Fostering Value Cocreation Using an Agency-Style Client Project in Marketing Education

Experiential learning is key to any discipline, and in marketing it is of particular interest to foster mastery and a sense of professionalism through a client project in the classroom. In the marketing education literature, the value of client projects is well documented. Building on the value cocreation (VCC) stream of research and project-based learning, we propose that a multicourse, full-service “agency-style” structure allows classes to realize VCC beyond the traditional client-based project. We define agency-style projects as those in which teams from different courses are assigned unique, interrelated tasks and ultimately offer a comprehensive recommendation for the client’s multidimensional marketing challenges. We teamed four marketing courses to document the process as we facilitated creation of amplified value to all parties. This agency-style approach has seldom been implemented and documented, and our study contributes to the discipline by suggesting unique ways to bring a holistic understanding of marketing to students and provide synergy for meaningful experiential learning. We compare this agency-style approach to the traditional client-based project which we define as a single class working for the same client independently of other marketing courses. The research also builds a theoretical framework illustrating the process by which value can be cocreated.