Abstract
Looking for an internship is a turning point at the end of any studies. I really wanted to find something in accordance with my personality. The work environment I thrive in is one in which I am involved in competition and challenges. I was looking for the opportunity to take initiatives and be autonomous. I also enjoy a rush and an exciting atmosphere because I get bored easily with monotony. A work-place which promotes challenges with some breathing space is definitely what I looked for. To say the least I was not disappointed with what I found in Los Angeles! The story of a small business in Santa Monica caught my attention, I discovered a company which was born on a marketing observation and run by passion. The passion for fitness that Karen Jashinsky decided to combine with her specialization in entrepreneurship. The great marketing idea to create a fitness club for teens is originally the result from the mix between an MBA at the University of Southern California and a certified trainer position. Karen Jashinsky needed someone online-oriented to help with the marketing development to assure a hopeful future for the niche club. The O2 MAX's Chief Executive Officer left the doors open and I could not wait to come in even with little experience but with my own creativity and my European vision...
I came in with the methodology learned at school: observation, analysis, hypothesizes and experimentation. Resourcefulness is not learned in school though it was required to figure out how to make money. Indeed, the company had entered at the end of its first phase, O2 MAX had to start to be really profitable. The objectives were clearly to grow through online means as website and social networks fed by offline activities. Certainly I came at the Right time to the Right place, and I hope I did everything I could do to be the Right person...
I am going to recall with you 3 rewarding months in a thesis around the issue ―How to build an on-and-offline business model?‖. I do not pretend any ―buzz for bizz‖ miracle recipe, just my own non-pretentious production, sometimes inspired of big-names in the marketing world, sometimes inspired of a web 2.0 contribution but most of the time inspired of my own approach. However, the (e)-reality made me realize that my traditional marketing skills were not enough to build a global (e)-strategy. So I enjoyed acquiring the latest marketing approaches no matter the relationship to marketing or (e)-marketing.
