Fall 2007 Marketing Honors Colloquium Executive In Residence

Rob Rivenburgh, Senior Vice President / General Manager of MARS Advertising

The Center for Retailing Excellence is privileged each fall to sponsor the executive in residence program in conjunction with the Department of Marketing and Logistics within the Sam M. Walton College of Business.  Rob Rivenburgh co-taught the marketing honors colloquium with Tom Jensen, department chair, professor and Wal-Mart lecturer in retailing in the marketing and logistics department at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas.  Rob taught classes twice weekly and recruited associates from MARS Advertising to address the students in topics that included in-store promotions, merchandising, and shopper insights. Students attended the Center’s fall conference Emerging Trends in Retailing on October 11th as part of the class program.  Doug McMillon, president of Sam’s Club, H. Lee Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and A. G. Lafley, chairman of the board and CEO of Procter & Gamble met with the students over breakfast that morning in the John Q. Hammons Center.  It proved a truly memorable experience for students and industry executives.

Fall 2006 Marketing Honors Colloquium Executive In Residence

Rich Lawrence, Regional Director for Idelle Labs     

The Center was privileged to have long time board representative Rich Lawrence as the fall 2006 executive in residence.  Rich has served on the Center’s executive advisory board and executive board of directors since October 2000 first as a representative of Crossmark and currently as the representative of Idelle Labs.  Lawrence co-taught the class with professor and departmental chairperson Tom Jensen.  The marketing honors colloquium is a senior level class that explores events, concepts, and/or new developments in the field of marketing.  In order to drill down and analyze shelf space in different categories and brands within a category, Rich enlisted the assistance of other Center board members in a student mentoring program.  Mentors for the program include: Mark Nelson, Kimberly Clark; Jeff Greer and Kelly Stewart, The J.M. Smucker Company; John Sturgis and Curt Hollmann, VF Corporation; Tony Murphy and Kaye Reese, Time/Warner Retail; Sheila Cross, Quaker; and Rob Salter, Handleman.

Additionally Lawrence brought in two distinguished guest speakers for the class Doug Degn, executive vice president, food, consumables, and hardlines merchandising Wal-Mart Stores, and Andy Murray, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi X and executive advisory board member of the Center for Retailing Excellence. 

Students visited numerous retail outlets to analyze shelf space and product inventory.  Each team developed a presentation on their assigned category to present to the class and their mentors.