I successfully managed to contact a managing director of a marketing department within a Bristol based business and conducted an interview over the phone. Since the last blog post I have also been part of a fundraising event which was organised and set up by me and my team, this event helped me start my report as will be deliberated. However, starting the report wasn’t as easy as I thought!

After trying to contact numerous marketing agencies over the last couple of weeks I managed to get a response back by a very well-established company operating in Bristol and Cardiff. The managing director of the marketing department (who’s name will remain anonymous) was more then happy to do a short interview over the phone. I felt it would of been better to perform the interview face to face as I feel it would of given me a better impression in the hope of potentially working with that company as a post-graduate. Nevertheless, the phone interview went really well and I managed to gain all the information needed.

For my module on entrepreneurship we were set the task of organising and running a fundraising event of our choice. Therefore, my team and I decided to go for making and selling waffles in the commons Antrim, I was set the task of marketing the event. I decided to market the event through Facebook because as through my research on the pathways module this was the most beneficial place for marketing in this contemporary era. The event made me realise how determined I was to start my report.

As I now have my interview data I could start writing the report. However, I found it really difficult to get past the introduction part. This was because I felt I went into writing the report way to quickly and didn’t take enough time to plan the report. Therefore, I decided to use the report template given to us by our module tutor in order to plan the report more efficiently and create a better report structure.

As this is my last entry blog, it was really pleasing seeing how I have progressed in regards to the research, but also in regards to minor hurdles and challenges which I have had to overcome during my progress into the research. This assignment has been a real eye-opener for me, and has made me think more about my future in business and seeing where I will be in the next few years.

Since the last blog post my progress of research has taken the backbench just little bit. During this time my focus has been on other assignments and juggling my part time job with deadlines. However, the pathways seminars and lectures have been providing me with a lot of help and guidance through this difficult period.

In a different module we were set an assignment which involved getting into groups and creating then performing a presentation on a current issue within contemporary society of our choice, then discuss a plan to resolve this issue. Our group worked well as a team, we managed to meet at least five times outside of class so we could organise the presentation and allocate our roles. Although we met numerus times, I felt like we didn’t accomplish a lot during those meetings. I think my teammates preferred doing there work outside the meeting times which eventually introduced problems along the line. ‘Problems can arise during group work when there are conflicting learning styles within that group’ (Paulus, 1971:378). When looking back over the slides I found there was a lack of detail in parts of the presentation, this made me feel worried for the up and coming presentation. I’m not a massively confident guy, but what I found really helpful was the ‘polishing up your pitching skills’ seminar and lecture in week 5. I found the simple steps to making an elevator pitch such as the ‘in – on – out’ rule really easy to follow and built my confidence up for the presentation. This resulted in a really well performed presentation and we ended up getting a high 2:1!

After a successful semester, it was now time to put my head down and focus on my research progress. My aim and goals for the next few weeks is to make sure I have a business I can collaborate with in the form of an interview so I can eventually start planning and writing the report.

Paulus, Paul B. (1971). Group creativity: innovation through collaboration. Oxford University Press 2003.

Now I have identified what subject my research project will be based on it is now time to start the research! As well as this, I had been set my second assignment for ‘The Marketing Business’ module which will be outlined how this helped me start my research and also what issues were incurred.

The second assignment for my marketing module was to get into groups of four and create a pitch proposal video based on one of our brands researched in the first assignment. Therefore, within our groups we had to decide which one of our pitch proposals who be best suited to turn into a video. I put forward my pitch proposal and said why mine would be the most effective one as there is a lot of issues that can be discussed. However, my group thought differently. We eventually decided to go with a pitch proposal based on Audi’s customer satisfaction. I felt a bit frustrated that we didn’t pick mine, however, we came up with a really good and fun theme as you can see in the video. As part of the project we had to contact Audi and see if we could get some video footage in the car dealerships. This really helped me learn how I could contact companies, and organise a set meeting in a professional manner. As described in a recent article ‘Good communication is an essential tool in achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organisation’ (Michael Page, 2017).

https://youtu.be/S0somkX7fjA

To start my research for the pathways report I decided to contact a few marketing agencies in the local area to find out some more detail into my issue. I also wanted to contact the agencies to see if I could organise a potential meeting with a current professional in a marketing career. However, after e-mailing five marketing agencies and businesses with marketing departments not one of them replied. Through this I learned that these people are probably very busy and if I started an e-mail with ‘Hi, I am a student currently researching a project’, most of the time they would ignore it. Therefore in the next couple of weeks I will continue contacting organisations, but this time try contacting them through phoning them and seeing if I can get a direct response.

