Exploring digital at CarMax Shockoe

​Although CarMax is nationally known as a great way to buy and sell cars, the members of the JMU Ad Club found out there’s a lot more to CarMax than that. On Friday, January 27, JMU Ad Club visited CarMax Digital in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond, Virginia to learn more about the digital aspects of the company.
 
Students first met and ate lunch with Bill Nash, CarMax CEO and JMU Alum, Jim Lyski, CMO, and Laura Donahue, VP Marketing Services. Students inquired about the role of technology and data in the future of companies and how to use data to better understand customers. After lunch, students learned about developing a communication architecture from the Manager of Integrated Marketing, Lindsey Stone. She taught Ad Club members the importance of creating a customer journey to help focus a company’s advertising efforts. Archie Miller, Team Manager of Interaction Design then walked the students through a case study on developing new web products. He stressed the importance of constant collaboration and dialogue between team members. Lastly, students learned a new technique to effectively approach projects as Kylie Turnauer, Senior Manager of Marketing Operations described an agile development approach to marketing projects.
 
Matt Merola, junior Marketing major and VP of Research for JMU Ad Club said, “It was interesting learning about all the different aspects that it takes to create a successful campaign, especially for a company like CarMax.”
 
We want to extend our gratitude to everyone at CarMax that made this trip not only possible, but a fun and unique learning experience! Your time and insight was a great gift to our members.
 

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