Throughout COMM 296 I always tried to tie the more complex material back to one basic point – how can the firm best educate the consumer about a product offering in a rational and reasonable way? The course taught me a lot about marketing: my understanding of what the concept actually means extended beyond TV commercials and broadened to include market surveys, social media advertising, branding, and a host of other related terms. I really think that I came out of the course a better (and more well-rounded) business person. Even though I won’t be specializing in marketing this summer, I am confident that the skills I took away from the course will not be forgotten throughout the rest of my degree, and beyond.

COMM 296 taught me the fundamentals needed to analyse a company and understand how its marketing strategy in particular can contribute to its overall success or failure. It is true that the worth of a company can be measured by the sum of its parts; before I took the course I was discounting a firm’s marketing strategy (mostly out of ignorance), but now I have some tools to better understand its importance. This was aided by working with a team of unique individuals from a variety of perspectives; their different ways of thinking led to the development creative solutions that would have otherwise escaped me. I also continued to learn how to work in a team: gaining more experience managing group expectations, dividing up tasks, and even working with other’s schedules was an invaluable experience that I know I will use going forward.

If I had to take the course over, I would have asked more practical questions throughout class time. It is true that a lot of the material is theoretical, but I felt like Tamar’s real-world experience gave our class a unique advantage in understanding how the concepts are actually applied in industry.

So kids, listen up, ask questions, and enjoy every bit of COMM 296!