Countdown to Finals

The semester is about to end, so here is how we are going to end it: an international marketing proposal for a company based in the Philippines.

This is a group assignment.

To begin your writing process, you need to choose a company or a product to market in an international jurisdiction. Coincidentally, this weekend, 22-24 August is the 10th Global Pinoy Bazaar where Filipino-made products will be displayed in an exposition at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

You may follow @YabangPinoy on Twitter and the official Facebook event page to get more information about the trade show.

Instead of conducting our regular class on Saturday, I enjoin you to drop by the 10th Global Pinoy Bazaar anytime from 23-24 August to choose from among the exhibitors what you think is the most promising product from the most interesting exhibitor at the expo. The Bazaar is open from 11AM to 9PM.

ALERT: For the 8:30AM class, we will hold class session for your International Marketing Debate on Saturday, 23 August. You may visit the bazaar after class or on Sunday.

Admission fee however will be collected at P100 per person. If that will be a problem in your group, you may just assign 2-3 people to attend the bazaar to scout for your paper topic. Group members can chip in for the admission fee of those attending. Those not attending may be assigned other tasks related to completion of your International Marketing Proposal. In other words, make teamwork work for you.

But if you want to get additional exposure and experience, I strongly suggest you to be there.

Here is what you will do at the Bazaar:

1. Look around for what you believe is the most interesting and most promising product to introduce in an international market.
2. Mingle around, talk to the owners, ask questions. Be genuinely interested.
3. Test the product as much as you can. If it is a food and there's a free tasting, grab the chance. If they sell shoes, try it. 
4. Ask for calling cards - and the product/company's Twitter/ Instagram accounts
5. Take a photo with the product that you liked. Post them later on Twitter/Instagram. Tag the company and the organizer @YabangPinoy plus #MARK109
   and #YabangPinoy
6. Tell them you are a Marketing student and you are interested to help them devise a marketing strategy for the product's entry to the international market (as part of your International Marketing course). You may tell them after the event (via email or Twitter) as the owners will be understandably busy with other customers at the bazaar. 
7. Pick at least three products/companies. Your group will later decide which one is most interesting/promising.

Check out the Guide to Writing an International Marketing Proposal for the complete instructions.

We will meet on August 30 with our regular class assignments (to be posted later), and the result of your mid-term exam.