Hi everyone! I’m Marisa and this is going to be a semester-long blog about my marketing course. I am currently a senior at St. Michael’s College studying media, journalism, and digital art, with a minor in business administration. My goal after graduation is to pursue a career in marketing, so I am very excited to learn more about the field during this course.

I was able to get a taste of the marketing world this summer by being the social media marketing intern at Prenatal Method Studio, a prenatal/postnatal yoga studio in Burlington, Vermont.

Chapter one of our textbook defines marketing as “the activity for creating and delivering offerings that benefit the organization, its stakeholders, and society.” Though the definition may seem simple, marketing is a very complex process. The textbook continues to lay out the four factors that are required for marketing to occur:

1 - Two or more parties with unsatisfied needs

2 - A desire and ability on their part to have their needs satisfied

3 - A way for the parties to communicate

4 - Something to exchange

Using Prenatal Method Studio as an example to further clarify these four factors, two parties with unsatisfied needs would be local pregnant women looking for a healthy workout regime, and the studio owner who is looking for people to teach yoga classes to. Both the women and the studio owner want to satisfy these needs. The women have money to purchase classes and the means to travel to the local studio. The studio owner has the desire to sell classes as well as the ability and knowledge to teach them.

Image by Marisa Gehrig

For the marketing transaction to occur, both the women and the studio owner need to know that each other exist. Prenatal Method Studio breaks the communication barrier by promoting on Facebook and boosting their posts within the Burlington, Vermont area, like they have done with the video below. They also distribute promotional materials to local businesses that their target market might attend (athletic wear stores, maternity stores, doctors offices, etc.), and appear at local events. Marketing occurs once the women and the studio owner exchange something of value. In this case, the women exchange cash for a single or set of studio classes. After this transaction, both have gained and given up something, and have now satisfied their needs. 

I hope my real life example has helped you all learn a little something about the marketing process! Interning for Prenatal Method Studio this summer, I was able to create content calendars, design newsletters, distribute promotional materials, post to Facebook, photograph events, and more. My goal for this course is to learn a little more about the business and analytical side of marketing. I can't wait to dive deeper in my next blog post!



Sources:
Marketing: The Core, Sixth Edition, Roger Kerin, Steven Hartley, William Rudelius. McGraw-Hill: New York, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVE-pf3iMA