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By Paolo Fiorini
Photo by David Weiss
Since I started teaching, almost 20 years ago, I always hoped that my students could achieve two results: increase their skills and gain an interesting personal experience. Teaching at the International School of Business at FUA, I felt that I had to let my young students from abroad know about Italian business culture and for that reason I decided to propose in all my courses a semester project with an Italian company that would give students a real exercise. During this semester, during the “The Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion” course, we are developing a task for Vetrina Toscana, the non-profit organization of the Region of Tuscany that seeks to promote restaurants and shops that fully respect regional culinary tradition and products.
Daniela Mugnai, communication manager, presented to us the activities and objectives of the association in order for the students to better understand the context in which they are working. The task is to develop a communication strategy addressed to foreign tourists, with a particular reference to individuals under 30 years of age and who usually do not search for traditional products here in Tuscany. Students are working in groups and will conduct research and analysis of the market to see if there are already similar experiences made by other public associations. They will then proceed to develop ideas to submit. The project lasts the entire semester and is developed partly in class and partly outside to fulfill a final presentation to the manager who will participate in the lesson before the Final Exam. Through this project, students will have the opportunity to apply the concepts learned during lectures and achieve a greater result both for learning and business points of view. They will also see the business differences between the USA and Italy as they deal with a completely different culture and traditions.