Our Collaborations

We Connect

Spring Theory connects a network of vetted, engaged executives from major brands with universities in classroom-based projects.

Faculty from over 50 universities have worked with us for over 10 years in connecting with live projects for their project-based learning opportunities.

Tumi collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to develop a brand positioning strategy aimed at appealing to new generations of consumers without alienating their core consumer group.

Bose collaborated with students in a Consumer Insights course in the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business to identify variability in price sensitivity between Bose customer segments.

Wyndham collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to approach the challenge of reinventing the hotel experience for the millennial consumer.

JCPenney collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at the University of Pennsylvania to study ways in which credibility can be restored with their core customer segments, while enhancing relevancy and attractiveness among younger customers.

ESPN collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business school to understand how consumers interact with sports content, and identify strategies in which this content could be seamlessly incorporated into the Xbox platform.

Netflix worked with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to gain a deeper understanding of non-subscribers and their reluctancy to sign-up for the streaming service.

The ideas were fully integrated including package design, distribution, etc. In some cases this was very instructive and broader than might have been as we ‘conceptualized’ them ourselves. At the end of February I announced that I am retiring after 32 years at General Mills, effective August 1, and one of my points of pride was supporting this effort before I leave.

Gayle Fuguitt

Vice President of Consumer Insights

SAP collaborated with a Market Research and Strategy Lab at Northwestern University to understand the future of business technology and the social tools that can be developed and incorporated into their existing business systems.

AT&T partnered with a B2B Consulting course at Brandeis University to identify which location-based and web analytics information can be incorporated into their business intelligence products to add value for enterprise customers.

RingCentral collaborated with a Sales and Channel Management course at UCLA to evaluate ways in which channel partner bonus structures can be enhanced through a redesign of a recently launched program.

Our collaboration with UCLA School of Public Health looked to address several critical business challenges for our company. The students looked at our business problems with a fresh perspective and offered innovative ideas to help us adapt to the marketplace. We were able to involve internal stakeholders from across a variety of business units in the collaboration, and the overall experience was seamless and very beneficial.

Gina Stassi

Vice President of Product Development

Whirlpool partnered with a Marketing Strategy course at Louisiana State University to develop a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging employee participation in internal volunteer programs.

Amgen collaborated with a Communications course at the University of Southern California to develop a messaging strategy encouraging patients affected by a particular disease to seek treatment.

ESPN collaborated with a Digital Marketing course at UCLA to ideate unique and digitally-engaging sponsorship opportunities for a national sports event targeting both fans in attendance and at home.

IHG partnered with a Customer Relationship Strategy course at Loyola Marymount University to better understand explicit and derived preferences among millennials, and translate those into an overall CRM strategy.

HP collaborated with a Marketing Strategy course at Santa Clara University to create a comprehensive marketing and strategic plan centered around positioning one of their core enterprise cloud computing products.

Qantas Airways partnered with a Digital Marketing course at UCLA to build a digital and social campaign within the Los Angeles marketplace aimed at encouraging travel to Australia.

I can't say enough about how impressed I was with the quality of work coming out of the partnership through Spring Theory and the Kellogg Business School. The caliber of work with both groups was top notch and partnering with an intelligent and an engaged MBA student group clearly created significant value for us. I would highly recommend them as a way to generate insight and strategic ideas.

Ed Martin

Director of International Consumer Insights and New Methods

BBVA collaborated with students in an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to design customer-centric solutions that would minimize costs associated with maintaining the usage of checks.

US Bank collaborated with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to identify use cases and develop concepts for merging payment capabilities into wearable devices.

Deutsche Bank collaborated with a Consulting course at North Carolina State University to look at which technology, infrastructure, and digital e-business products and services they should be developing to remain competitive and be viewed as an innovative market leader.

PepsiCo collaborated with students in a New Product Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business to design new packaging concepts based on unmet needs and opportunities in the marketplace.

24 Hour Fitness collaborated with an Innovation course at Santa Clara University to develop a gamification program for customers to increase engagement and influence healthy habits.

USAA collaborated with an Innovation course at North Carolina State University to explore new payment technologies to capitalize on opportunities relating to unmet needs in the marketplace and consumer preferences.

Clear, a Saatchi & Saatchi subsidiary, collaborated with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School on behalf of a publication client to determine alternative business model opportunities to adapt to changing trends in media models.

