Studying Marketing Management in Bologna: Andrea Visentin’s Experience

15 May 2024

Completing the Master in Marketing Management at BBS marks the end of a rich and intense academic journey and the beginning of a career in the chosen field. Andrea Visentin, now in trade marketing at ADMENTA Italia, discusses the origins of his passion for marketing, essential experiences during the Master’s program, and future prospects enhanced by the skills acquired.

You were one of the top students in your Master’s class. What sparked your passion for marketing, and why you decided that Bologna Business School would be the next step in your educational journey?

My interest in marketing stems from my academic background. Indeed, during my undergraduate degree in Business Administration in my hometown of Naples, the courses related to marketing and business strategy were the ones that most captured my attention, thanks to their dynamism, creativity, and the professors’ ability to continually stimulate interest in these subjects. The choice of Bologna Business School was influenced by several factors:

• The Master’s program, as an academic path, seemed the best choice because of its practical orientation towards the world of work;
• The school’s reputation, derived from the results achieved in recent years, as well as positive feedback I had received from some previous students;
• The opportunity to attend a study program with an international scope, entirely in English, a language I had only studied up to that point but had never used daily in social or work contexts;
• Finally, Bologna, now recognized as a university city, perfect for combining academic and extra-academic experience.

During the Master’s program, you had the opportunity to participate in projects, workshops, and activities that enriched your experience. What were the most significant moments or teachings for your professional and personal development?

Indeed, all the group activities (Project Work) we carried out during the Master’s were important because they allowed me to improve in various ways: the ability to work in a team, a skill now considered fundamental by all companies; public speaking, having presented almost all the projects in front of my colleagues and professors; moreover, all these projects served to create a strong bond with those who would be my companions on this adventure. Among the teachings, ,those received through the courses in Trade Marketing and Pricing and Promotion are the ones I find myself using most in daily life, strongly connected with the current job position. Other more general courses, such as those in Marketing Strategy or Personal Branding, allowed me to develop Soft Skills useful in a 360° way, regardless of the career path undertaken. Finally, I would like to mention the exchange that took place with students from the University of Ingolstadt (WFI), an experience that provided us with a broader overview of the course we were attending (Channels and Retail Management), through visits we made to some local companies, combined with Project Work that we carried out with the students from the German university.

Now that you are close to completing your Master’s, how do you imagine the skills acquired at BBS will help you shape your future in the marketing sector? Are there specific areas that particularly interest you for your career?

Fortunately, marketing is a vast sector containing a wide variety of areas to build a career, from trade marketing to communication, data analysis, and brand/product development. The Master has equipped me with hard and soft skills in these fields. Still, the experience will make me realize which area is most suitable or exciting for my career. Therefore, at this moment, I am more focused on trying to gain as many experiences as possible (like the one I am currently having in Trade Marketing), even in different areas, to learn and acquire cross-disciplinary skills that will allow me to take a more defined path in the future.

Based on your experience, what advice would you give those considering enrolling in the Master in Marketing Management program at Bologna Business School, especially those who wish to achieve excellent results like yours?

The advice I can give is to live the Master with great energy and a willingness to put oneself out there. It is an opportunity for professional and personal growth, where you will deal with professors from international universities and company managers ready to share their experiences to provide us with the most valuable teachings for embarking on a satisfying career. But most importantly, the most important part (at least in my case) is that this course has offered me the opportunity to come into contact with boys and girls from all over the world, to confront different cultures and backgrounds, to share this 6-month experience (which passed too quickly), with people with whom a special bond has been established, leading them to become like a second family.