Download the agenda

Thursday, 10/24/24

1:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Challenge Check-in & Preliminary Round

4:00 pm – 7:30 pm: Conference Registration

5:00 pm – 5:10 pm: Welcome

5:10 pm – 5:40 pm: Breakthrough Mentality as a Business Mindset with Kurt Kane, President & CEO, TruGreen

5:40 pm – 6:30 pm: Panel: Tips on Breaking Through in Your Career with Erin Mulligan Helgren, CEO, OfficeSpace Software, Tony Rogers, CMO, Dollar General, Megan Stroud, CMO, SirDavis Whisky, and Kurt Kane, President & CEO, TruGreen, Moderator

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Reception

Friday, 10/25/24

7:00 am – 3:00 pm: Conference and Challenge Registration

8:00 am – 10:00 am: Challenge Final Round

10:30 am – 11:55 am:

• Reinventing Marketing at Yahoo with Shivram Vaideeswaram, VP, Yahoo
• Disruptive Innovation in Health Insurance with Beth Henry, CMO, Curative and Kate Price, Partner, Prophet
• Insight Driven Breakthrough with Leslie Vesper, VP, Frito-Lay
• AI Enabled Search Marketing Breakthrough with Karen Starns, CEO, Houseful; Board Director, Fast Company

12:00 pm – 12:45 pm: Creative Breakthrough – the Force Multiplier with Marissa Jarratt, CMO, 7-Eleven

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Networking Lunch & Challenge Awards Ceremony

The McCombs Marketing Challenge allows teams of four MBA and MS Marketing students to prepare presentations based on their analysis of a business case distributed the week prior to the challenge. The case will be released at a Zoom event  at 12pm on Wednesday, October 16th. Case presentations are due at 5pm on Wednesday, October 23rd.

The first round of presentations takes place Thursday afternoon, October 24th, followed by a final round Friday morning, October 25th, in which four teams participate. Corporate representatives will judge presentations detailing case analysis and recommendations. The winning team will be announced Friday during the conference. Challenge participants are expected to attend the full conference.

• Students assemble teams of four prior to registering
• Space is limited and spots are first come, first served. All members of a team must be registered individually to be guaranteed a spot. 
• Over $7,000 in cash and prizes
• Judges represent a wide range of companies

Register now

This event is for McCombs students, Marketing faculty, corporate sponsors and invited guests.

A block of hotel rooms has been reserved for October 23, 24 & 25, 2024 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center. 

Make your reservation online.

Reservations can also be made using the contact information listed below. Please request the “McCombs Marketing Conference” group rate.

AT&T Hotel & Conference Center
(512) 404-3600
1900 University Avenue, Austin, TX 78705

45 Minute Keynote

Kurt Kane-CEO Trugreen

Title: Breakthrough Mentality as a Business Mindset

Kurt Kane, CEO of TruGreen and former Wendy’s CMO, shares his insights on transforming some of the largest brands in the U.S. to help them break through with customers and drive renewed growth. Drawing from his extensive experience in both marketing and executive leadership, Kurt will discuss the unique challenges faced in these roles and the leadership behaviors critical for success.

45 Minute Career Panel

Title: Tips on Breaking Through in Your Career

Erin Mulligan Helgren– CEO OfficeSpace Software

Megan Stroud– CMO SirDavis

Tony Rogers– CMO Dollar General

Kurt Kane-CEO Trugreen

Join a dynamic panel discussion featuring industry leaders who have made significant career breakthroughs, transitioned into top executive roles, and driven transformative change within their organizations. This session brings together Megan Stroud, CMO of SirDavis Whiskey; Tony Rogers, CMO of Dollar General; Erin Mulligan Helgren, CEO of OfficeSpace Software; and Kurt Kane, CEO of TruGreen, to share their unique experiences and insights.

20 Minute Mini Sessions

Karen Starns – CEO of Houseful, Board Director of Fast Company

Title:  AI Enabled Search Marketing Breakthrough

Join Karen Starns, current CEO of Houseful, former CMO Ojo Labs, senior marketing leader at Amazon and Microsoft, and UT McCombs lecturer as she shares how she and her company are leveraging AI powered Search Marketing to achieve breakthrough results and win industry recognition.

Leslie Vesper – VP Brand Marketing Frito Lay

Title: Insight Driven Breakthrough

Leslie Vesper will share the story of how the Cheetos brand turned a product drawback into a benefit which resulted in the brand winning the Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021 and began a period of solid growth for the business as they continued to build on the magic of “cheetle.”  The Cheetos breakthrough case will illuminate the transformative power of insight.

