Wrigley is a standalone subsidiary of Mars, the 3rd largest food company in the world with over $30 billion in annual sales. Located in downtown Chicago, Wrigley offers classic CPG marketing experience with an opportunity to make an immediate impact early on in your career.
Chicago Booth is a core source of Wrigley marketing talent and the summer internship program is one of their principal means of bringing new marketers into the company. I interviewed Deanna Dane to provide a better understanding of what a job at Wrigley looks like and how best to prepare for the interview.
Deanna knew she wanted to do CPG marketing ever since spending two summers interning for Coca-Cola during the launch of Coke Zero. Following undergrad, she took a consulting role to broaden her skill set before returning to business school to pursue CPG brand management. Deanna interned at Wrigley in the summer of 2009 working on new products. She joined Wrigley in her full-time position as Assistant Marketing Manager on the 5 brand after graduating from the Booth full-time program in 2010.
NY: Why did you choose Wrigley?
DD:
- Culture; it is very indicative of the people
- Brands
- Marketing ethic and work style
- Opportunities; tons of exposure and experience from day one
- Entrepreneurial feel
- Work/life balance
NY: What did you feel were the biggest changes between your internship and full-time experiences? Additionally, what are the biggest differences between your new products role as an intern compared to your role in a base brand?
DD: As an intern, I was responsible for high-level projects and gained a wealth of experience working on innovations such as Dessert Delights to detailed analytical projects. The exposure to all levels of managers was incredible and I felt prepared to ask the right questions when returning to the full-time role.
When I returned for the full-time role, I really felt that I never lost that year being out of the office, and I hit the ground running immediately. In my role on base, I am faced with different questions and challenges around how to build and maintain the newness of a brand and always keeping consumer’s guessing what’s next along with continuing to build the core brand equity.
NY: You were a Career Advisor during your second year at Booth. What are three of your favorite tips for approaching the interview process?
DD:
- Be true to yourself; anything comes naturally when you are truly passionate about it
- Know the marketing role well; be able to put yourself into the consumers mind, particularly when the consumer is not within your demographic; check out different TV channels, magazines, websites that are outside of your core choices
- Understand the retail landscape; walk through stores and pay attention to positioning, product placement, and packaging; know various channel options
NY: What is your favorite brand and why?
DD: vitaminwater zero. vitaminwater reinvented and repositioned the entire vitamin-enhanced water category through successful grass roots marketing. Their focus on not being serious in life and connecting with consumer’s emotionally transcends throughout their campaigns including packaging, commercials and digital activation while still touting their functional benefits.
NY: What did you include in your “About Me” portion of your Booth resume?
DD:
- I met the previous President of Ukraine
- I am an avid outdoor enthusiast
NY: What class would you recommend to current marketing students at Booth?
DD: Developing New Products and Services with Professor Middlebrooks.
NY: What was your favorite Marketing Group event at Booth?
DD: The Marketing Conference was my favorite MG event. It is a great opportunity to hear how real marketing plans are exploiting current trends to promote their brands. Ann Mukherjee [CMO of Frito-Lay North America and Booth alum] was my favorite and the most memorable speaker with an exceptional presentation of amazing ad breakthroughs.
NY: What is your favorite thing about living in Chicago?
DD: It is a wonderful big city that is accessible with a small town feel.
NY: What is your favorite commercial?
DD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0rx1srLsh0
Bacardi plays so well on the nostalgia trend by showing the brand throughout the years and establishing a deep emotional connection with their audience.
NY: What has been your favorite moment in your job?
DD: The launch and success of our most recent 5 promotion tied to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. We received over 900,000 impressions on the facebook tab within the first week which is a simply precursor to what’s coming next.
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