BusinessTN

Michael Strickland, founder and chairman of the global entertainment lighting firm Bandit Lites in Knoxville, will be the first to admit he's not very savvy when it comes to things like Facebook and Twitter. Especially, he says, when compared to the twenty-somethings in the UT-Knoxville MBA program where Strickland serves as adjunct faculty and a member of the College of Business Administration's Campaign Leadership Team. (A UT College of Business Administration Distinguished Alum, Strickland also chairs the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce.)

"They are computer natives," Strickland explains. "Guys like me are computer immigrants."

Strickland may not know much about social media. But as the entrepreneur behind globally renowned Bandit Lites -- the "Rolls Royce of entertainment lighting" -- he does know smart business. That's why he recently spearheaded a project connecting a client -- a country music superstar who happens to be Strickland's personal friend -- with students in the UT-Knoxville MBA marketing program in an effort to use social media get that artist's image and product "in wider distribution with greater impact."

Bandit Lites, which has a significant Nashville presence, counts many a top country music act among its client base. Among them are country star Martina McBride and her entrepreneur husband, John, both of whom Strickland has known since before McBride's breakout success in the 1990s.

Following a visit to campus as guest lecturers, the McBrides kicked off an applied-learning project for an MBA marketing class, which is producing a social media plan for McBride's newest CD Shine as part of its course curriculum. A blueprint from the students is anticipated later this week.

University officials understand what a great opportunity the McBride partnership is for students.

"The value that applied-learning experiences bring to our MBA students is significant," says Jan Williams, dean of UT's College of Business Administration. "The Martina McBride project enables students to build their skills, knowledge base and network while providing value to industry."

A lengthy brainstorming meeting earlier this year between students, faculty, Strickland, the McBrides and several members of Martina's record label marketing team brought students up to snuff on current social media practices in the music industry. Strickland says the expectation is that students will come up with new models for social media use in music.

"These students live on Facebook and Twitter," Strickland says. "And they have a different perspective from people who might be a little jaded in the music industry."

Matt Myers, who heads the department of marketing and logistics, sees value in using social media as a tool for implementing an integrated marketing communications strategy.

"Projects such as these give us the opportunity to introduce innovative ideas into the classroom. Our students leave the program with up-to-date knowledge that can be used in the workplace," Myers says. "We are increasingly recognizing the power of social media for marketing and the opportunities that it creates for our students."

Strickland hopes the students themselves could incorporate if the project is a success.

"The hope is that they could come out of this with the kernel for a company that could survive and become a business," he says.

Though Strickland stresses that the McBrides turned to the UT-Knoxville MBA program for fresh ideas and not out of any kind of financial considerations, the partnership is an example of a trend in the use of MBA schools to tackle problems businesses face. Especially in these turbulent economic times, most companies can't afford to pay a high-powered consultancy firm a huge hourly fee to advise on business strategy. As a result, many of those businesses have gravitated toward the more economical use of business school students to get an outsider's perspective on the business.

A now common feature in MBA programs, student consultancy groups are increasingly a preferred method for problem-solving, brainstorming and outside-the-box thinking that smaller businesses need. And the cost is right. Payment comes in the form of opportunity and experience for the students and the MBA program.

UT-Knoxville isn't the first Tennessee MBA program to partner with a country music star on a class project. The Nashville area winery, Arrington Vineyards, has seen a great deal of growth in popularity since its August 2007 grand opening by founder and country music star Kix Brooks. But the winery's growth has meant new challenges for its management team. Brooks and the Arrington executives used the Accelerator Summer Business Institute (ASBI) run by the Vanderbilt Owen School of Management -- a month-long, intensive program marketed as a "business boot camp" -- in 2009 to develop an expansion plan for the winery, including new entertainment venues.

As Strickland says, such real world experience is better than the usual MBA projects of the past.

"It’s better than learning to market toilet paper or something that is not very exciting," he says.