One Week Down...

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Made it through my first week at Laerdal!! I started my assignment by reading through the 2007 marketing plans for each of the product lines. Across the plans, there are some inconsistencies and gaps in the demographics information, so I'm doing research to fill in those gaps and create current, accurate demographic profiles of each of the target market segments. For example, I'm trying to find the number of hospitals (and the number of specific hospitals, i.e. acute care or pediatric), hospital ERs, EMS/Fire agencies, military bases and hospitals, American Heart Association and American Red Cross chapters, nursing homes, registered nurses, pediatricians, etc. It's not going too badly - I've been able to use a couple of databases of hospital and EMS demographics that Laerdal has purchased, and I found some figures online (but the online data are from 2004 - I'm in the process of trying to determine trends in this data and forecast it forward for about 5 years).

Friday, I met with Gareth (the CEO's son) to talk with him about implementing his marketing plan. Gareth is from Australia, and he actually came to the US office to do an internship himself before taking a full-time job here in Laerdal New York. So, I'll pretty much be doing the opposite of what he did when I go to Australia for my internship. As I get to work with him and get to know him a little better, I hope to get some advice from him on Australia and on the Laerdal internship experience. I'll be helping Gareth develop competitor research for Laerdal's manikin line. The NY office used to house all functions of the business and had manufacturing and warehousing facilities on site. The office has now been reorganized to provide the sales and marketing functions only, and the marketing department is going through a little bit of restructuring, so demographic and competitor information is a little lacking. Current management is working to align marketing plans with sales force plans.

This morning, I got to sit in on a meeting of the marketing departments in the NY and Texas offices. This gave me a really good idea of where the company currently stands and what direction it wants to move toward in the future. The marketing department uses a product division operational structure, and each team member is responsible for a specific product line. The meeting today revealed some of the disadvantages of product division that we had discussed in class - people have become too focused within their individual product line "silos," and integration across product lines is suffering. The meeting today, in addition to more meetings to be held over the next few weeks, will focus on identifying synergies across product lines to implement cohesive and coordinated marketing messages.

Over the weekend, I visited the Vanderbilt mansion about half an hour down the road. This mansion was the smallest in the Vanderbilt family, and Biltmore (in Asheville, NC) was the largest in the family. So, it wasn't quite Biltmore, but it was a good tour. I actually thought the outside of the house was much prettier and more impressive than the inside. The mansion and grounds were on the banks of the Hudson river, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL, so I think I got some good photos. (Unfortunately, I've converted back to the old-school disposable film camera for these 3 weeks, so we'll all have to wait to see how the photos turned out.) I also stopped by the mall (after successfully convincing myself that I need a new dress for my brother's graduation ceremony and thus developing an excuse to shop). Didn't find a dress, but I did get a cute purse on sale. (There are some outlets about 30 minutes from my hotel, so that will be an all-day road trip for another weekend! I'll find a dress yet!! LOL) I was feeling pretty lazy Sunday, so the only trip out was to Wal-Mart (conveniently across the street from the hotel!) for some grocery shopping.

So, as you can see, things are going well. I'm enjoying my assignments, everyone at the office is super nice, and I'm learning a lot and getting good exposure to most aspects of marketing and strategy. My boss Scott gave me an analogy on my first day about working at Laerdal: "Working at Laerdal is kind of like standing out on a diving board over the middle of a pool. I'm gonna come along and push you off, and I don't know whether you can swim or not. But I'm going to find out if you can swim or can learn to swim." Encouraging, huh? LOL So, whether I'm swimming or still learning to swim, I'm managing to keep my head above water!! Hopefully, these 3 weeks will give me enough exposure to really teach me to swim so that by the time I get to Australia, I'll be swimming like I've never swum before!!! (Like Dory taught us in "Finding Nemo" - just keep swimming!!!)

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Comments

[Aunt Marilyn]

Possible Demographics Source
Amanda, The Infectious Waste Section here in my Bureau keeps a list of infectious waste generators - this includes all the hospitals, assisted care facilities, etc. This info is all covered by the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and is therefore "FOI-able." You may want to check with New York's version of DHEC to see someone in their health regulations or infectious waste regulations program area can provide the same info. Once you've found that out, you may still have to file an FOI request. I know the SC FOI office charges a small fee (around $20-$25) for each request, so you'll want to ask if they charge. I hope this has been helpful. Have a great time! I love you, and we're all so proud of you! - Aunt Marilyn