I don't know about you, but I love field trips. There's nothing better than getting off campus for a while and learning about something in a fun and unique setting. Needless to say, I was pretty happy to find out that the fieldtrips don't end in business school.
Last Tuesday, 20 people had the chance to go with a few representatives from General Mills to the Yoplait plant in Carson. We heard the plant supervisor speak about the yogurt making process, how the different types of yogurt are made, and how the flavors are added. We toured the plant and got to see it all in action, and even went home with some goodie bags of Yoplait. Before we left though, one of the Marketing Managers at General Mills walked us through various advertisements and we analyzed them as a group. It was interesting to hear firsthand what General Mills looks for, who its targeting, and how it produces effective advertisements.
On Friday, a big group of us got to go to Mattel for a Day on the Job (DOJ) event. For DOJs, you usually apply directly to the company and they choose a certain number of students to come visit their campus and listen to representatives talk about their jobs and life at the company. In my case, I was there for marketing, but there was also corporate strategy and HR represented, just to name a few. We got to hear a panel of marketers speak about their jobs, what they look for in interns, and even their favorite toys. We were then all brought together at a networking reception, where we got to talk more one-on-one with various people in Mattel. It was really interesting for me to hear about the different cultures across brands, as well as some of the challenges that the Associate Marketing Managers faced.
All in all the field trips were fun and informative. Buying toys from the Mattel employee shop wasn't too shabby either; I'm all set for game night!
- Katie