely thrilled we did so well,” said Williams, who plans to continue her college education after graduating from Gulf Coast next year. She wants to work at Stennis Space Center as a procurement manager.
