Thursday 29 June 2017

The Big Data Question



The waters can get quite murky when it comes to the ethical collection, use, and analysis of data. From 'Mad Men' to 'Math Men', one thing’s for sure, big data has unequivocally changed the way marketers target their audiences forever. While the limitless amount of personal data available continues to expand and sensors make their way into frequently used daily items, there are fine lines that separate the use and misuse of data.


Those current students who are doing the Marketing Consulting Project might remember guest lecturer Jo Nash Clulow’s talk on ethics. She brought up the key issue, reminding us that it’s not only our integrity as marketers that’s at stake. From a legal perspective, although offenses such as fraud are clearly unethical, questionable situations can arise throughout different stages of the data life cycle that could potentially expose their organizations to risks. This is why some companies follow ethical guidelines laid out by certain industry associations to ensure the ethical use of data.

From tracking lives to forecasting crime

When it comes to big data, the sky is the limit. Thanks to complex algorithms, our lives can now be tracked and turned into data which can be used for practically anything. From finding a cure to alzeihmers to fighting crime. With all the possible applications many wonder, will this make life easier or more complicated?


We all remember Minority Report, a not so distant future where a special crime fighting unit are able to arrest murderers before they commit crimes. It all sounds well and good in theory, but what if it the ‘predicted’ murderer were you? You might be thinking, yeah like that’s going to happen. Well guess what, it’s already happening! In 2011, police in Los Angeles and Manchester ran radical trials using a computer algorithm to try to predict where crime would occur before it was actually commited.

Nope, it’s not science fiction, the police unit found that by analysing large amounts of crime data, also known as 'big data', they could identify the behavioural patterns of criminals and make better use of their resources to target the areas the computer predicted crime would strike.The trials were performed across the UK, from Kent to Yorkshire, with results suggesting that predictive policing models actually work. In Trafford, Manchester, police noted a 26.6% fall in burglaries, compared to a 9.8% fall across Greater Manchester during 2011.

When data falls into the wrong hands.

'Big Data' analysts Cambridge Analytica were at the centre of debate last year when they played a key role in Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign - using psychographic profiling, social media surveys and highly targeted demographic data to build detailed profiles of almost half the voters in the United States. This raises the big question about the ethical issues of when a campaign becomes less about message, and more about demographics and targets?


Recently the sensitive personal details of almost 200 million US citizens was unintentionally exposed when the data was irresponsibly stored on an Amazon Cloud server. Anyone could access the data as long as they had a link to it. The 1.1 terabytes of data includes birthdates, home addresses, telephone numbers and political views of nearly 62% of the entire US population.

Besides political biases and personal details, the data also contained citizens' religious beliefs, ethnicity, all stored in spreadsheets that were uploaded to a server owned by Deep Root Analytics. The cache of data, which was exposed last week, seems to have been collected from a wide range of sources from Reddit to committees that raised funds for the Republican Party.

Well that’s embarrassing. So whose fault was it? And who is responsible in the company for mishaps like these? Dan O'Sullivan from Upguard called into question the responsibility of those in possession of such data in a blog post on the company’s website. He stated, "The ability to collect such information and store it insecurely further calls into question the responsibilities owed by private corporations and political campaigns to those citizens targeted by increasingly high-powered data analytics operations."

The end of privacy. 


Privacy breaches and hacks like these seem to be occuring on a weekly basis. And although it’s routine for political parties to gather data on voters, this is the largest breach of electoral data in the US to date and privacy experts are concerned about the sheer scale of the data gathered. Privacy International’s Policy Officer, Frederike Kaltheuner, said in an interview with the BBC, "You should be in charge of what is happening to your data, who can use it and for what purposes."

While people are worried about their data being acquired by marketers, there are criminals who could use this information for more sinister reasons, like identity fraud, harassment of people under protection orders, and the intimidation of people with opposing political views. "The potential for this type of data being made available publicly and on the dark web is extremely high," Paul Fletcher, a cyber-security evangelist at security firm Alert Logic told the BBC.

What does Big Data mean for the future of marketing?

And now, the reach of big data is beginning to extend to every corner of the marketing landscape. Just think about it! Why do the most influential marketing campaigns in history have in common? They seem to know what we want before we even know ourselves. Marketing a science that's fundamentally about human behaviour and in the most successful campaigns we find our deepest emotions and primal needs activated.