JetBlue partnered with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to develop concepts surrounding how customers can utilize mobile and digital tools at any point throughout the customer experience.

Thank you so much for bringing forward the opportunity to work with the University of Chicago. Not only did I enjoy the experience but I also gained a range of new ideas to consider. In addition I had the opportunity to learn more about the way the students think which, since they fall into an emerging segment for my brands, proved invaluable. I hope you'll keep me in mind for future opportunities.

Nancy Ratigan

Director of Innovation Guest Experience

The Weather Channel collaborated with a Market Research class on how the brand can be transformed from a utility/information source brand to a more relevant, every-day emotional brand.

Fidelty collaborated with a Consulting course to identify new ways to engage with young investors through providing products, education and services that would be most relevant to this consumer base.

Juniper collaborated with a Market Research course to better understand its key competitors’ Marketing Communications Campaigns in marketing and positioning networking and security solutions worldwide.

PayPal collaborated with a Market Research course at Columbia University to determine how market share can be increased among Generation Z, and which services or banking features would resonate most with this consumer base.

The MBA International Marketing class worked in teams to develop strategies for how we can grow our international market share for the Xbox. They looked at market strategy, consumer insights, marketing communications and they gave us a new point of view. The entire experience was fantastic and we got a lot of value out of this collaboration. I'm looking forward to participating again in the future.

Stephen Boulton-Wallace

GM, Global Marketing Strategy, Intelligence and Analytics

Under Armour worked with a Marketing Analytics course to analyze fitness app data and develop a prototype model that will predict the most likely users to purchase Under Armour products.

Assurant collaborated with a User Experience Design course at Cornell University to conduct and audit of their internal digital brand design documentation and workflow.

TeleSign collaborated with a Business Analytics course at the University of Southern California and tasked students with building an algorithm that can identify fraudulent transaction data.

Fitbit worked with a UX/UI course at San Jose State University to develop new health product concepts and user interfaces within the wearable device space.

State Auto Insurance collaborated with a Data Science program at Claremont Graduate University to develop a prototype of an algorithm that can predict insurance fraud.

The students looked at our business problems with a fresh perspective and offered innovative ideas to help us adapt to the marketplace. We were able to involve internal stakeholders from across a variety of business units in the collaboration, and the overall experience was seamless and very benThe students who worked on the projects showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the assignment and the brand. They were very conscientious and detail oriented, and they clearly invested time in doing both their background research and preparation as well as the preparing the presentation itself. The quality of output was very high. The students proposed some of the same recommendations we as a company had developed independently, and they also presented some new ideas that were well grounded and demonstrated solid strategic thinking. We were so impressed that next time we want the students to give their presentations to a broader group of Tumi executives.

Alan M. Krantzler

Sr. Vice President Brand Management

Jacobs Engineering worked with an Organizational Behavior course in the Master of Applied Psychology program at USC to design a cross-functional program to enhance the internship experience.

Matic worked with an Organizational Behavior class at the University of Southern California to develop recommendations for a redesign of existing roles during a major employee scaling period.

ICM worked with an Organizational Behavior course at Claremont Graduate University to understand and improve retention among entry-level talent and management employees.

The professor collaborated very well with our team. He expertly guided his student groups through the business strategies we provided, then helped them find creative and rigorous analytics approaches that shed new light on our client work. We even identified some of the top students for future consulting work or potentially full-time roles.

Destry Sulkes

MD, Chief Data Officer

Wells Fargo collaborated with a Global Marketing course to identify the most strategic opportunities for Trade Services growth in specific countries.

WelBilt collaborated with a Global Marketing course at George Washington University to determine strategies in which channel partner management can be improved, specifically in a handful of foreign counties identified by WelBilt.

The New York Times worked with an International Market Research course to create an  innovative, scalable and profitable strategy for growing international subscribers.

American Express Business Travel collaborated with a Global Marketing course at INSEAD to develop a gamification methodology. The overall goal was centered around encouraging users to utilize American Express' business travel portal.

Amgen collaborated with an International Market Research course at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business to better understand how a new drug could be successfully marketed to specific countries in which treatment is restricted by social and cultural factors.

Henkel Collaborated with a Global Marketing course at Tsinghua University to develop strategic recommendations aimed at influencing the company's growth in China.