Beth Henry – Curative CMO & Kate Price- Prophet partner

Title: Disruptive Innovation in Health Insurance

Kate Price, Partner at Prophet, and Beth Henry, CMO of Curative, share their experiences in breaking through the stagnant insurance market with the highly innovative Curative health care start up. This discussion will delve into how these leaders have pioneered disruptive strategies to not only establish but also rapidly scale innovative ventures.

Shivram Vaideeswaran – VP of Brand and Product Marketing Yahoo

Title: Reinventing Marketing at Yahoo

Shivram Vaideeswaran, VP of Brand and Product Marketing at Yahoo, will unveil the pivotal organization and talent reinvention strategies that are defining Yahoo’s marketing transformation current reinvention.. In an era where digital innovation and consumer expectations are constantly evolving, Yahoo is revolutionizing its approach. 

45 Minute Final Keynote

Marissa Jarratt– CMO 7-Eleven

Title:  Creative Breakthrough – the Force Multiplier

What do ‘Always Open’, punk rock-inspired coffee and Big Bite Hot Dog Water have in common? Join Marissa Jarratt, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer at 7-Eleven, Inc., as she illustrates how 7-Eleven’s brand purpose led to powerful, award-winning ideas that helped the nearly 100-year-old brand break through a competitive landscape to reach the customer and drive business impact. Marissa will share her philosophy on creativity as a force multiplier for growth and the oxygen for any great marketing team, providing strategies for fostering a culture and mindset of creativity within an organization.

Kurt Kane has served as President and CEO of TruGreen, the largest lawncare provider in the U.S., since November of 2023. An innovative and people-first leader, Kurt brings more than 25 years of experience in reinventing mature brands across multiple categories to help them unlock outsized growth.

Before joining TruGreen, Kurt Kane served as President, U.S., and Chief Commercial Officer at The Wendy’s Company, leading record sales and profit growth and earning recognition as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Brands in America.” He previously held senior roles at Yum! Brands, driving U.S. and global growth for Pizza Hut, and led transformations at Frito Lay, Molson Coors, and Procter & Gamble where he turned around several of America’s most beloved and well-known brands. Kurt is also a former Air Defense Artillery officer in the U.S. Army.

Kurt earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy in 1994, and received a Masters of Business Administration from the McCombs School at The University of Texas at Austin in 1998. He and his wife Christine got married on their graduation day from McCombs 26 years ago, and together they have two children.

Erin Mulligan Helgren is the CEO of OfficeSpace Software, overseeing the company’s operations and strategic direction since April 2023. Previously, she led Bonterra as CEO, where she expanded its role as a major player in social good software. With extensive experience in executive roles at companies such as Social Solutions and Dell Technologies, Helgren has a proven track record in driving growth and innovation across various industries.

Tony Rogers is the Chief Marketing Officer at Dollar General, where he is driving strategic marketing efforts for the retail giant. Previously, he held the CMO role at Signet Jewelers, overseeing brand strategy for a portfolio of major jewelry brands. With extensive experience at Walmart, including roles as Chief Member Officer for Sam’s Club and CMO for Walmart U.S. and China, Rogers brings a wealth of expertise in global marketing and consumer engagement.

Shivram Vaideeswaran is the Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing at Yahoo and AOL, where he leads the global marketing and product innovation efforts for major digital properties such as Yahoo.com and Yahoo! For Creators. Before joining Yahoo, Vaideeswaran served as Global Head of Brand Marketing at Uber, where he enhanced global brand recognition and orchestrated high-impact campaigns, including Super Bowl ads and Olympic sponsorships. His extensive marketing expertise also includes transformative roles at Jamba, Blaze Pizza, and Taco Bell, where he spearheaded major brand initiatives and strategic market expansions.

Leslie Vesper graduated from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. Since then, she has held marketing and innovation roles within the CPG industry at General Mills, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo. Currently she serves as Vice President of Marketing at Frito Lay where she looks after the macrosnacking portfolio.

Marissa joined the company as Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer in 2019. Prior to joining 7-Eleven, she held multiple senior leadership positions at PepsiCo and Dean Foods Company. Marissa serves as an Independent Director for Hero Digital, on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and on the Experience Committee for the Dallas Museum of Art. 

She holds a Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from The University of Texas at Austin.

Join Karen Starns, CEO of Houseful, former CMO, Amazon and Microsoft alum, and UT McCombs lecturer as she shares first-hand perspective of leveraging AI to deepen understanding, accelerate progress, and achieve breakthrough marketing results.