Corina Grigore P O R T F O L I O
TEKO Design+Business
thaibm2a
158460@viauc.dk
Table of Contents 1. Welcome to teko 2. What does studying Branding and Marketing Management imply? 3. Introduction 4. Entrepreneurship 5. Economics 1 6. Marketing Management 7. Branding 8. Concept Development 9. Economics 2 10. My marks at TEKO so far
Welcome to TEKO
TEKO, VIA UC is Scandinavia’s largest design and management college within the fashion and lifestyle industry. More than 1100 young people are studying a vocational or a higher education within the areas clothing and textiles or furniture and furnishings. TEKO, VIA UC has a close relationship to the companies within the industry, and it has for years educated the manpower that international lifestyle companies need. TEKO, VIA UC offers education programmes in all areas in a company’s production, whether it is design, purchasing or sales.
What does studying Branding and Marketing Management imply?
Introduction
I find myself a very ambitious and perfectionist student who is motivated and inspired by clever persons. I decided to attend TEKO’s Branding and Marketing Management programme due to the fact that I am willing to create my own business and brand in the fashion industry. So far I have coped with several projects that have stimulated my creativity and my ability to apply theory into practice. My marks resemble the subjects that appeal to me and to which I pay a lot of attention. As TEKO has a close relationship with important companies, I have had the opportunity to come into contact with some of them, and I was very happy to see that I am already familiar with the approaches they use when doing business (brand books, market research, brand audit, etc.)
Entrepreneurship Project
The Entrepreneurship project consisted in developing a business plan. The business plan of me and my group was made for a company that was willing to activate in the video game service industry. We wanted to create a retail space where our potential customers could enjoy playing with their friends on a wide variety of video game devices.
During this project my task was to realize the marketing plan. I was very pleased to cope with this part of the business plan, because of my study programme (Branding and Marketing Management). In order to do my task, I have conducted a market research about the gaming industry in Denmark and also a survey which aimed to show the need of our service among the Danish consumers. Although most of the Danish people own a video game device(PS3, Xbox, Wii, etc.), the survey we conducted among 50 persons revealed a significant interest for our business. Furthermore, I came up with several marketing strategies, that appealed to our target consumers, which is mainly students.
I find the Entrepreneurship project one of the most interesting projects so far. I had the opportunity to learn about implementing marketing strategies, and creating a strong customer relationship which I believe are the keys to a successful business. The best thing about this project was its complexity and the fact that we could approach all subjects studied so far. This project had a second part as well, which consisted in a individual synopsis. For this task I chose to talk about how could our company develop an effective customer relationship strategy. Although I got a good feedback on my oral presentation in what concerns my ideas and approach, my mark was disappointing (7). This was because of the fact that my presentation lasted 5 minutes instead of 10. If I were to do this project again, I would focus a lot more on the way I present my ideas.
Economics 1 My expectations for this subject were rather high, as I find macroeconomics quite complex and important. As a branding and marketing student, one needs to have knowledge and understanding of the current economical issues and has to learn how to cope with them, as they differ from country to country. The classes were dull and repetitive, the teacher showed poor interest in making his lessons more interactive, therefore many students lost their motivation for this class. Besides this, the class assignments we were given were rather confusing and the students had different understanding of how to manage them. Although I have to admit that I would have preferred more creative and motivating assignments for this class, I must say that I have learned some interesting and useful things as well. An example would be defining either a country is a good market place or not, by only analysing the “big five“. In order to gain more knowledge about macroecomics I started to read articles about this subject.
Marketing Management
If I had to make a top 3 favourite classes of the 2nd semester, the Marketing Management classes will certainly be there. I say this because I believe the information provided for these classes was relevant and precise, and furthermore very detailed and various. Because of these, whenever there was an assignment to be done I decided to have an in-depth approach of the subject and to provide new information. My favourite themes of the Marketing Management class were related to advertising and marketing strategies. I felt very motivated and inspired by the way these themes were presented, thus I did my best to hand-in very good assignments, which were graded properly (with the highest mark). The most important assignment we had to do for the Marketing Management class was about Jagermeister’s marketing strategies worldwide. I must admit I enjoyed working with this subject, therefore I expected a more detailed feedback from the teacher, as there were different opinions among the students in the class.
Branding I must admit that the reason I chose to study Branding and Marketing at TEKO was because of the Branding part. At the beginning I was very impressed with the teaching methods and the creative/funny approach. It was very interesting to have an in-depth view and understanding of how some brands became successful while others failed, in a nice and relaxed environment. I was very happy to learn theory as well, such as conducting a brand audit, analysing brand equity and brand elements, and other interesting theories. For the branding final assignment I chose to approach a subject which is very popular among companies, such as rebranding. For this task I have read Kapferer’s work which I believed was the most suitable for my assignment. Although, I believe this class had some negative points as well, such as the lack of flow.
Concept Development
I have always been interested in art, especially photography. Before these classes, I had basic knowledge of Photoshop and no knowledge of Illustrator or InDesign, therefore I was very happy to have the opportunity to attend these classes. The teacher approached the subject by combining both theory and practice, and the assignments had a very personal touch. The most important and interesting assignment we had during this class, was the brand book assignment. For this semester, I chose as an elective the study trip to London, where I have visited important companies like Interbrand and Household. They showed us a brand book they made for an airline company, and I was thrilled to have worked with this tool before and know about its role. If I had to do the brand book again I would choose a more creative and detailed approach. Because I discovered that I enjoy working with these programs, I have started to learn more things on my own from books or online tutorials. I have to admit that Adobe programs are not easy to use at first, but after long hours of training one can be proud of his creations.
Economics 2 The microeconomics classes had a significant impact on my academical education, due to the new information provided. Before this classes I had little knowledge about this subject. I have learned how trade policy affects the economy of individual countries and how it affects the financial situation and actions of companies. After this classes I am able to conduct a correct and detailed market analysis as well as an analysis of the trade policy governing trade between a specific non-Eurpean country and Denmark.
1st semester subjects/projects:
Mark TEKO Project 10 Teambuilding Passed Value Chain Project
7
Style History Passed Brand ID and Product Development
12
Compulsory Product Knowledge Assignment
7
Branding 10 Global Communication 10 Design 7 Retail Management 12
2nd semester subjects/projects: Mark Entrepreneurship
Marketing Management
Passed 12
Concept Development Passed
My marks at TEKO so far