But what are these primal behaviours that the best campaigns evoke in us - and how do they harness them? Do marketers manipulate our subconscious instincts and emotions - or simply hold a mirror to them? While we can all agree that big data can be used for good or bad, the big question still remains.

Even if the line hasn’t yet been drawn in the sand, is it still ethical to cross it?

Alyce Brierley
Current student from the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.

Tuesday 27 June 2017

Vision to Communication

Pretty much everyone at some point has either heard of Vivid Sydney or come across the incredible displays scattered across the city. In case you have been living under a rock or live abroad and have no idea what Vivid Sydney is, it’s an annual 23-day festival of light, music and ideas. Unfortunately if you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve missed the boat because Vivid Sydney 2017 finished few days ago.

It’s a well-known event that attracts millions of tourists to the city. Last year alone, 2.3 million domestic residents and overseas tourists attended Vivid Sydney 2016, making it Australia’s largest festival event, and the largest event of its kind in the world. It features many of the world’s most important creative industry forums, a mesmerising free public exhibition of outdoor lighting sculptures and installations and a cutting-edge contemporary music program.

Vivid Sydney is where art, technology and commerce intersect to offer opportunities for a huge number of artists, designers, and manufacturers who share updated information on their industries while looking for new opportunities and innovation.

Vivid Lights, Vivid Music, Vivid Ideas

Vivid Sydney is comprised of three programs, which demonstrate the cooperation across different functions. During the festival there are also competitions between professionals within their respective industries to display amazing visual images, live music and creative networking all in front of our eyes.

I wonder how many people know just how much creative process is involved in generating such a rich and diverse flow of ideas and creative discussion to support the development of Australia’s creative sector.

The University of Sydney is also a part of this momentous event, covering all these three programs. We have demonstrated our expertise across a number of fields for Vivid Ideas Exchange by sharing ideas and influencing decisions by supplying information from fashion and the arts to big data.

Graphic Design lights up our thoughts on creativity


The show didn’t just leave a colorful visual impact to promote our wonderful city, it also lit up our thoughts on creativity.

Consider all the aspects that jump out at us when we see an eye-catching advertisement or promotional product. When you think about it, the graphic design on labels or product logos have the same eye cathcing effect as Vivid Sydney.

Graphic design is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with visual and textual content. It known as communication design. The form of the communication can be physical or virtual, and may include images, words, or graphic forms. Designers have arranged type, form, and image on posters, advertisements, packages, and other printed matter, as well as information visualizations, and graphics for newspapers and magazines. What’s more, motion graphics are equally predetermined and crafted, but are meant to be experienced over a fixed time span, such as for the opening credits of a movie or an online video meant to accompany a newspaper article.

Light up Communication


As Marketing students, we might consider that graphic design is related to art, which is far from our major and what we supposed to be focusing on.

There are thousands of forecasts about the trend of graphic design each year. Graphic design, as a visual aid, serves as the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon. A definition which is intended to be very broad and inclusive. Expressed in terms of functions, or the tasks that graphics performs, the definition covers magical, illustrative, persuasive and informative graphics.

The visual communication of Vivid Sydney screams, ‘Sydney, you are beautiful!’ The makers of the event have figured out just how important it is to communicate this message to customers in the market with vivid visualization. Sydney is rapidly morphing into ‘Tomorrow’s Sydney’ and in case anyone missed that memo, Vivid succeeds at driving that message home.

Graphic Design, Art and Marketing tend to coincide with each other in the realm of decision making, encountering not only rational analysis, but also perceptual empathy. All are essential to influence potential customers imperceptibly, along with strengthening brand loyalty. So when it comes down to it, when it comes to marketing, in the end it’s often not what you say, but how you say it that is important.

Hazel Chen
Current student from the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.

Friday 23 June 2017

How to Fight In the Complex Social Media Environment



According to the BBC, due to pressure from many countries Facebook has revealed measures to remove terrorist content. How are they going to do this? Well besides being akin to The Eye Of Voltron (pardon the Lord of the Rings reference), Facebook has mastered the use of artificial intelligence to spot clusters of fake accounts, pictures, videos and other content that’s related to terrorism.

The Social Media Environment Is Becoming More And More Sophisticated.


After the fake news issue from the US presidential election, criticism can be heard in many places challenging the information authenticity of social media. So it makes sense that Facebook are now fighting to find a balance between encouraging users to share ideas freely and suppressing fake news.

