Marketing fieldtrip to Toronto

Last Friday, my Marketing Communications class was moved to Toronto.  Professor Vakratsas thought it would be a better idea for students to visit some marketing firms than for him to simply explain ideas in class. The great thing about taking marketing classes is that we will always have sound excuses to have fun. As part of our learning of recent trends, we have to study social media and watch television. This time, we have to take a trip to Toronto.

During our trip there, we visited Mandrake, Mount Sinai Hospital, Beringer Capital, Lowe Roche, and Open. Each of these organizations focuses on a unique aspect of marketing. Mandrake focuses on Human Resources; Mount Sinai Hospital has a marketing department focusing on communication; Beringer Capital specializes in investments; Lowe Roche needs no explanation; Open is a boutique creative marketing agency.  Visiting these organizations and seeing how they function helped me put pieces together to have a clearer understanding of how I would like to fit into the marketing picture after I graduate.

One of the things I was able to do was to compare and contrast a large agency like Lowe Roche with a smaller boutique agency like Open. Both companies will aim to carry out the same functions but at very different approaches.  Hearing about how things work in a classroom is informative but not a substitute for obtaining information onsite...

Boon Hoh is a 2012 MBA candidate at McGill University. She completed her first year in the  McGill Tokyo program while she worked as an events project manager. She has worked with the governments of over ten different countries and traveled to over thirty countries. When not studying for her classes, she likes to study exchange rates of JPY/EUR to determine the factors that cause the changes. After graduation, Boon wishes to find work in marketing.

Read full article: Financial Post, October 11, 2011