GMSC Overview

The Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy (GMSC) creates a unique opportunity for MBA students to tackle and solve very real marketing and strategy challenges faced by the world's leading organizations. Students are aligned in a competitive setting to research, analyze and propose actionable recommendations for a wide variety of marketing strategy projects. Clients pay a fee to sponsor a project, which goes toward research costs, academic advising, presentation day events, and prizes awarded to top teams.

The MBA teams, comprised of six to seven students, are matched with a client project based on both student interest and qualifications. Project deliverables include a written report and a formal presentation. The 35-50 page final report includes a situational overview, an industry and competitor analysis, findings from secondary and primary research, strategic and tactical recommendations, financial justifications, and implementation plans. Students spend about 10 hours each per week towards achieving these final deliverables.

Academic advising from Goizueta faculty, under the leadership of marketing professor, Dr. Reshma Shah, provides students with innovative, state of the art tools and resources that help to address challenges posed by clients. This faculty input results in high-quality, actionable project solutions and recommendations from the student teams. Furthermore, workshops and customized educational sessions guide students through every aspect of the GMSC process, from inquiry to research to results.

Each year approximately 150 judges from the Atlanta business community evaluate the presentations while clients and faculty evaluate the written reports.

GMSC is a part of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization