找到她的市场定位

好奇害死猫. 至少，这是那句著名的谚语告诉我们的. 但对于16岁的布里安娜·史密斯来说，她是一位创意战略家 数字外科医生, her curiosity helps companies achieve successful marketing results.

她的研究、分析和问“为什么”的能力?的问题，使她能够重新设计网站 户外器材公司 水袋, craft strategic Instagram posts for the popular lip balm Eos and create engaging and dynamic marketing campaigns for Jarlsberg, 以挪威特产奶酪而闻名.

“Strategy is not research, strategy is not management and it’s not marketing,史密斯说. “Strategy is, to quote my favorite strategist Mark Pollard, ‘An informed decision on how to win.被告知 需要 数据和见解，并做出决定 需要 创造力和直觉.”

在任何一天, 史密斯使用数据, 的见解, 创造力和直觉 to make informed decisions that help her clients either better market to their target audience, bring in a new group of users or make the consumer’s experience much more engaging. 通过访谈, 焦点小组和分析数据, Smith and her strategy team get to know their clients and their consumers, enabling them to design a marketing strategy that works best for each company. 

However, this wasn’t always the career path Smith envisioned for herself. 狂热的音乐爱好者, 吉他手兼歌手, she had initially dreamed of turning her hobby into a career by becoming a tour manager. But as she dove deeper into the marketing curriculum at Roger Williams University, she uncovered a natural ability to analyze and a passion for curiosity that led her down the path of marketing research instead.

“市场营销 is such an umbrella term and I was able to find what I truly loved through all the different types of marketing classes that they have at RWU,史密斯说. “The skills I learned from those classes really started to evolve me into more of a marketer than a music manager. 营销部门真的帮我找到了自己的定位.”

Courses such as Advertising Campaigns and Qualitative 市场营销 Research played a crucial role in giving Smith the skills necessary to perform her day-to-day responsibilities.

The Advertising Campaigns Practicum allowed Smith and her classmates to apply their research skills to create a complete marketing and advertising campaign for a real-world company to compete in the 全国大学生广告大赛(NSAC). Her Qualitative Analysis course allowed Smith to partner with the 社区合作中心 to help a local community organization make strategic decisions through data collection and analysis.

不仅仅是技术技能, these courses also gave her soft skills she uses every day such as talking to people, 解读肢体语言, asking the right questions and confidently presenting and pitching projects to clients as big as 《网赌的十大网站》.

史密斯的课程激起了她对研究的兴趣, but it was working in internships that helped her land her current job. 实习的重点并不是研究, 而是专注于其他营销领域, 比如公共关系和销售. 他们, 反过来, showed her what she didn’t want for her career and helped to solidify her love for research and data.

“After my internships I knew I didn’t want to do this line of music, 我不想做公关, 我不想做销售, 我不想整天坐在小隔间里,史密斯说. “它们更像是一种体验, teaching me what I don’t want and helping me find the thing that I did love sooner.”

Taking the leap from music manager to marketing researcher may not have been without its challenges but now Smith comes to work every day excited to work with new clients and create innovative marketing strategies. Exploring the different marketing courses and types of internships allowed her to find a job that turned her curiosity into a full-time job.

对于她的老鹰队队友，她提出了这样的建议:“思想开放. 你可以尝试一些东西，然后说‘我不喜欢这个’.’ Don’t be afraid to follow what you truly love and what your gut is telling you. 忠于你想要的，什么是最适合你的.”