The Urrea Global Branding Project in Guadalajara, Mexico, created by SIBC Advisor Professor Eileen Daspro, gave students the chance to work on a global branding project for the U.S. Market. They also worked closely with the Marketing Director Caleb Barragan and Marketing Intelligence Director Laura Krauze. After their presentation the team was invited to tour their factory, automated distribution and showroom center. Maddie Jackson, the Project Leader, shared her experience:
Traveling to Guadalajara was truly an eye-opening experience since we were exposed to Mexico’s industrial area, business district, and historic side of the city. Our job consisted of researching the United States market on how Urrea bathroom furnishings company could enter the California, Texas, and Florida regions of the United States with their ball valves, toilets, floor drains, and sinks. Research took over a month and many drafts of presentations to perfect the slides for presentation day at Urrea in Guadalajara. Dr. Daspro, Nick, Chandler, Jennifer, and Maddie traveled to Guadalajara late at night using the Cross Border Express, then catching a flight to Guadalajara. Early in the morning on November 16th, the team toured family-owned Urrea company's showroom, walked around Universidad de Urrea, touched their various awards, and presented to two representatives at Urrea on how to strategically enter the US market with our assigned products. Following the presentation, Caleb gave us a tour around the Urrea factory about a half hour outside of the Urrea showroom and offices in the inner city. The factory was expansive, and named one of the best companies to work for in Mexico. Urrea is one of the largest bathroom furnishings companies in Mexico, so the cleanliness and efficiency was extremely impressive to the team upon seeing the various robots, chemists, factory lines, and product testing. The following day the group had a private tour of the historic part of the city. We went to various churches, neighborhoods, authentic restaurants, art museums, and street stands to shop. The contrast of seeing the modern and the traditional sides of Guadalajara made us all appreciate and respect the Mexican business culture. We wanted to thank our generous SIBC donors for this unforgettable learning experience in Guadalajara!
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