With this cutting edge technology in place, Facebook claims that they can use image-matching algorithms to block photos or videos that the system has matched previously with extremist content. This is a wise approach to stopping terrorism going viral, but the fact still remains that it is still controversial as some people regard this as another form of censorship. Using special controls to influence the media environment in the long term will gradually limit the users’ original freedom of speech in social media.

Do sponsored posts make you mad?

Apart from this, another rising concern in the social media environment is the increasing frequency of commercial advertisements’ popping up in our newsfeed and side bar. Contrary to the pure conversational platforms that they used to be, social media (i.e. Facebook) is now flooded with ads, the majority of which are even tailor-made, based on users’ personal information.

From the business perspective, it is a valuable channel for companies to build their brand exposure, while providing a platform to talk to the consumer directly. However, performance of advertisements is in decline due to too much noise online. According to Hubspot, 40% of users now click dislike on Facebook ads- and that’s not good news.


Statistics from VIEO design shows that people have a negative attitude toward online ads:

- 91% of people say ads are more intrusive today than 2-3 years ago
- 87% say there are more ads in general than 2-3 years ago
- 79% feel like they're being tracked by retargeted ads

As the development of social media environment is impacting the users’ attitude and behaviour towards it, marketers should be wiser while using the social media, and make sure their strategy is fitting with consumer’s preference.

Here are some tips for online ads from VIEO design:

1. Don't set up videos to autoplay.

It's interruptive, annoying, and downright rude.

2. Don't mislead people.

Luring consumers in with something that sounds hyper-relevant to what they're reading or watching, but ultimately isn't. Baiting will not convert visitors into leads... but it will turn them off.

3. Dumb is just as bad as misleading.

Fifty-six percent of consumers say, "most online ads these days are insulting to my intelligence," which contradicts the idea that you need to write for the lowest common denominator.

4. Ads need to—and this is very important—not look tacky or amateurish.

That may seem obvious, but when 63% of people say "Most ads I see online don't look polished or professional". Consumer's standards are likely higher than you think.

5. If you do use pop-ups, be judicious.

The ads most resented by consumers are, surprise-surprise, pop-up ads, with a 73% disapproval rating. But if you do use them, before you interrupt their browsing, give people time to find value in what you're providing.

6. Retargeting requires some finesse.

About 79% of people say, "I feel like I'm being tracked because I've seen ads for items I've bought in the past. Making your potential customers feel like they're being stalked is definitely something that you try to avoid.

With built-in advanced technology, social media possesses a super power which enables it to differentiate itself from traditional media. Social media is global, ubiquitous and cheap. It provides an opportunity for individuals and groups to start up conversations and share ideas. Furthermore, consumers can also be producers in the social media context, an evolution that has lead to content spreading world-wide in record time (The power of social media).

In the age of social media, the increasing concern about the social media environment is something that marketers should be paying attention to. So while we continue to try to reach and target consumers through this widely used tool, it is essential to maintain a healthy social media landscape for a long term business perspective.

So that leads us to the question, how can we get the best from social media and at the same time operate and manage it in a more ethical way?

Bowie Chen
Current student from the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.
Bowie has several years’ experience working in FMCG marketing, media, and consulting field.

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Brace Yourself

“Winter is coming” is probably the best reason to brace yourself, which is also the first episode of the HBO medieval fantasy television series, Game of Thrones. But we are not here to talk about the Stark family or who will sit on the Iron Throne next season.

The chill might be from the pressure after this graduation season - the empty room left for students to pursue their career path.



According to the report Job Seeker Trends 2016: Increasing Global Mobility, which was released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), out of all the job seekers around the world who found new work in 2015, 64% were interested in working abroad, while 7% had already moved to a different country to work. Some 76% expressed an interest in working on a freelance basis, including 23% who were already doing so.

Apparently there’s never been a better time to jump on the bandwagon and explore a new frontier. These findings highlight the growing flexibility of the labour force around the world and how willing than ever job hunters are to move abroad or to juggle multiple jobs. It has been emphasised how critical it is for companies to enhance their competitiveness to be able to attract talent effectively, not only from their own country, but from other countries.

Interestingly, the report also finds that the internet is taking a great approach to job searching. 44% of job seekers now believe that the internet, including both internet job sites and social networking sites (such as LinkedIn), are the most effective and important means of finding new employment.