Consumer Insights

Tumi collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to develop a brand positioning strategy aimed at appealing to new generations of consumers without alienating their core consumer group.

Bose collaborated with students in a Consumer Insights course in the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business to identify variability in price sensitivity between Bose customer segments.

Wyndham collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to approach the challenge of reinventing the hotel experience for the millennial consumer.

JCPenney collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at the University of Pennsylvania to study ways in which credibility can be restored with their core customer segments, while enhancing relevancy and attractiveness among younger customers.

ESPN collaborated with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business school to understand how consumers interact with sports content, and identify strategies in which this content could be seamlessly incorporated into the Xbox platform.

Netflix worked with a Consumer Insights course at Columbia Business School to gain a deeper understanding of non-subscribers and their reluctancy to sign-up for the streaming service.

The ideas were fully integrated including package design, distribution, etc. In some cases this was very instructive and broader than might have been as we ‘conceptualized’ them ourselves. At the end of February I announced that I am retiring after 32 years at General Mills, effective August 1, and one of my points of pride was supporting this effort before I leave.

Gayle Fuguitt

Vice President of Consumer Insights

B2B

SAP collaborated with a Market Research and Strategy Lab at Northwestern University to understand the future of business technology and the social tools that can be developed and incorporated into their existing business systems.

AT&T partnered with a B2B Consulting course at Brandeis University to identify which location-based and web analytics information can be incorporated into their business intelligence products to add value for enterprise customers.

RingCentral collaborated with a Sales and Channel Management course at UCLA to evaluate ways in which channel partner bonus structures can be enhanced through a redesign of a recently launched program.

Our collaboration with UCLA School of Public Health looked to address several critical business challenges for our company. The students looked at our business problems with a fresh perspective and offered innovative ideas to help us adapt to the marketplace. We were able to involve internal stakeholders from across a variety of business units in the collaboration, and the overall experience was seamless and very beneficial.

Gina Stassi

Vice President of Product Development

Marketing Strategy

Whirlpool partnered with a Marketing Strategy course at Louisiana State University to develop a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging employee participation in internal volunteer programs.

Amgen collaborated with a Communications course at the University of Southern California to develop a messaging strategy encouraging patients affected by a particular disease to seek treatment.

ESPN collaborated with a Digital Marketing course at UCLA to ideate unique and digitally-engaging sponsorship opportunities for a national sports event targeting both fans in attendance and at home.

IHG partnered with a Customer Relationship Strategy course at Loyola Marymount University to better understand explicit and derived preferences among millennials, and translate those into an overall CRM strategy.

HP collaborated with a Marketing Strategy course at Santa Clara University to create a comprehensive marketing and strategic plan centered around positioning one of their core enterprise cloud computing products.

Qantas Airways partnered with a Digital Marketing course at UCLA to build a digital and social campaign within the Los Angeles marketplace aimed at encouraging travel to Australia.

I can't say enough about how impressed I was with the quality of work coming out of the partnership through Spring Theory and the Kellogg Business School. The caliber of work with both groups was top notch and partnering with an intelligent and an engaged MBA student group clearly created significant value for us. I would highly recommend them as a way to generate insight and strategic ideas.

Ed Martin

Director of International Consumer Insights and New Methods

Innovation

BBVA collaborated with students in an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to design customer-centric solutions that would minimize costs associated with maintaining the usage of checks.

US Bank collaborated with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to identify use cases and develop concepts for merging payment capabilities into wearable devices.

Deutsche Bank collaborated with a Consulting course at North Carolina State University to look at which technology, infrastructure, and digital e-business products and services they should be developing to remain competitive and be viewed as an innovative market leader.

PepsiCo collaborated with students in a New Product Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business to design new packaging concepts based on unmet needs and opportunities in the marketplace.

24 Hour Fitness collaborated with an Innovation course at Santa Clara University to develop a gamification program for customers to increase engagement and influence healthy habits.

USAA collaborated with an Innovation course at North Carolina State University to explore new payment technologies to capitalize on opportunities relating to unmet needs in the marketplace and consumer preferences.

Clear, a Saatchi & Saatchi subsidiary, collaborated with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School on behalf of a publication client to determine alternative business model opportunities to adapt to changing trends in media models.

