Analyzing and recommending solutions for a conglomerate the likes of Zara, in a video setting, was a great learning experience. As a student aspiring to specialize in finance, marketing was always an after-thought. However, the marketing plan assignments have made me realize what an impact marketing has on the success, and terminal value of an enterprise, which has everything to do with finance. Namely, recommending solutions to cloud out competitors in a competitive retail clothing industry has made me realize what a difficult task implementing an effective marketing plan really is. Conceiving a promising marketing plan is not enough, as there are always the external factors that a company must consider – for example, if the marketing plan can be easily imitated by competition. As well, the marketing assignments have reiterated my initial misunderstanding that marketing was merely advertising, because it is so much more than that. While all firms can create elaborate advertisements in the form of commercials and billboards, not all firms are able to bestow the kind of value that consumers may be seeking. In Zara’s case, the value that younger, time-sensitive consumers seek is convenience and up-to-date products; yet, it is only Zara that can provide this value due to its strong, vertical integration.

This project has also reiterated the notion to always stay positive. While my team encountered difficulties in submitting our assignment #2 on time, we did not put the blame on any single member, but instead, agreed that we would compensate for our misstep by submitting our best work for assignment #3. With that in mind, we were able to create a video that was a complete group effort, and one that we are very proud of. Learning from experience, I will triple-check that the right file is attached when submitting assignments in the future.

I’m also very appreciative that assignment 3 gave me a chance to develop my video editing skills. I always believed that video-making would be a complicated task, and while it is by no means a-walk-in-the-park, it was something that my group was able to tackle despite our video-making novelty, and is definitely a field that I look to improve in in the years to come.

For anyone looking to delve into video-making with iMovie, below are very helpful tutorials:

http://www.apple.com/ca/findouthow/movies/#enjoy