Shola Ajiboye '10 - When I applied for the Marketing immersion trip, I did so with anticipation of the educational benefits and the hope of spending spring break somewhere warm. I was accepted to the trip but the trip was to Carmel, IN. I was a little disappointed but I was optimistic about what I could learn. I am happy to say that I am glad to be here. I arrived at Hilton Garden Inn at Carmel, IN around 8:30am. The immersion trip began at 9:00am with a meeting session. We started the session talking about marketing and the processes involved in the field of marketing. Roland, the founder of The Morin Company was the leader of this session and the second session. He gave us an insight into his years of experience in the field of marketing, discussed the clients he has worked for and the campaigns that he has championed. He also led a formal discussion about the world of marketing such as the marketing strategy, and the four P’s of marketing mix. 

The last session of the day was led by a successful and delightful alumnus, Scott Smalstig. He is the Vice Chairman of David Jones Advertising. He discussed advertising and the philosophies of the businesses. He discussed the importance of vision, mission statements and set of core values to a business. He said that even though these statements are important, they should be able to fit on a tee-shirt and they should be the force guiding the day-to-day operations of any business. We went on to discuss the services of full service advertising firms and at the end of the session, we were split into groups and giving the task of producing a commercial for a local automotive group. The whole day was very much and educational albeit it was long. I am looking forward to gathering all the marketing knowledge I can and enjoying my spring break in the ever changing Indiana weather.

At Left: Scott Smalstig speaks about his companies marketing philosophies.