Taking care of business
by Eva Balan
Five
years after graduating with a Bachelor of Marketing (International
Marketing), I can better appreciate UniSA’s focus on the practical
application of theoretical concepts and the opportunities given to students
to work on real case studies as part of their study program.
As a result of my international marketing degree and my involvement with AIESEC, a students’ organisation, I joined Microsoft Austria in Vienna as a market researcher a week after graduating.
I did market research on PC games and hardware prior to the launch of Xbox, while improving my German and exploring Europe.
After 18 months I moved to MSN Austria during a period of strategy change, and helped establish a new business model that meant finding new partners in Turkey, the Middle East, South Africa, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
I was lucky to be able to get to know the people and cultures, as well as
increase advertising sales in the region.
This helped me appreciate that marketing concepts hold true, as long as
messaging and plans are localised.
Six months ago I moved to Singapore to launch adCenter, Microsoft’s new auction-based paid search solution.
My challenge now is to develop an appropriate acquisition plan for adCenter in Southeast Asia.
Five years ago I would never have imagined being where I am now, but coming from a marketing background has definitely played a part.
Eva Balan is the Marketing Manager MSN Southeast Asia, Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd (Singapore).