Students gain an insider’s view of Bendigo Marketplace marketing and public relations

VCE Business Management Unit 2 Marketing Excursion

During the last week of Term 3,  Unit 2 Business Management students visited the Bendigo Marketplace, as part of their marketing unit. The Centre’s Marketing Manager, Dannielle Downs, described her role as Marketing Manager of the Centre and also shared her experiences implementing the successful ‘$2 Eats’ campaign. Dannielle explained the objectives for the campaign, the marketing strategies used and how the campaign was evaluated and amended. This campaign has just been awarded a Shopping Centre Council of Australia award for medium-size centres under the Retailer Marketing category and also a silver ICSC Global – Asia Pacific Shopping Centre Award in the Sales Promotion/Traffic Activation category.

Ms Downs’ presentation was directly linked to the VCE study design. Dannielle also talked about public relations and how Bendigo Marketplace interacts with the community through initiatives such as Christmas wrapping for a cause and the monthly Connection Club program. The students were then taken on a tour through the centre where they could witness marketing through the seasonal pop-up stores, signage spaces, community interaction (Elmore Field Day display) and the way that different brands use their windows to promote their stores.

We are so fortunate to have young local professionals such as Dannielle Downs, who are willing to share their knowledge with our students. Dannielle Downs was recently nominated as a finalist in the Young Business Professional Award at the Bendigo Business Excellence Awards and we sincerely thank her for giving up her time to conduct two separate visits for our business management classes.

Ms Kristen Simpson and Mr Philip Jan, VCE Business Management Teachers