The global workforce is increasingly mobile



In comparison to the respondents from non-English speaking countries, there was a higher percentage of respondents from English-speaking countries: US, UK, Canada, India and Australia who showed a greater interest in working abroad or have already moved to another country for work. Japan, in contrast, has the lowest level of interest in working overseas.


The interesting thing is that respondents are more focused on the benefits for themselves when considering the opportunity, such as living in a different cultural environment (25%), but when it comes down to actually deciding to leave, they think more about their family situation and those who will be left behind. 

The growing flexibility of the labour force



The average number of respondents for the 13 countries who have some interest in working as a freelancer was 76%, with 23% having actually started working as a freelancer. Different countries have different results, while Japan still holds the lowest acceptance level on freelance work.

However, the number of freelance workers will begin to rise sharply in near future, which increases the uncertainties of global mobility.

Challenge but opportunity


Online job sites and applications are widely used and serve as an important channel regardless of age. Such platforms offer thousands of options for us to judge and make decisions before and after graduation.


You may feel the competition from international students surrounding you, the pressure of different cultures like Japan and the challenges of leaving your friends and family behind. No matter the case, please never underestimate your ability. Winter is coming, but brace yourself to keep warm. Finally, you will find your own journey under the enormous storm.

Brace yourself because you are strong and brave!

Hazel Chen
Current student from the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.

Thursday 15 June 2017

Digital Marketing And The Art Of Getting It Right

Did you know that on average, Australians spend at least an entire day per week surfing the internet – for work, browsing, email, social media and online games. It’s sad, but true. In fact, few of us can actually make it through a device-free night when spending time with friends or family. With all the hype around new and evolving gadgets, apps and internet capabilities, how many of us realise that the advantages of the digital world are outweighed by the disadvantages in this information era?


Digital marketing, as a branch of marketing, follows a philosophy that takes advantage of the opportunities that the 21st century has on offer by promoting products or services with information and communication technology (ICT). ICT relates to the internet, social media and other online platforms.

The digital marketer has become an increasingly important role since marketers have branched out from traditional marketing. Yet the question still remains, how does one become a qualified digital marketer? Contrary to what you might believe, there is no need to be an expert in information technology, but it is necessary to know how to use it effectively.

Timothy Whitfield, Director of Technical Operations at GroupM, and Jo Nash-Clulow, expert in Strategic Marketing and Digital Marketing at the University of Sydney’s Business School, have both presented a vivid picture of this field as guest lecturers at the University of Sydney.

Here are some important points to take away from their presentations:

Sophisticated digital marketers should be capable of adapting to the constantly changing world with sufficient knowledge across different functions.
1. Understanding marketing
2. Be sensitive to digital evolution
3. Brand safety insurance for customers.


As a marketer, it is essential to know which segments to target, how to communicate a brand’s value proposition and how to make strategic decisions. More than just having the ability to use social media, this role requires an understanding of consumer habits and motivations, the ability to synthesize analytics, and communicating effectively with clients.

Much of the burden of showing a company the right direction is expected to fall on marketers, whose job it is to analyse and present relevant marketing metrics that can guide management with their decision making.

Then there’s also the small task of compiling online research, data and analysis to develop digital campaigns that raise brand awareness. Besides using cutting-edge techniques or platforms to implement products or service on the market, digital marketers must be able to see the big picture.

Take for example, Apple, who promoted their brand by hiring the world’s youngest APP developer, Yuma Soerianto. Originally from Melbourne, Yuma won a scholarship from Apple to attend the annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Jose. At only 10 years old, he already has four years coding experience and has built five apps for Apple's App Store.

Now that’s what I call seeing the big picture. The strategic move of offering up scholarships to young talent, enabled Apple to communicate their brand’s technology-minded and creative spirit, which was then promoted on various online platforms to emphasise their brand image as an innovator. 


Last but not least, we can never spin off completely the safety guarantee when digging deeper through digital data, as it links with a wide range of ethics issues. It’s ever so important to retain your credibility, by respecting you customers’ privacy, intellectual property, confidential internal information and of course, the law. All of which are key to maintaining your integrity, as well as upholding a trustworthy brand image in front of customers in the long term.


Timothy Whitfield graduated from Macquarie University and worked in the IT and Airline Industries. As well as a digital marketer, he has been an innovator, manager, public speaker and industry leading blogger.

