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Ashley Jensen
Ivy College of Business student and marketing intern, Ashley Jensen (’26 marketing, master of experiential graphic design), shares her experience of applying lessons learned in her marketing classes to real-world experiences. This is one example of how the college prepares business students for their careers.
To connect with Ashley Jensen or follow her collegiate and professional career, visit her LinkedIn profile.
As a marketing student at the Ivy College of Business, I had the opportunity to help a company find a solution to an actual problem, which made its way into the real world.
Throughout the spring 2025 semester in Marketing 4950: Live Marketing Cases, we were divided into teams of four and assigned a problem that a company was struggling with. The ‘problem’ is what we call a ‘case’ in the classroom. Our job was to come up with a marketing solution to the problem and pitch the solution to company representatives.
The case
One of the three cases provided was from Hy-Vee, which wanted to find a solution to increase Gen-Z signups for the Hy-Vee Perks loyalty program and app.
As part of this project, our class took a trip to Hy-Vee headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa, to meet with the company representatives who presented the case. After getting the case, our team worked together for several weeks to come up with a solution, then prepared and practiced our pitch before presenting it to the Hy-Vee representatives.
To add another layer, Marketing 4950 is structured in a competition-style format. At the end of all the pitches, the representatives selected the best solution, and the winning team received a prize.
Working on a team with Jared Frie (’25 marketing), Ally Butirro (’25 marketing), and Elizabeth Gass (’25 marketing and management), we won best solution for a strategy to offer meal kits and student discounts to get Gen-Z customers in-store to build loyalty with Hy-Vee.
The result
This September, a new item appeared on Hy-Vee shelves: 15-minute meal kits. Not only did our team win the class competition, but Hy-Vee representatives liked our idea so much, they implemented our solution, bringing it to life.
Hy-Vee 15-minute meal kits are for Gen-Z shoppers, families, single adults, and anyone else looking for an easy, affordable meal. Meal kits eliminate the hassle of shopping for each ingredient of a recipe and reduce purchasing excess ingredients that may go to waste.
It was so exciting to walk into Hy-Vee and see my team’s idea on the shelves of such a big grocery chain. Our project had a real impact on a business, rather than just being an exercise in the classroom. This project has also been a perfect subject to talk about in job interviews, because of its real-world application.
During the spring 2025 semester, Marketing 4950 students also completed case studies with Bankers Trust and FlipSled. Since all of these companies have such different products and clientele, as a class, we learned how to change and adapt marketing strategies to different types and sizes of businesses.
I am so grateful I took Marketing 4950. The class provided me with amazing improvements in my presentation skills. It also gave me a place to practice cases like this, which I will be tasked with in my future career, in a low-stakes environment. All the skills I learned have been immediately applicable to projects I worked on during my internships, and I am confident that I will carry them into any career after graduation.