JetBlue partnered with an Innovation course at Columbia Business School to develop concepts surrounding how customers can utilize mobile and digital tools at any point throughout the customer experience.

Thank you so much for bringing forward the opportunity to work with the University of Chicago. Not only did I enjoy the experience but I also gained a range of new ideas to consider. In addition I had the opportunity to learn more about the way the students think which, since they fall into an emerging segment for my brands, proved invaluable. I hope you'll keep me in mind for future opportunities.

Nancy Ratigan

Director of Innovation Guest Experience

Market Research

The Weather Channel collaborated with a Market Research class on how the brand can be transformed from a utility/information source brand to a more relevant, every-day emotional brand.

Fidelty collaborated with a Consulting course to identify new ways to engage with young investors through providing products, education and services that would be most relevant to this consumer base.

Juniper collaborated with a Market Research course to better understand its key competitors’ Marketing Communications Campaigns in marketing and positioning networking and security solutions worldwide.

PayPal collaborated with a Market Research course at Santa Clara to determine how market share can be increased among Generation Z, and which services or banking features would resonate most with this consumer base.

The MBA International Marketing class worked in teams to develop strategies for how we can grow our international market share for the Xbox. They looked at market strategy, consumer insights, marketing communications and they gave us a new point of view. The entire experience was fantastic and we got a lot of value out of this collaboration. I'm looking forward to participating again in the future.

Stephen Boulton-Wallace

GM, Global Marketing Strategy, Intelligence and Analytics

Data Science and UX/UI

Under Armour worked with a Marketing Analytics course to analyze fitness app data and develop a prototype model that will predict the most likely users to purchase Under Armour products.

Assurant collaborated with a User Experience Design course at Cornell University to conduct and audit of their internal digital brand design documentation and workflow.

TeleSign collaborated with a Business Analytics course at the University of Southern California and tasked students with building an algorithm that can identify fraudulent transaction data.

Fitbit worked with a UX/UI course at San Jose State University to develop new health product concepts and user interfaces within the wearable device space.

State Auto Insurance collaborated with a Data Science program at Claremont Graduate University to develop a prototype of an algorithm that can predict insurance fraud.

The students looked at our business problems with a fresh perspective and offered innovative ideas to help us adapt to the marketplace. We were able to involve internal stakeholders from across a variety of business units in the collaboration, and the overall experience was seamless and very benThe students who worked on the projects showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the assignment and the brand. They were very conscientious and detail oriented, and they clearly invested time in doing both their background research and preparation as well as the preparing the presentation itself. The quality of output was very high. The students proposed some of the same recommendations we as a company had developed independently, and they also presented some new ideas that were well grounded and demonstrated solid strategic thinking. We were so impressed that next time we want the students to give their presentations to a broader group of Tumi executives.

Alan M. Krantzler

Sr. Vice President Brand Management

Organizational Behavior

Jacobs Engineering worked with an Organizational Behavior course in the Master of Applied Psychology program at USC to design a cross-functional program to enhance the internship experience.

Matic worked with an Organizational Behavior class at the University of Southern California to develop recommendations for a redesign of existing roles during a major employee scaling period.

ICM worked with an Organizational Behavior course at Claremont Graduate University to understand and improve retention among entry-level talent and management employees.

The professor collaborated very well with our team. He expertly guided his student groups through the business strategies we provided, then helped them find creative and rigorous analytics approaches that shed new light on our client work. We even identified some of the top students for future consulting work or potentially full-time roles.

Destry Sulkes

MD, Chief Data Officer

Global Marketing

Wells Fargo collaborated with a Global Marketing course to identify the most strategic opportunities for Trade Services growth in specific countries.

WelBilt collaborated with a Global Marketing course at George Washington University to determine strategies in which channel partner management can be improved, specifically in a handful of foreign counties identified by WelBilt.

The New York Times worked with an International Market Research course to create an  innovative, scalable and profitable strategy for growing international subscribers.

American Express Business Travel collaborated with a Global Marketing course at INSEAD to develop a gamification methodology. The overall goal was centered around encouraging users to utilize American Express' business travel portal.

Amgen collaborated with an International Market Research course at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business to better understand how a new drug could be successfully marketed to specific countries in which treatment is restricted by social and cultural factors.

Henkel Collaborated with a Global Marketing course at Tsinghua University to develop strategic recommendations aimed at influencing the company's growth in China.