Digital Marketing Strategy
Earlier this year, final-year students from Birmingham City Business School had a unique opportunity to present their work to senior marketing executives from Marston's Brewery and top UK marketing agency Golley Slater.
The students, all participating in the school’s ‘Digital Marketing’ module, are using Marston's as the case study for their final exam, and this was a unique opportunity for them to get feedback from a ‘live’ client ahead of their finals in May.
Students were given the case study two weeks prior to the visit. They were then charged with carrying out research into the ‘digital landscape’ and a competitor analysis ahead of making a series of recommendations for Marston's digital strategy.
Module coordinator Charlotte Carey said: “We are really keen to make the way we teach as experiential as possible, these students are literally weeks away from their final exams and going out into the world of work.
"Marketing is a tough and competitive field and we wanted them to really benefit from getting some real-world feedback and experience. Not only that but the representatives from the agency and client gave invaluable insight to the current job market and marketing issues facing companies in the digital arena.”
The Client
Marston's PLC is the UK's leading independent brewing and pub retailing business. It operates five breweries - Banks's brewery in Wolverhampton, Marston's brewery at Burton on Trent, Jennings Brewery at Cockermouth in the Lake District, Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire and Wychwood brewery at Witney in Oxfordshire.
Marston's pub estate totals 2,153 pubs - 1,664 tenancies within Marston's Pub Company and 489 directly managed by Marston's Inns & Taverns.
Marton's brews some of the UK's leading ale brands including Marston's, Banks's, Brakspear, Jennings, Hobgoblin, Mansfield and Ringwood.
Marston's award-winning ales collected five international brewing medals at the Millennium International Brewing Awards.
All of our students did a great job. They really did us proud and were very professional. It’s a great rehearsal for them and has led to a number of opportunities.
Nicola Gittins, Senior lecturer in Marketing Communications
Results
The eight students who presented were shortlisted earlier the same week by their peers when they had to present in class. They went on to present to the client and agency.
In June 2011, the two winning students, Ricardo Douglas and Julia Biggs, along with runner-up Francesca Freschet, were all invited to spend time in the Marketing department of Marston's, where they presented their ideas to the whole team and spent a day at the agency to get further experience and contacts.
Benefits
Birmingham City Business School has strong employer links and recognises the benefits these provide students. This is a very direct example of employers engaging in the classroom.
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