The students in a graduate-level marketing management class gain experience working with local business owner, Dr. Deb Baginski, on marketing strategies for her products.
Students offer Marketing Advice to Local Business
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Bolte School of Business graduate students taking Marketing Management this spring had the opportunity to develop and present a marketing management plan to Gooseberry Natural Feed of Westminster, MD.
“The project provided an in-depth evaluation of the existing marketing management practices and how those practices are resourced,” said instructor Professor Ed Reynolds. “The students reviewed the marketing mix and situational variables as they related to the company, in addition to the consumer behavior and competitive analysis. Students practiced actual marketing management experience in an academic environment.”
Dr. Deb Baginski, owner of Gooseberry, visited the class at the Frederick Campus with her product line and fielded questions. The discussion ranged from channels of distribution and protection of proprietary rights to the manpower resources within the company. This was Baginski’s second visit to a marketing management class.
“Last year I worked with the another group on marketing techniques and it was extremely helpful,” she said. The student teams helped Baginski gain an understanding of her product’s market values and competition that allowed her to better define her product line. She executed many of the ideas that were suggested, including creating a user-friendly web site and a printed brochure.
Baginski’s unique animal feed has a higher nutritional value than most other brands. Due to this unique property, horses require smaller portions of feed. This fact presented the first hurdle for the marketing teams. “You have to find a way to label and sell the product following codes established by a regulatory board. There can be a fine line between what’s in a name and what’s actually in a product,” Baginski said. “This is a perfect example of real-world exposure to marketing strategies that create a strong learning experience for the students.”
“The goal of this class project is two-fold,” Reynolds said. “First is to challenge the students to apply their creativity and knowledge to marketing management. And secondly, to be an asset to a local business, like Gooseberry Natural Feed, and help to facilitate its short-and long-term objectives.” — Jake Yohn
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