Chad Krueger

I chose to obtain my MBA from Kelley to further my skills and understanding of finance and also to switch industries.  In accepting the finance position with Bloomington Brands, I hoped that I would gain first-hand knowledge of what goes into running a brand, and I was not disappointed!  From seeing how brand managers interact with major retailers to learning what goes into creating an advertisement, I was exposed to a vast array of experiences that will benefit me throughout my career.  The opportunity to work closely with Bob was also invaluable.  Since my time at Bloomington Brands overlapped with the most erratic economic period of my lifetime, I spent many hours discussing the economy with Bob.  In these discussions and many others about various business topics, I learned many lessons that just can’t be taught in the classroom.  I will always look back fondly on my time at Bloomington Brands and I am proud to be a member of an extremely talented network of Kelley grads!

Jamie Podhaizer

Bloomington Brands has been an invaluable experience--not only was I able to learn from Bob Stohler, a world-class marketer, and my fellow B2 co-workers, but also I was able to take ownership of marketing initiatives in an educational and professional environment. As a career switcher, the B2 experience gave me more confidence during my summer internship as I was already exposed to industry lingo and tools, such as analyzing market research reports, communicating and partnering with agencies, etc. Some of the best memories and learning experiences at B2 were the days where Bob and all the interns bounced ideas back and forth and debated (sometimes endlessly) business decisions, like "What should the new product be named?" There were also days spent receiving career advice from Bob and talking about dream jobs, career goals and personal goals. In addition, when you join Bloomington Brands you become part of the Bloomington Brands family, a vast network that has alumni at P&G, Kraft, Target, Scotts and Whirlpool just to name a few. I could not imagine my graduate experience without Bloomington Brands and I am excited about becoming part of the Bloomington Brands alumni family!

Bob Weaver

Bloomington Brands is great for all the reasons that are frequently mentioned – the hands-on brand management work, the confidence and richness the experience lends to interview situations, and the mentorship provided by Bob Stohler. I also think it is great for the fact that it exists at all – that an alumnus brainstormed this idea, faculty and school leadership supported it, and a management relationship with a consumer goods brand was established.

Emily Miles
Having Bloomington Brands on my resume during my full time job search was integral to my success. The experiences I’ve gained through Bloomington Brands provided extremely relevant stories for CARS, considering the recent nature and challenging content of the work. Since I was a career-switcher, the successes I’ve had at Bloomington Brands illustrated to future employers that I had a track record of success in a marketing role already.

John Price
I consider the experience to have had three main areas of value. First, there has been good press for Bloomington Brands and being on the team and getting the positive press that comes along with that opens doors. Second, learning how an executive thinks and acts from an up close vantage point has been very rewarding. Lastly, the actual brand management learning will help me for the rest of my career - evaluation of advertising, agency relations, PR development, positioning, segmentation, and portfolio management.

John Price, B2 alumn, returns to IUKSB

to make a recruiting presentation for Scotts

Zach Griffin
When doing networking with companies for full-time employment opportunities, mentioning my work with Bloomington Brands always brought about good conversation. I could show how my pre-MBA skills transferred into the world of brand management as well as how Kelley has given me the marketing and strategy tools necessary to be successful. Potential employers were always very interested in the program and impressed by the exposure I was getting to real brand management issues and challenges.

David Rhoades
If you are serious about a career in marketing, there is simply no better MBA experience at Kelley (or anywhere else, for that matter) to prepare you than Bloomington Brands. There are two major aspects of the experience that made this true for me.

First, I was prepared to interview with having the benefit of real-world, hands-on experiences – exactly the kind of work I now do as an Associate Brand Manager at Kellogg’s. Here are a few examples: Development of an in-store display for Wal-Mart, packaging for a direct-to-consumer sampling effort, consumer research (which included assisting in the writing of concepts that we tested in focus groups), and the writing of a creative brief for a print advertising campaign. I leveraged my Bloomington Brand’s experience on my resume and in interviews and left Kelley with three job offers from top consumer marketing companies.

Second, besides being one of smartest people I have ever met, Bob Stohler has an incredible wealth of marketing and business experience (trust me when I tell you that it will be a very long time before you have the chance to report directly to an Executive Vice President). Pair these attributes with his passion for mentoring Kelley students, and what you have is an incredible opportunity to learn and develop as a marketer and business person. In fact, if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to work at Bloomington Brands, ask Bob to walk you through a P&L sometime – it may be best business lesson I ever received.

Jessie James
Working as an Associate Brand Manager for Bloomington Brands for my summer internship was the best choice I could have made. Having the opportunity to work with Bob Stohler was like having a wealth of knowledge right at my fingertips. I was able to gain insights into the consumer products world that I never would have had otherwise. I had the opportunity to actually make an impact on a real-world brand and I was given responsibilities that I don’t think I would have received in another internship program. For example, I was able to write a creative brief for an advertising campaign, analyze POS data for major retailers and make changes to the website. I’ve learned so much and I know that my experience at Bloomington Brands will benefit me in so many ways in the future.

Jen Na and Jessie James, summer 2006

Jen Na
Interning at Bloomington Brands as an undergraduate student has offered me an experience that is rare to most interning undergrads. Nowhere else would I have received such a large load of responsibility as a means to develop and grow my skills as a brand manager. By working for Bloomington Brands, I was able to gain not only exposure, but hands-on experience with a product on the market and see the results of my marketing efforts

Bob gave me projects that built my skills as a marketer but also contributed to the growth of the product. Not many 20 year olds can say they've established the foundation for a nationwide website, forecasted budgets or pioneered a radio advertisement for the first time in a product's history - all done before entering the "real world." And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

A fair warning to all - if you are not open to learning, this internship is not for you. This is not a place where you can come to stay in your comfort zone and it is certainly not a place to do mundane database entry. Bob will push you to learn, push your brain power and always challenge you to take that extra step. Learning is not always easy. Still, Bob is one of the greatest bosses and mentors I have ever had and he will make it his personal agenda to help you succeed in your career and in your life. With this knowledge and skill, I leave my summer internship with the confidence that I will have multiple full time job offers in the fall.