Donatella Tabasso, Master in Marketing and Sales: “The best and richest experience of the Master was definitely the Maserati project work.”
5 March 2019My name is Donatella Tabasso, I was born in Friuli, adopted by Veneto and a wanderer by vocation. After a master’s degree in Modern Languages for Communication and International Cooperation in Padua, two study experiences abroad and an experience in a company in Padua, I arrived in Bologna a bit by chance and a bit out of necessity, finding myself taking on the umpteenth challenge of my life. Today I am a student of the Master in Marketing and Sales at Bologna Business School.
Last December, when we were introduced to the Maserati project work, I realized that what we would have lived a unique experience, but I certainly did not expect it to be so exciting and engaging. From the first day of the Master and throughout the first cycle of lessons, the professors had talked a lot about the project work that would have accompanied us for most of our journey in BBS; only a few weeks before the official presentation of the project we were told the company we would work with, that is Maserati.
From that day intense months have passed, a lot of work, complicity, laughter, tears and a great amount of determination. Our task was to find a solution to after sales communication, leaving the company logic and proposing an alternative vision. As our Professor of Competitive and customer value analysis Roberta Gabrielli said at the end of this adventure, we started our work “like old diesel engines” but then we begun to give our best with a really interesting final result.
At the end of February we went with our class to Modena at the Maserati headquarters to present our projects, accompanied by the co-director of the course Gabriele Pizzi and Professor Roberta Gabrielli. We left early in the morning, excited and full of expectations. At Maserati we were welcomed and taken directly to the hall where we would present our projects in front of the the jury, composed by company’s managers.
What I would most probably remember forever about that morning in Maserati is the moment I got out of the elevator and I found myself in that room: “here, we are!” I thought while taking a seat with my classmates. The excitement was very tangible, partly because I would have been the one to present the work done by my group, and partly because I knew that carrying out this project for Maserati was really a great opportunity.
After a brief summary of the proposed projects, the presentations followed one after the other very quickly. My turn arrived even before I could feel ready, but at that point I could not do anything but give my best. While the jury met to discuss and elect the winning group, we were offered a small buffet in a lounge adjacent to the hall. The tension had already melted and the smiles returned on our faces.
When we came back to the hall for the proclamation of the winning group, we were much more relaxed. But when the name of the selected group appeared on the screen and I realized that it was my own, the emotion has returned to the maximum. We had won the contest. I turned to my group mates: Maria was in tears, Alexandra was incredulous and Damiano was smiling from ear to ear. We embraced each other, immensely happy and satisfied. We then approached the jury to receive the certificate of winners of the contest and the promise to be contacted for an internship in Maserati. That moment was followed by a shower of hugs from all my classmates who, despite not having won, were very happy for us. Later, I found myself in the Maserati showroom where we had to attend the guided tour of the plant but, I have to be honest, my body was there but my head was elsewhere.
At present, my path in BBS is slowly coming to an end. After another month and a half of lessons, a brand new chapter of my life is going to start: the internship in the company. In terms of skills and knowledge, this master has given and is continuing to give me very much. But the most beautiful and rich experience, that I will carry forever in my heart, is definitely that lived for the project work of Maserati.
Donatella Tabasso – Italy
Master in Marketing and Sales – Class of 2018/2019