Michael Page. (2017). The importance of good communication in the workplace. Available at: https://www.michaelpage.co.uk/advice/management-advice/

So the first couple of weeks have gone by now and I’ve had time to generate ideas for my research project. As well as this, I have also been introduced to something I had never thought was so important until now.

Over the first few weeks I’ve been thinking of what the best, but also most relevant subject could be for my research project. Obviously as I am doing a marketing pathway so therefore it will have to be based around this pathway or to do with it in some form or way. Within the first semester I am also studying a module entirely based around marketing, therefore I felt this module will go hand in hand in the progressing period of my research. When brainstorming a few ideas I found it hard to think of something that’s relevant but will also help me in the long run with finding a potential company I could work for in the future. One idea I came up with was to research the marketing section of my Dad’s business and look up a potential career role within a company that doesn’t solely rely on marketing to be successful however may help in growing the business. But do I really want a career working for my Dad? – I think not…

For my marketing module we were set an assignment that is kinda similar to this research project. We were asked to research a growing brand and identify a dilemma or issue within the brands marketing strategy and create a potential proposal for what the brand could do better. From researching a potential brand and issue within that brand, this is what formed my hypothesis for the pathways research project. The brand I identified was an organisation based online and delivered snacks and fresh fruit to offices around the UK. The main problem within this brands marketing was the rate of technological advancement, and how digital marketing was fast becoming more important than ever before. As a result, let me introduce you to the question – ‘Is the most important aspect of marketing becoming digitalised?

I’m Tom and this is my blog taking you through the progress into my research.

I am currently studying at Bath Spa University in the hope of eventually gaining a degree in Business and Management which will lead me into a successful career. I’ve always had the ambition to succeed, whether its to do with my Uni work or on the football pitch. My ambition for success derives from my Father, working as a sales manager in a big corporate company for about ten years he was made redundant from this job in early 2011 (admittedly he was sacked for breach of corporate rules), he then implemented all the experience gained from working in a big corporation and turned this into a business. From nothing he has now created one of the UK’s leading solar panel installation companies and works with the likes of Amazon and the NHS. All this ambition will be profiled in my blog, reflecting on experiences during my time at Uni and the development of my research progress leading up to my research report for my chosen pathway being marketing.

In the first week of the pathways in practice module we got given our assignment to research and develop a report relating to a career within our chosen pathway (mine being marketing) or research a current issue surrounding this area of business. Within the first few weeks my aim is to generate ideas that could potentially be the topic in regards to the report. Paul Hague describes generating ideas as ‘ideas take time to develop and are not instant successes. We need to encourage good ideas in the workplace, nurture them and help to evolve them into great realities’ (Hague, 2016:235). Working with my assigned supervisor I should have a question which will be the concrete subject which my research will be based around by the end of the first two weeks. Within the first lecture and seminar we discussed how to build my career capital and how to succeed at Uni in order to gain my ‘dream job’. This made me think that I could get in contact with a potential employer for a business I could eventually work for in the form of an interview for my primary research section of the report. This seminar also helped me think about what sort of career I would ideally want to go for. Before this seminar my only goal in life is to make money and be successful which is obviously most peoples ambition. However discussing about our ‘dream job’ made me think its not all about money but the environment and culture of the workplace plays a vital role. As Amanda Shrantz outlines that intrinsic reward is just as essential for employee motivation (Shrantz, 2014:145).

Paul N., Hague. (2016). Market research in practice: an introduction to gaining greater market insight. KoganPage.

Strantz, Amanda. (2014). Employee engagement in theory and practice. New York; Routledge.