We are putting together the final report this week and will submit it to the client one week from today. My final words of advice for future capstone students is to make sure you and your client are in alignment with the goal of the project. A subject too broad will make the entire project difficult, especially marketing research. I would also recommend giving yourself built in time to anticipate changes and setbacks. Continue reading

Time is winding down and my partner and I are beginning to put our written report together. I just want to make sure that everything is included and that it is explained in a way that makes sense to the client. Continue reading

Some of the last pieces of marketing research are coming in. Now it’s time to put everything together. Drew gave us some techniques that we can use to approach the marketing communications pieces so it will be interesting to see what we come up with. Time is running out, but I feel like we are in a good place. Continue reading

This week is spring break. After project review 2, I feel that we are right on track. We will be conducting a few more surveys, but after that we will be one our way towards coming up with our recommendations. I feel much better this week than the weeks prior and am confident we will be able to give the city of North College Hill something they can appreciate and use. Continue reading

This week, we pretty much wrapped up marketing research. Now we will be taking the time to figure out what some of the key insights are and how we can utilize those to make some good messaging recommendations for the city of North College Hill. We also have our project review 2 tonight, so I’m looking forward to receiving feedback as well. I feel much better about the project now that we have the data. This will pretty much drive the rest of the project. Continue reading

Last week we were able to meet with many of the business owners during the North College Hill Business Association meeting. We were able to get in front of many of the businesses and tell them what we would be doing and that we would be reaching out to them. Some of the businesses seemed interested, and its clear some will be more difficult to get in touch with. I hope we will have the opportunity to talk to all of the key businesses for their insights and perspectives. We were also able to do market research at some key... Continue reading

Last week brought several changes to my project. The scope of the project has changed although I think it will be more beneficial for the community. I also now have a partner who will be working with me on the project. Now we will be able to move forward with the research phase, although I have been doing some in-depth interviews as time permits. We will be conducting intercept surveys at specific locations to gain peoples perspectives on the city of North College Hill. I’ve learned how important the research phase of the project is because it will direct the... Continue reading

The week before last, I was fortunate to have a lunch meeting with the Mayor and City Manager for the City of North College Hill. The Former North College Hill Business Association president was supposed to join us, but he wasn’t able to make it. The meeting was productive and it seemed like they are ready to promote their city. One thing that stuck out to me was that she kept mentioning the people in North College Hill. She told me two stories about how the residents rallied around their community members in times of tragedy and even negative circumstances.... Continue reading

This week, I will meet the Mayor, City Manager, and President of the North College Hill Business Association and will also receive an official tour of the city. I am excited to hear about their insights and perspectives and compare them to my own observations. I’m having some trouble discovering some of the city’s core competencies, so hopefully this meeting will help. I plan to start market research within the next week. I would like to survey both non-residents and business owners who do not have businesses in North College Hill. I also plan to interview some of the long... Continue reading

After having Project Review 1 this morning, I feel motivated to really interact with the people and businesses of North College Hill. I am working on the project on my own now, so it's all up to me to complete the assignments. I want to talk to as many people as I can and spend time in the neighborhood so I can get a grasp of what it's like. I also want to figure out what the specific goal is. How much foot traffic or how many businesses does the North College Hill Business Association want to see? What really... Continue reading

After my initial client meeting with the Hamilton County Development Co.(HCDC) in Norwood, I feel overwhelmed, yet optimistic about the project. After meeting with my contact at HCDC, I learned that I would actually be working with and presenting to HCDC’s client, the North College Hill Business Association. It feels overwhelming to be working with several businesses rather than just one business or product, but I feel up for the challenge. The goal of the project is to create a branding and marketing plan for North College Hill that will improve its perception in the community. In recent years, there... Continue reading