Jo Nash-Clulow graduated with an MBA from the University of Sydney with a strong business and digital marketing background. Jo has a rich experience from working overseas and with many big name organisations and has won multiple awards for advertising and product launches.

Hazel Chen
Current student from Master of Marketing program in the University of Sydney Business School

Thursday 8 June 2017

A Graduate’s View: The Master of Marketing Capstone Project’s Role in Transitioning from Study to Work

Marketing Matters is excited to welcome Industry Specialist Lecturer in Marketing, Colin Farrell. Colin, who teaches Marketing Research for Decision Makers and well as the Consulting Project workshops has kindly sat down with one of the 2017 Master of Marketing graduates Jessica Farrell, to talk about her experience with the capstone project. 



Graduation season has been underway and it is always a great time for not only celebration, but reflection. Celebrate the achievement, but importantly reflect on what you have learned, the experiences you have had and how this can assist you to take the next step in your career.  The Master of Marketing capstone project is the final assessment task that students do in their degree.  It provides students with a final and valuable opportunity to apply their newly learned skills to a real business - just in the nick of time before they move onto their next big challenge of employment.  Jessica Farrell is one of our recent graduates and talks about how the project has given her the confidence to take her career to a new level.


Colin:  How would you describe the overall experience in completing the capstone project’s marketing audit, project proposal, completing the research and then presenting the final report to your client?

Honestly, it was tough but rewarding. I based my project on Lexus of Chatswood’s Parts and Accessories Department. The business has lost significant market share, falling from the second largest Lexus parts consumer in the country to fourth. The General Manager needed to determine why and what possible actions the business could take to recover its position. The task seemed simple at first, however as I started to investigate the business operation in depth, issues were revealed which generated even more questions than answers.

Colin: What internal challenges did you find in your client’s business that had to be overcome to get your research plan enacted?

The most memorable internal challenge was when the McCarrolls Automotive Group, who owns Lexus of Chatswood, sold one of their core franchises late in the project. The group’s head office and spare parts warehouse had to be relocated on short notice. Simultaneously, the marketing department sent out multiple EDM’s to the customer database to drive new business. The day before my survey was due to be sent out to the database, the Marketing Manager requested that we change the scope of the research project.

Colin: Despite achieving excellent outcomes from your project, it was far from a smooth journey.  How did you feel when late in the piece the client called for a change in the scope of works for the project, which meant the objectives and research had to be redone?

Looking back I was surprisingly calm given the circumstances. You invest so much time and effort into this degree so no one could blame you for panicking when you are so close to the finish line and you are hit with a challenge that could throw months of work out the door.

Thankfully, the first thing I did was to ask for time to discuss this with my university supervisor before anything was settled. My supervisor and I talked through the issue. Using his suggestions I put together a new research approach, which alleviated the Marketing Manger’s concerns.  Rather than surveying customers and interviewing staff, I suggested we use data from the company’s existing customer experience surveys. Building on that knowledge, I conducted in-depth interviews with customers. In retrospect this was the right approach and the final outcome was fantastic. The existing data was a gold mine I had underutilised.

Colin:  The business environment changes more rapidly now than it ever has, so changes to the scope of works in the consulting project do happen.  That’s life!  What were the key things you focussed on that allowed you to consider your client’s instructions, and then quickly devise a realistic and achievable project that was in accordance with their instructions?

Selecting a few good frameworks early on in the project really helped. The first thing I did was thoroughly research the industry. I used the P.E.S.T.L.E approach, which provided me a base understanding of the significant changes the industry was experiencing. Once that was completed, I analysed the business structure, operational activities and customer segments subjectively using the Business Model Canvas. I found the Business Model Canvas valuable when I was building my understanding of the business and the management problem. Using the Consumer Consideration Journey framework, I identified strengths and weaknesses in the business' customer touch points.

My interview was heavily guided by the Value Proposition Canvas and Contemporary Consumer Behaviour model. The use of frameworks also assisted me when I had to change my research approach. Changing the instruments only involved changing the method by which I asked the questions designed to test my theories.

Upon completing my research the customer segments really came to life through Empathy Mapping.
I could name so many more. I completed SWATS, 7 P’s analysis, Pricing Comparisons etc. It was death by framework.


Colin: Your report was very illuminating for your client with telling marketing implications. Can you tell us about how some of the main findings (even unexpected findings) have been enacted at your client’s business?

