Personal Reflection of the Unit

This unit for me has been a difficult one in the respect that my team and my own performance in regards to the expectations set out in my PDP at the beginning of the year has been turbulent. However I am determined to get the most out of this experience given the circumstances in order to co-ordinate my independent study of the topics covered in my absence in order to develop myself professionally - I could try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes as I know some of my cohorts are attempting in the respect of claiming I have attended The Big Agency sessions through these blog posts; but aside from being a downright lie I feel that such an approach is not constructive to what this unit aims to achieve.

Aside from my studies - I am a part time telemarketer and small business owner; I run popular club nights in high capacity venues in the Manchester area - knowing and marketing to specific personas and conducting both digital and traditional advertising campaigns is essential for me to achieve financial success. This venture coupled with my part time work is incredibly consuming of my time and energy so while it could be argued my input in The Big Agency sessions has been minimal I have the skills being discussed in the seminars and use them in the real world regularly.

My last event was a complete success - totally selling out an 800 capacity venue on a Tuesday night with a total revenue of over £5000 and a profit of over £2000. Had it not have been for my use of targeted advertising campaigns, knowledge of my target market and effective communication with my street team this would not have been possible. I am in effect a marketing agency in myself for these services and as such I feel this sets me aside from those who claim to have developed skills in the unit who are in a similar position to me in terms of attendance but do not possess the same portfolio.

The two datasets indicate the National scale of my business and total revenue for advance ticketing for my previous event; 

However I understand it is also important to demonstrate my understanding of the theory that informs my decisions as a marketer and as such I will be committing myself to further blog posts which demonstrate my competence with this. I feel this is the best and most appropriate way for me to gain value from this unit.

So now we've started to gain traction with getting the project back on track; I feel that the general despondence within the team is beginning to manifest into something more positive; despite our performance up to this point in the unit leaves something to be desired we are determined that these next few weeks can get us back on track.

Following our discussions on our group chat the general consensus was we need to engage with the client and move forward with an altered brief which takes into account the reaction of the MMU team when the application was proposed.

I definitely have more confidence in my ability to do this now that the whole issue with the supposed liquidation of our client has been rubbished and resolved. Having a line of communication once again with the director is probably the most beneficial thing that we can do at this point and we have arranged a face to face meet this week so we can move forward constructively.

My conversation with Mark last week also helped bring up my spirits in regards to our progression in the unit - I remember him saying "It's not necessarily about where you are now it's more about how you bring it up to speed and progress in the second semester"

Literally the best thing I think we can do going forward is continue with the momentum that we have built up in the last week so we can stay on top of everything - the main reason that we lagged last term in my opinion is that with the ambiguity of the company's position we lost the initiative and became swamped with the pace of the project. Not this time!

Gantt Chart Progress

This is the team's progress illustrated in a Gantt Chart upto this point in the unit. Once we have had a response to the email from the university (see previous post); we will begin to conduct our primary research which will be then added to this chart. 

Discussed with unit leader Bex Lewis; proposed plan of action - agreed to email Dawn Mellody suggesting to creatively market changes to the app based on what may be successful - agreed to CC unit leaders into the email.

Despite the uncertainty around the continuation of the brief; it is worth considering what data collection methods we can use regardless; should we continue the preparation for this research will already be complete.

PRIMARY RESEARCH 

In regards to primary research; quantitative questionnaires and observations of current usage of the StudyBundles app to establish what penetration it currently has in it's target market would be beneficial to our brief;

*This will establish trends in the existing consumer base which can inform our decision on creative marketing to engage Manchester based students of a similar demographic
*Allows us to possess presentable evidence to inform our choices when enacting the brief
*This would be most effective for primary research

SECONDARY RESEARCH 

Secondary research methods such as individual interviews and case studies conducted with the established users of the Studybundles app and indeed the prospective customers through qualitative methods;

*Allows us to gauge the response to the app from current users; what similarities/differences doe these views have to those of prospective customers
*Best used as a secondary research method

MMU ethics checklist has been signed off; meaning we can begin primary research as soon as we have an update from the unit leader on the status of the brief itself. 

Although the response was delayed; this revelation about the university's intentions is a serious setback to the brief with the client; which has in turn delayed the data collection phase of the unit. We have emailed Daniel Hinckley to no response. We are currently awaiting an update from unit leader Bex Lewis on the best course of action from this point.

Attendance has unfortunately dropped off over the past fortnight; I feel personally that the workload for other subjects has taken precedence. This issue; and how to improve upon it will be address within the formative PDR assessment. Forward planning, delegation of group tasks and improving self motivation could all be viable solutions.