Red Cross Takes Heart From Youth

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 15, 2008

Keeli Cambourne.

Marketing students help an old brand sharpen up, writes Keeli Cambourne.

WORK experience at university used to be about tagging along with someone from an affiliated company and watching what they did. Having an input into a project was rare.

But for Masters of Commerce students at the University of NSW's Australian Business School, getting their hands dirty is all part of the learning experience.

ABS senior lecturer in marketing Dr Gary Gregory has been immersing his Masters students in the tough world of business strategies for several years, working on projects for large multinationals, government departments and, most recently, the Australian Red Cross.

"[By taking part in these projects] students learn a great deal about marketing research and become more knowledgeable business managers, capable of identifying business problems and developing practical marketing research solutions," Dr Gregory says.

His students recently finished a 12-week project for the Australian Red Cross, called Project Heart, in conjunction with a leading market research company.

"The Australian Red Cross was having problems positioning themselves in the youth market," Dr Gregory said.

"Most people only think of the Red Cross as old, and think they only take blood and go into emergency zones. In fact, the Red Cross has around 10,000 youth volunteers and they have a lot of youth-oriented programs which are not well-known."

After consulting with Jigsaw Strategic Research, the Masters students organised focus groups and collected and collated information which then could be used to formulate marketing strategies.

"The students conducted 13 focus groups - usually a company can only do about two - with youth around the university," Dr Gregory says.

"They were involved in all aspects of the project from formulating research questions, and preparation and delivery of a formal marketing proposal, to collecting and analysing data, and presenting their marketing research reports to the client.

"The students are surprised by the amount of work that goes into something like this, but it is just so valuable for them.

"It is tangible and rather than just getting a mark for their project, they can take in what they have done and show it to a potential employer. It is a way for them to build on the skills they have learnt and link it with practical stuff."

For final year student Peter Pippen the project brought together two and a half years of study.

"It's very important to integrate your learning with industry, especially in business studies so you can be hands-on and immersed in the business problem," Pippen says. "The project with the Australian Red Cross emphasised to me the importance of understanding the consumer first and foremost.

"All business decisions must keep the consumer at the centre of the process."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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