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In Professor Pallavi Sodhi’s Live Client Learning (LCL) Marketing course (ADMS 4211) , students don’t study hypothetical brands or tidy case studies. Instead, they spend 12 demanding weeks working with real organizations, tackling authentic marketing challenges and learning firsthand what it takes to perform under professional pressure.

And, the students who take Sodhi’s course have an affectionate name for themselves after it ends: survivors.

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies course, designed as a compressed version of real marketing work, demands a lot of participants. Over 12 weeks, it pushes them to think strategically, act decisively and communicate with the clarity and confidence expected in professional settings. Part classroom and part boardroom, the experience moves quickly from advanced marketing theory to collaborating directly with external organizations on real business problems. Ideas are tested publicly, feedback is unfiltered and performance matters.

“It’s a tough journey,” says Sodhi, “and that’s why they call themselves survivors.”

Sodhi launched the program eight years ago, inspired in part by the Canadian Marketing League, the country's foremost experiential competition that brings top marketing students together to solve real business challenges for real brands. Sodhi, who judges the competition each year, wanted to create something similar at 91��ɫ that would give students exposure to live clients while addressing the job‑ready skills employers told her were missing. “Companies told me they were looking for plug‑and‑play talent,” says Sodhi. “This course was designed to help participants become that.”

The class blends advanced classroom learning with real industry exposure. Students work through case studies in areas such as consumer behaviour, brand management and digital marketing, learn from industry practitioners and train with data tools aligned to their clients’ sectors. That foundation quickly gives way to live-client work, such as cases drawn from this year's organizations including Yamaha Motor Company, Sofina Foods, Clearly Canadian, Queen Steet West and Supaagents. As the cohort immerse themselves in each business, they develop and pitch go‑to‑market solutions in high‑stakes settings that closely mirror workplace marketing practice.

Each year, students apply for the course, submitting résumés, transcripts and statements of career intent before being screened and interviewed by Sodhi. From that pool, a small cohort – usually no more than 12 individuals – is selected and divided into two competing teams. This year's group included Jacob Barreto, Maegan Chen, Tram Anh Le, Victor Duong, Charles Alatiw, Delilah O., Nandika Kumar and Yousef Abdollahi who formed two teams: InterLnk and Fluidus.

As it does every year, the experience opens with targeted preparation. Sodhi tailors the academic material to the cases students will take on, revisiting or introducing concepts in areas such as brand management, customer relationship management or international marketing. The goal is not exhaustive coverage, but a shared foundation that allows the cohort to apply theory confidently once the live‑client work begins.

Participants rehearse through instructor‑designed mock cases, using feedback to fine‑tune analysis, presentation structure and question‑handling. Then the course shifts to work with clients.

Over the following weeks, external organizations brief teams on real marketing challenges, often inviting students into their workplaces for deeper immersion. Teams develop and present solutions in extended evening sessions judged by industry experts and the clients, with each case evaluated on criteria such as strategic thinking, leadership and analytical skill.

Presentation nights are demanding. Teams presents in person, followed by a hard‑hitting question‑and‑answer period that plays a significant role in the judging. Judges push students to defend assumptions, explain trade‑offs and think on their feet, often from multiple directions at once.

The experience is new territory for many students, including those part of InterLnk and Fluidus

Even after eight years of teaching the course, Sodhi says she is still struck by how much students change over the term. As the weeks unfold, they develop what she calls a “courage of conviction” – the ability to persuade an audience that their thinking is sound, even without depth of experience. With repeated feedback and escalating scrutiny, students find their footing. “They just become better and better,” she says.

The experience culminates in a final showcase that brings the intensity of the term into one room. After weeks of competition, InterLnk and Fluidus presented their strongest efforts to a grand jury of clients, faculty and program sponsors. Awards recognize both performance and potential, highlighting strategic thinking, leadership and growth demonstrated over the full 12 weeks, as well as an overall winner. Learning partners like Environics Analytics and Oxenham Consultants Inc recognize students with awards for use of data and showing enterprise potential. 

For many participants, however, the most valuable recognition comes afterward.

In past years, clients have offered jobs or internships following the final showcase. Sodhi recalls instances where companies were so impressed by student efforts that hiring decisions followed quickly. Similar moments continue to emerge. This year, a client reached out to one student for her perspective on the company’s social‑media presence. Drawing on the same strategic approach she used during the course, she shared her feedback and is now under consideration for a role that would typically require six or seven years of industry experience.

Participants also gain something less formal but no less lasting: each other. “All eight years of cohorts are connected now, as part of one team community,” says Sodhi.

That network continues to grow, not just with the addition of InterLnk and Fluidus' members. This year, a graduate from the program’s very first cohort, now the founder of a successful business, returned as a client, bringing his own company’s case to the experience. Sodhi also brought alumni back in a new role, hiring former participants to coach teams behind the scenes during presentation nights.

Sodhi is proud of what the course has become. “You can talk to all of the students and they will tell you that this course is the most challenging,” she says, “but also the one they learned the most from. It literally prepares them for the real world and their careers.”

That impact is echoed by "survivors." In LinkedIn posts after the course ended, many describe LCL as a turning point. “Going into the program, I did not realize just how prepared, challenged and fulfilled I would feel by the end of it,” wrote Kumar. “I am leaving this experience feeling far more confident, capable and excited for what lies ahead in my marketing career.”

For Duong, the takeaway came through the pressure as much as the payoff. “There were long nights, stressful moments and times when everything felt overwhelming,” he wrote. “But through it all, LCL pushed me, challenged me and helped me grow in ways I did not expect, both personally and professionally. Every part of it was worth it.”

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