Here I am, writing my blog from my home country and thinking about the last mouths of my university experience that awaits me. It was challenging to move to a different country without knowing what to expect. However, University of Westminster made my life so much easier from the fist days of joining its community.

More Than Classes: New World Around You

During my first year of studying, I lived in a university’s accommodation. And it was the best decision to make. I met the community of people from different countries and cultures, with different background and story. Nevertheless, we got along really quickly. We explored London together and I even visited my friend’s home cities and countries! I joined a few of the university activities that helped me to get to know people from my department.

Contemporary universities are heterogeneous institutions, housing a wide variety of student and staff who differ in several ways: ethnicity and religious backgrounds, physical and intellectual development, and level of talent.

As a result, diversity becomes the centrepiece of campus life. One key tactic for its organizational development is inclusion. Using the competence of teachers, staff, and students from various, heterogeneous groups is essential to guiding for diversity. Moreover, it is important to make their individual potentials known to best implement them for the organization’s advantage (Greenberg J., 2003).

Get Ahead: The Power of University Activities

Many students claim that the purpose of their attendance at the university is education, not socialising or clubbing. As a result, they get more free time but they also lose out on an extensive portion of their college experience. However, there are a number of benefits to all university activities.

• Making new friends with professors and peers that you would have never met if it weren’t for your study.
• Development in your field of study. Getting more experience and knowledge from students could be a good way to learn something from a different point of view.
• University events: competitions, field trips, travels, and conferences with experts that you might not be able to attend if you study alone.
• New perceptions, the upgrade of communications skills, and cooperation.

Lessons Learned, Memories Made

Studying Marketing Communication at the university I got to explore even more than just marketing. During my second year I had a chance to choose a module to learn programming. I was worried that I won’t do well, however, my professor and my classmates helped me a lot. Furthermore, after I completed the module, the university offered a new programming course by its partner organisation. I have learnt how to code in MySQL. To be honest, It was extremely difficult and I did not to well in the final project. Nonetheless, this experience helped me to understand that this is not the industry I want to connect my life with.

But I will tell you what experience did help me to find what I want. This story happened during my third year. Our professor told us about the competition the DMA Award that takes place every year. I was sceptical about it. After all, this is my final year, and the amount of work is enormous. But I decided to try anyway. Long story short: the experience and feedback that I got from the competition helped me increase my grades, find the sector I want to work in, and meet enthusiastic and amazing people.

It is important that you pick your extracurricular activities carefully. Seek a route you genuinely enjoy because leaving a team suddenly can fail to satisfy the group. All at once, avoid multitasking as it will leave you with insufficient time for all activities, including studying. Make thoughtful, responsible decisions so that you get the most out of your time at university and experience more positive feelings than stress.

References:

Greenberg, J. (2003). Diversity, the university, and the world outside. Colum. L. Rev., 103, 1610.

The post Unlock Your Potential: The Key to Your True Self Through University Experience first appeared on wbsdigital.

Have you? Have you ever thought how promotions, discounts, and sales can harm the world we live in? Well, now I have. And before I have done any of the research, I did not realise how huge the impact of our actions can be. And it is only our choice to make it either positive impact, or negative.

Bitter truth or sweet lies: how advertising influence human consciousness

The majority of people are sceptical about advertising. Even though they make an effort to thumb through the newspapers and magazines, avoid reading advertisements while out, and lower the TV volume, advertising still has a significant impact on people’s consciousness. In our studies, we as a marketers employ strategies that compel consumers to pay attention to information, providing promotions, tastings, discounts, money return guarantees, “two for the price of one” purchases. In fact, his is only part of the techniques designed to influence human consciousness.

Beyond the hype: The dark side of marketing

My university experience was always about fun and creativity. Doing my assessments, I was concentrating on how to promote the product or service in the best way and according to a brand’s perspective. However, the dark side of the campaigns that I created was hidden in the shadow. As stated in the book “Sustainable Marketing: The industry’s role in a sustainable future” by Paul Randle and Alexis Eyre there are a numerous factors where marketing may affect environment in a negative way. So, let’s dive in into some of them.

To be honest, I love shopping. Even though my purchases became more thoughtful after I started my studies at University of Westminster, I still have the habit of impulse buying and I am still influenced by most of the trends. And can you believe? The main damage is caused by the overconsumption. Where overconsumption leads to several factors. As an example, I am going to use Fast-Fashion.

Clothing brands determined that by increasing the quantity of clothing sold, they could reduce production costs and consequently increase their revenue. By convincing consumers that they had to follow the newest trends, marketers were able to establish a desire in their minds (Randle P., Eyre A., 2023).

Pollution

The manufacturing of merchandise, accessories, and shoes has a harmful effect on the environment. These include chemicals and pesticides that end up in the water when cotton is grown and then dyed, as well as the toxic gasses released during the manufacture of synthetic materials and the shipping of completed goods. Consequently, more greenhouse gases were released into the environment by this industrial sector in 2015 than by all the ships and airplanes built worldwide in the same period.

Finally, let’s talk about Big Sales Days like Black Friday. This is such a resent example, as during this year’s Black Friday I have purchased at least two pieces of clothes that I already dislike. Moreover, I made more than three online orders. Overconsumption during sales events has become a chaotic phenomenon, originating with modest discounts aimed at clearing excess inventory. Besides, according to a Adobe study, 71% of participants stated they planned to purchase online on Cyber Monday and Black Friday in 2023 (Adobe, 2023).

Waste

There has been a rise in concerns about the increase of waste, including garbage patches floating in the world’s oceans due to online shopping. As a result, an increased number of shipments arriving in cardboard boxes, plastic bags, and other packaging. Cardboard boxes rank among the system’s greatest polluters, according to MIT research. As per the analysis, there is a 36% reduction in carbon emissions once packing removed or replaced. Moreover, 80% of the goods purchased during these massive sales days are thrown away within a year.

Green marketing: A better world

As I talk about the damage that marketing can cause, I automatically think about the ways to avoid it. Thus, the best way is to use green marketing and support brands that are using it. Green marketing refers to the strategy of approving goods and services according to their environmental benefits and worth. Customers hope that by buying these products, they will be able to lessen or even eliminate negative environmental effects. As an example, Nike advertises its collection of footwear manufactured from recycled polyester, Starbucks, advertises its recyclable goods.

Therefore, by concentrating your efforts on creating green marketing, you can spread the word and draw in additional clients. Most importantly, as a marketing student, we have more responsibilities to save the environment and create a better world to live in.

References:

Adobe, (2023). This season’s holiday shopping results are in. Available at: https://business.adobe.com/resources/holiday-shopping-report.html#

Briseño D. F., Chegut A., Glennon E., Scott J., Yang J., (2020). Retail Carbon Footprints: Measuring Impacts from Real Estate and Technology. MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab 2020.

MacArthur E., (2017). A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future. Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Nike, (no date). SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS + INNOVATION. Nike. Available at: https://www.nike.com/sustainability/materials

Randle P., Eyre A., (2023). Sustainable Marketing: The Industry’s Role in a Sustainable Future. Kogan Page Publishers.

Starbucks, (2022). Starbucks Innovates, Tests and Learns from Store Partners to Achieve Waste Goals. Starbucks. Available at: https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/starbucks-innovates-tests-and-learns-from-store-partners-to-achieve-waste-goals/

Walker S., (2023). The Environmental Impact of Advertising. EARTH ORG. Available at: https://earth.org/environmental-impact-of-advertising/

The post From Harm to Harmony: Marketing’s Impact and the Path to Sustainability first appeared on wbsdigital.