Island Branding – a Winner’s Perspective on Marketing Works
By Zora Krisman - Posted on 11 July 2017
One student from the winning team of the Marketing Works programme - an integral part of our suite of postgraduate Marketing programmes - Zora Krisman, provides her view on the benefits of this aspect of the Business School's useful learning.
Marketing Works involves projects that challenge students to act as marketing consultants and provide marketing strategies to assist their prospective clients. Each group consists of five to six people from the same programme to complete a marketing consultancy project with a company or organisation under the supervision of a lecturer from the marketing department.
The project given to my group was from a non-profit organisation on one of the islands in Scotland, Bute, with the purpose of identifying and providing recommendations to the island’s positioning in the international market and its unique selling proposition.
Tourism, especially in Scotland, is a vibrant industry which is closely related with enjoyable experience. The nature of the project enables the group to put ourselves into the visitors’ shoes and have a different perspective to immerse ourselves to this project.
Even though the group encountered various challenges along the process, the group found that direct communication in a professional manner was the most essential element for teamwork as it allowed us to work more efficiently. We also agreed that learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses at the start has proven to be one of the most effective strategies we used to accomplish the project, leading to team-bonding and higher quality work.
One of the most unforgettable nights in our entire MSc course was the finale of the Marketing Works presentation on June 13. Three groups were chosen from MSc Marketing and MSc Tourism Marketing Management, and three groups from MSc International Marketing.
Together, we had to present a summary of the work we had done so far to two judges, the marketing lecturers, the entire marketing department and a few of our clients. Nerve-wrecking as it was – given that all six groups gave their all for the final presentation - our group managed to snatch the first place with our island branding project!
The runner-up went to USSA (University of Strathclyde’s Student Association) – Home to Home - and third place was given to the Golspie Inn team from MSc Tourism Marketing Management. All the students had a satisfied smile plastered on their faces for the entire night, as we enjoyed a three-course dinner in the Golden Jubilee Hotel and a traditional Scottish dance (‘ceilidh’) session afterwards.
The night felt even more special because this might be the last official gathering for the entire marketing department before graduation comes and everyone disperses to different parts of the world. As the night ended, we brought home a sense of accomplishment and a cherished memory of one of the best night of our MSc course.
Content for this blog was also provided by members of the winning team Katsy Lin, James Herold, Saranphon Chairin and Saumitra Kulkani
