A view from my home town of Rockport, MA

My name is Paul Robinson and I am starting this blog as part of my Integrated Marketing Communications class. I’m a senior at Elon University majoring in finance and marketing. Originally I planned on going into the financial industry; however, after taking more marketing electives I am leaning towards a more marketing oriented career. My hope is that taking this IMC class will give me a better understanding of how to bring value to both a company and their customers through engagement and relationship building. 

Like many of us here at Elon, I am not a native of North Carolina. I have lived my entire life in the small town of Rockport, MA (located on the north shore about an hour north of Boston). When I was five years old, I began playing golf and have had a passion for the game ever since. As a result of this lifelong hobby, I am now contemplating a career in the golf industry. Fortunately with the economy turning around, consumer spending on golf has increased this past year for the first time since the recession. With golf courses and equipment manufacturers looking to capture a larger portion of leisure activity spending dollars, my experience in the industry and dual degrees will hopefully position me to begin my career in an industry that I love.

Early morning shot of the 5th Green at The Rockport Golf Club

This past semester, I had the pleasure of interning with a golf related start up located in Boston. Working with the College Golf Pass (CGP) gave me insight into the challenges of bring a new product to the market and also showed me the values of customer engagement. After doing extensive market segmentation and surveying, GCP is ready to relaunch and be a nationwide program instead of being specific only to New England. As Mark Twain put it,

“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”