This is a top marketing competition that provides real-world experience by giving 24 students from Creighton and Drake universities the opportunity to interact with a corporate client and present them with marketing strategies.

This year’s corporate client was Omaha-based Scooter’s Coffee, which is rapidly growing across the country with 400 stores in 23 states.

Past corporate clients participating in the Murphy Cup include Nike, Yahoo, Union Pacific & Loup Logistics, Kiewit Corporation, UnitedHealth Group, Meredith Corporation and its Better Homes & Gardens division.

“Experiential learning fortifies theory learned in the classroom,” said Anthony Hendrickson, dean of Creighton’s Heider College of Business. “The Murphy Cup weekend is unique. Not only does it reinforce course work content, it also allows students to master these concepts in an atmosphere of collaboration and intellectual exchange.”

The competition consisted of six four-student teams, each nominated by their professors. The teams collaborated on a case study to establish a strategic marketing solution for Scooter’s Coffee.

“Scooter’s Coffee was honored to be part of a strong academic tradition that is the Murphy Cup,” said Bill Black, chief marketing officer at Scooter’s Coffee. “We enjoyed working closely with the students and faculty, who provided a strategic and creative marketing solution.”

The other Scooter’s Coffee executives who were advisors in the competition are Creighton alumna Kelly Crummer, senior director of franchise recruitment; Scott Eastman, creative director; and Mel Maryott, director of product marketing.