Whistler draws crowds from all over the world. People initially come for the breathtaking mountains that provide world class activities no matter the season. WAS is dedicated to assisting students in their transition to mountain life.
Kathryn Robinette was one of these students enjoying the Whistler lifestyle, one of the lucky few who chose to call Whistler home. In such a thriving environment Kathryn wanted to challenge herself and signed up for the one year Marketing and Media Manager Program. The WAS Marketing and Media Manager Program prepares students for a career in the marketing and media industry through a series of creative courses. The courses are varied and exciting, including projects such as designing a portfolio of photo and video work as well as planning and implement a marketing strategy using digital marketing, social media and events to promote any business or product of their choice.
The Marketing and Media Manager Program includes a cooperative work placement with Kathryn taking a great opportunity to carry out her placement at one of the busiest spots in Whistler, the Starbucks located in the Crystal Lodge . Kathryn applied what she had learned in her courses with what she was observing at her placement. She recognized a need and then created a plan to implement.
“I targeted Whistler locals to ensure a constant flow through the year of regular customers, while still grabbing the attention of international travellers and tourists, to create return vacationing customers to our specific store” – Kathryn Robinette
Throughout all her courses within her programme, an element of marketing planning and strategy was involved allowing Kathryn to establish a coherent marketing plan for Starbucks Crystal Lodge. Kathryn established what clear goals and outcomes of she wanted to achieve early on during her working placement and she rose to the challenge of making it happen by working closely with the store manager Wallace Barr and district manager Gillian Rowan with great results.
Kathryn created and implemented plans for in-store marketing while also building the store brand through social media and received great praise from regional management. “The plan set in place through the teamwork of store management, myself, and fellow baristas, involved using the skills I’d learned at WAS to create a store profile. Social media was my main duty during my work placement, to focus in our marketing in-store and online. I was able to also utilise my photography and videography skills I learned from courses at WAS as well as the schools equipment and editing software to make a beautiful promotional video for Starbucks that was shared with partners and management to go on the Starbucks British Columbia page which received a lot of aesthetically-oriented Instagram traffic” – Kathryn Robinette
Kathryn has recently moved to Australia where we have no doubts she will continue to achieve great things. The future is bright for her and we look forward to seeing what she takes on next! “I would highly recommend Whistler Adventure School to someone looking to begin or continue their aspirations in marketing and media. I’m proud to say I have these skills now to further my own career aspirations wherever I go, and it’s thanks to the wonderful teachers and real-life experience I received from WAS” – Kathryn Robinette
