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Students help Arizona Cardinals build brand in MexicoStudents help Arizona Cardinals build brand in Mexico

The Arizona Cardinals have tapped the minds of six MBA students at Thunderbird School of Global Management to help build the brand of the National Football League franchise and develop growth opportunities south of the border.

The global team of students from Professor Richard Ettenson’s global brand management class included Claire Eskwith, Jon Herman and Curt Hardcastle from the United States, Hsiao Yu Yang from Taiwan, Seung-Hoon Lee from Canada and Sunatta Chuchawal from Thailand.

The Cardinals hired the MBA team through the global brand management class, which has been linking students with real-world projects since 2000. More than 100 organizations have been clients in the program over the years, including Coca Cola, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Smart Car, Dominos Pizza, the U.S. Olympic Men’s Water Polo Team and the Republic of Iceland.

Eskwith traveled to Mexico in October with a Cardinals delegation led by former offensive lineman Rolando Cantu, the first Mexican non-kicker to play in the NFL. Cantu currently works as manager of international business ventures for the team, which plays about 10 miles from Thunderbird’s campus in Glendale, Arizona.

Eskwith conducted interviews and surveys at youth football and cheerleading clinics and other events organized by the Cardinals in Monterrey, Mexico. The team of students then analyzed the data and presented detailed recommendations to a panel of expert judges during the course’s end-of-semester brand plan competition.

“This hands-on, real-life exercise gave me a glimpse into what marketing teams actually face as they try to build brands across borders. Going to Mexico with Rolando Cantu, the cheerleaders, the mascot, and other members of the Cardinals marketing team was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget.”

Eskwith said she is very proud of the brand plan because it is accurate and actionable. In fact, their recommendation for the team to continue expanding the amount of radio affiliates that broadcast games in Mexico is under way, according to Cantu.

“The quality of the plan was solid with very actionable recommendations for a well-known sports brand in the U.S. trying to build its franchise south of the border,” Ettenson said. “Look for the Cardinals to develop a substantial following in Mexico as the brand plan recommendations are implemented.”

The Cardinals have long been an NFL pioneer in terms of Hispanic outreach. The franchise became the first professional team to offer all its games on Spanish radio in 2000. More recently, the organization launched a fully developed Spanish version of its Web site.

The Cardinals also made history in 2005 when they played the NFL’s first regular season game outside the United States, defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City before a crowd of more than 103,000 fans. The Cardinals also sponsor regular sports camps and cheerleading clinics in Mexico that attract hundreds of youths.

Student team member Hardcastle said developing a brand communication strategy for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in Mexico further validated his reason for choosing Thunderbird.