Marketing Communications Campaigns for a Tourism Region in UK

Participants happy with the campaigns

Students Satu Aholin, Jenni Ojanen, Sara Sahlakari, Victoria Mather and Roberto Chavez Molina from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, School of Business and Services participated in March in an advertising and marketing communications project, organized by Southampton Solent University from UK. Hampshire Cultural Trust had given the assignment to project teams.  The coordinator of the team from Finland was Senior Lecturer in Marketing Pirkko Varis.

Jenni and her team members

The aim was to raise the profile of Hampshire as a destination for world class culture and to encourage visitors to the venues managed by the Hampshire Cultural Trust. Hampshire has many notable heritage destinations alongside those managed by the Hampshire Cultural Trust, including the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the home of Jane Austen in Chawton, the Titanic heritage in Southampton with its SeaCity Museum and the magnificent Winchester Cathedral.

Working on the assignment

Prior to travelling to Southampton market surveys including focus group discussions were conducted in five countries, the results were presented in the beginning of the week and the findings were used in the planning process. Special lectures were given by experts in marketing communications and advertising. Staff members of the universities worked as coaches for the teams. The programme included also a visit to Winchester.

Caroline Barfoot and guidelines for pitching

Over 30 university students representing the fields of marketing, advertising, media, international business and tourism from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Spain and UK worked in multicultural teams and developed marketing communications campaigns to promote Hampshire as a cultural destination across Europe. The teams combined traditional marketing tools with digital and social media in their marketing communications campaign proposals.

The winning team with the advertising agency representative

Academic Leader Caroline Barfoot from Southampton Solent University together with her assistant Florian Francois really had made a lot of effort for planning the activities of the week.  There was a balanced combination of lectures, teamwork and visits in the programme and also time for some parties and having fun together.  Thank you Caroline and Florian for a great experience!

Best presentation team with Caroline Barfoot and the agency representative. Victoria on the right.

Text: Team from Finland

Photos: Richard Berry, Southampton Solent University, UK

Nice Network Meeting 2014 in Riga – a wonderful experience

House of Blackheads in Riga

In summer 2014 Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences participated in the annual NICE network meeting, organized at the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management, Riga Technical University. The organizational team consisted of Inga Lapina, Jolanta Jurēvica, Natalja Lāce and some other persons from RTU.  

Riga 2

 

Riga 3

The programme included plenary and workshop sessions on strategic partnerships within ERASMUS+, institutional accreditation and evaluation systems, student and staff mobility, blended learning, placements, internationalization of curricula and grade transfers. In addition, we did a lot of networking.

Pirkko, Thomas and Frantisek with other participants trying to recognize own bread

Some visits were made to old Riga,  Jūrmala,  the biggest seaside resort in the Baltic States and to a national park.  We also visited a bakery where we made our own bread. In the end of the visit we got our bread with us and after returning home the bread reminded us of the really nice stay in Riga.

Trip to Jūrmala

 

Trip to a national park

Thank you for organizing the fantastic meeting for all of us!  

Text : Pirkko Varis, TAMK

Photos:  Regina Parzer, IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, Austria

             

What is NICE network?

The New Initiatives and Challenges in Europe, NICE network is a network for representatives of more than 35 business schools, faculties and departments of business and economics.  They work together in order to develop curricula, joint projects, intensive courses, exchanges, internships and other cooperation. Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences has taken part for many years in the NICE network and in the projects initiated by the members of the network. For example the IICEE European module was developed by some partners and now it is part of the curriculum in several universities throughout Europe. An intensive programme was developed based upon the module, too. In annual meetings of the network study programmes and methods are compared, new initiatives are discussed and proposals are made for cooperation and development of the network.  The Quality Charter of the NICE network and other information is available on the website of the network www.nicenetwork.eu

SoMe, Sauna and white nights - two intensive weeks in Finland!

Scenery from the accommodation at Lomasaari

Hi my name is Alexander Steverink, a fourth year International Business and Languages student at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, located in Zwolle, the Netherlands.

Before I get to the actual story of my experiences during the Intensive Programme I would like to tell you how I got selected for the IP in the spring 2013. Earlier this year I read a notification on the intranet of Windesheim, they asked students to apply and those who met the requirements and were selected could join on this two week Intensive Programme DIGISOMEMAR - Digital, social and mobile media in marketing, internet and IT applications & management of M- and E-business, coordinated by Tampere University of Applied Sciences, TAMK. Due to my interest in this area and close affinity to it I was one of the four students selected to represent Windesheim together with one of our lecturers. After the application, approval and preparation it was time to pack my bags and travel to Finland.

The Dutch student team Joost, Alexander, Mariko and Anne

The journey started in Amsterdam where I took the plane to Helsinki to meet up with the other Windesheim students and our professor to travel to Tampere. The next day in Tampere we had a delicious breakfast and already met some other students. During the day we had plenty of time to get to know each other a little bit and we had a rather interesting introduction at TAMK. After the introduction we spent some time in Tampere and left for Virrat, our ‘’basecamp’’ for the next two weeks. I was happily surprised once we reached our final destination. Just outside this little town Virrat there is a beautiful lake surrounded by forest and some cottages where we stayed during the IP. Each cottage is located at the lake, with an own kitchen, bathroom and sauna. Not bad at all!

Audience preparing for a presentation

The first day we also had the opportunity to do some shopping and to get to know the surroundings a little bit. The rest of the time we worked in the DIGISOMEMAR IP, coordinated and guided by Pirkko Varis, a very warm, caring and helpful person that works at the TAMK University of Applied Sciences as an international coordinator and senior lecturer in marketing. All students and professors from every participating university presented and discussed on various topics relating to the IP, besides these presentations you participated in workshops that covered a wide range of topics.

A workshop session

The programme of the IP was very intensive, not only due to high number of subject related presentations, courses and workshops but also due to all the activities during and besides the programme. The programme itself was filled with various presentations and workshops related to the theme but it is unimaginable what students and teachers came up with to share with the group. From frequently made mistakes within social media communications up to real live augmented reality gaming, from mobile media marketing all the way up to new technologies such as NFC (Near Field Communication). A very comprehensive programme that offered you as a student the possibility to widen your horizon and get a glimpse on the latest developments.

Some fun between presentations

The most challenging part of the programme was not the programme itself or the content but the different people, cultures and countries they came from. It was highly interesting to hear and see how students and professors form an opinion or explain their experiences with a certain product or service. Do not forget that even though most participants were from countries inside the European Union, the European Union itself has a lot of different cultures and perceptions. All in all it was a really challenging and intensive two weeks, in a beautiful country, with very warm people and interesting presentations and workshops in a multicultural setting. You did not only learn by participating in the mandatory part of the IP but also during the parties, during the sauna or during a dip in the ice-cold lake. Actually you were learning 24/7 in these two intensive weeks!

Fire made by ourselves

 The DIGISOMEMAR IP was a really great experience, even if you had been abroad to study or work, meeting new people from different cultures in this setting created completely new challenges. Besides the benefits of this programme for your own development, participation in the IP is something that can give you a head start when applying for a vacancy.

Pirkko and Iittala team members happy with the work done

Alexander from the Netherlands and Alexandros from Greece enjoying the IP

Text: Alexander Steverink, a student of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

Photos: Christian Reimann, FH Dortmund; Pirkko Varis, Tampere University of Applied Sciences