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Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus Business Students Do a Turn as Fashion Consultants for a Noho Boutique

Brooklyn, N.Y. - NoHo boutique owner and designer Kimberley Ukkerd recently was looking for ways to energize her business and rev up the image of her trendy porcelain jewelry. Luckily, she found help from some true experts in hipster marketing: business students at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus.

For 28 undergraduates in the class, Consumer Behavior-Marketing 125, the small jewelry store, called Kimi Wear, became an assignment in branding and marketing strategy. The result was a wealth of ideas for Ukkerd and real-world experience along with financial rewards for the students.

Under the direction of marketing professor Yuko Minowa, the students divided into seven teams to conduct focus group interviews, analyze market demand and examine the competitive structure of the jewelry industry. They then applied their research to proposals for the three-year-old business, making several presentations to their “client.”

Ukkerd was so impressed that she gave the class a $1,500 Kimi Wear Fashion Grant in appreciation for its efforts and may even use a pink logo designed by one of the students. “The work presented by the students was of a high caliber and I was extremely pleased with the marketing suggestions they gave me,” she pronounced.

Gerardo Calixto, 22, whose logo design captured the designer’s interest, has since worked as a freelance consultant for Kimi Wear. “For the Kimi Wear project, I saw a disconnect between people's perceptions of quality and price,” said Calixto, who advised, “I would reposition the brand to look more luxurious."

The talented undergraduate, who is already a creative director for an independent "street fashion" enterprise, expects to graduate next year with a double major in marketing and management and a minor in media arts.

The opportunity for the project can be credited to Brooklyn Campus adjunct accounting professor Audrey Dussard, who is also Ukkerd’s accountant. Having heard the designer’s dreams for her fledgling store and knowing that Professor Minowa often involves students in community-based experiential learning, Dussard connected the dots and brought the two together. “This was good for a small business owner and good especially for the class,” Dussard concluded.

Posted 04/10/2008

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