The company has recognised that they were losing opportunities during the customer life cycle. Since the project’s completion Lexus of Chatswood has employed a Customer Retention Manager whose core role is to extend their customers’ servicing cycle. My project identified there was a direct correlation between service customer retention and extended manufacturer warranty sales, resulting in increased spare parts sales.

The business is also undertaking a review of their parts and accessories POS marketing, tailoring campaigns to specific customer segments identified in the project.

The project also identified a need for a product pricing alignment between Sales, Service and the Parts departments, which is currently being implemented.


Colin: You have talked about the benefits to the business, what were the main benefits you received from the program?

The way I look at a problem has completely changed. Carrying out the project has shown me assumptions can very quickly be made with very little evidence. I ask a lot more questions.

I am definitely a very different person. My confidence has greatly improved. I now have multiple tools to embrace change both professionally and personally.


Jessica’s three big tips for students about to commence their projects:

1.      Elements within the project will change and you need to be proactive and solutions focused. Ensure you create effective relationships with multiple stakeholders in the host organisation. As you mentioned - Life happens! People leave, the business often changes.  I am so grateful that I asked my supervisor for help before I panicked and changed the scope of my project. Check in regularly with your host organisation to avoid making reactive decisions and use your supervisor’s experience if you get stuck.

2.      Data paralysis is a real and dangerous thing. You can get so lost in statistics and analysis. Sometimes asking a friend or colleague to take a fresh look at things and bouncing ideas off them can be of great assistance.

3.      Confirmation bias can distort you data. Question things you believe to be fact. I was surprised numerous times on how wrong my assumptions were.



Colin Farrell is a current Industry Specialist Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Sydney.

Jessica Farrell is a Master of Marketing alumni student from the University of Sydney Business School.

Monday 5 June 2017

Insider tips: Marketing Consultant

It’s getting close to the end of first semester. Are you busy with assignments or studying for final exams at the moment? Good luck guys! Also, don’t forget we have our consulting project first draft due in a week. Keep reading to find out some insider tips for working as a marketing consultant

Fast learning, strategy setting, seeing the big picture... Marketing consulting is definitely an interesting field to work in.


As students pursuing a Master of Marketing degree, we have sufficient academic background to share knowledge about product marketing, industry context etc. But when helping a company to expand their business in a real case, there’re more complicated situations we would need to tackle. For example, how can we manage to work well with the client, and how can we help the company as a marketing consultant?


So to get some answers, we interviewed Maysoon El-Ahmad, a senior marketing consultant, to give us a some insight into this topic.


The key role of a marketing consultant is to come up with solutions, which could tackle complex problems and help organisations move forward with innovative capabilities.

Clients would come to you because either they don’t have time to figure out the solution or they expect you to use your expertise to find out the real problem behind of the story.


However, as a professional marketer in the consulting sector, various difficulties and challenges must be conquered.

Difficulties and challenges
  1. Be a specialist in the organisation
  2. Stakeholder management 
  3. Creating value

You need to have the full picture about what the problem is in limited time. In the meantime, you have to be capable of working alongside people who have different needs and roles in the organisation, and you need to connect with your clients and other types of stakeholders.

In the second stage, you have to come up with the right questions to understand the key problems and approach your solution strategically. Then, you need to manage the expectations of your clients by creating real value, instead of delivering what they already know.


Even though this role can be very challenging at times, there is always something interesting to keep us motivated. Besides, during this stage you will be able to transfer what you learnt from one client to another, even if it is across different industries. 

The fun part of being a Marketing Consultant

1. Always tackling challenging problems and coming up with creative solutions
2. Meeting different types people
3. Working across different industries
4. Cracking challenging problems for clients

Maysoon’s Tips for students
 
When approaching your clients’ projects, you need to ask the right questions and let your clients explain the difficulties and challenges they are facing. By understanding the key problems, you can come up with solutions that strategically benefit all the different stakeholders.
Try implementing psychological management techniques to manage the expectations of your clients properly. 
Be clear on what you are trying to deliver to clients in a transparent and comfortable manner.

Maysoon El-Ahmad holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Master’s degree in Commerce (Marketing, Strategy and Innovation) from the University of Sydney. She is currently a marketing consultant working with a boutique management consultancy in Sydney called Growth Mantra. She specialises in finding strategic solutions grounded with a deep understanding in consumer behavior and motivations. 

Bowie Chen and Hazel Chen
Current students from the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.