Valparaiso Terminal

Today we embarked around 9:30 am with an overcast sky towards the Valparaiso Terminal, a local port that operates throughout the year. The port sits on government owned property that spans across the waterfront. We arrived after a quick twenty minute bus ride from our hotel in Viña del Mar which has a population of around 200,000 people. We were greeted by the manager of communications along with director of safety. They began the tour with a quick explanation of what their company was and how it operates on a daily basis. The company leases the land of a 30 year lease from the city of Valparaiso. This port undergoes continuous competition from other ports in Chile, a country that lies on the Pacific Ocean. There are many different sizes and types of ships that come into the port for various reasons. Many cargo ships come to bring many imports from other countries around the world. Their major trading partner is China. Chile imports more steel through this port than any other material. Once the shipment arrives there are a series of steps that must occur before the process is complete. The ship’s captain has to signal the pilot to help park the boat because this is such an arduous process that not even the highly qualified captain can do alone.

The group poses with our instructors in front of the port.

There are many variables that the Valparaiso Terminal has to take into consider that require cooperation of two or more people. There is also a check on all ships that come into the port in accordance with the ISBS code that helps to prevent terrorism from occurring. Once these steps are completed the ship may begin unloading its cargo using the massive cranes that have been put in place by the port. These cranes are highly efficient and can move upwards of 40 to 50 crates per hour operating constantly throughout the day. After the tour, one of our group members, Laura said that she thought this business was unique because the workers signed one eight hour contract everyday they chose to continue to work. She continued by summarizing that she did not expect the company to have employees from many backgrounds including engineering, business administration and everyday laborers. Another one of my colleagues, Michael Dalton thought that the logistics aspect of the business and the coordination of ships and trucks was very interesting. He brought up a very good point that the logistics team made a marvelous effort to add a truck route for the drivers accessing the port. These drivers are able to take an alternate route that avoids traffic which allows the materials to reach the port as soon as possible. Following the business visit, the group made its way towards our next activity of the day, a boat tour of the Valparaiso port.

Our instructors begin the meeting with some basic safety precautions.

            Our group split up into two separate sections because the boats did not have the capacity two fit all of us in one. This helped us out because we were able to become more personable with the tour guide and could hear him clearer along with initiating a question and answer session.

Our group sets sail for the Valparaiso boat tour.

 As we took off, the first things we saw were the massive cranes that I previously talked about. The cranes were even bigger than I thought as we got closer. Following the cranes, we went by a famous naval training ship called the Esmeralda that has been used to train the Chilean Armada for many years. There was also a famous French lighthouse that had been in place now for many years that was key for incoming ships into the port. Next we saw many of their famous naval ships. Many of them were armed with four missiles that were able to fire on a brisk command from a higher officer. Some of the ships even had airplane and helicopter landing pads. One of the more famous ships, number eighteen, is the command center that tells all of the other ships what to do in a situation of battle or just simply to make a small adjustment. Another one of their ships is specifically designed to carry basic necessities and food to the remote island of the west coast of Chile called Easter Island. As my boat wrapped up the tour, we ran into a cool flock of pelicans which are very uncommon to see back in New England and finally, we saw a sea lion resting on a buoy enjoying the warm climate.

Michael Dalton is ecstatic to see a sea lion!

 After returning to the mainland, I talked to another one of my colleagues to recap their experience. Ryan Frank thought the boat ride was very soothing and offered a different view of the port that we had not seen before.

The day would then carry on towards our next business visit,Kingston Vineyard.

Del Campo Saachi & Saachi

Today we met with an advertising agency in Argentina. In fact, it was Del Campo Saachi & Saachi, the 2^nd best branding agency in Argentina. They also have over 130 offices in 70 countries, with headquarters in London and New York. During the presentation given to us by Gloriana Lopez Lat, we learned about the culture of Argentina, the process of creating advertisements, and the business side of marketing in a changing economy. Argentines are very big spenders, and not generally into saving. Because of this, marketing targets immediate spending rather thinking ahead for something you will eventually need. However, the exception to this is air conditioning. In a case study which we were shown, a humorous advertisement made by Del Campo called “Dads in Briefs” for BGH aired 2 months before summer began so people would buy units earlier, since the year before everyone purchased them at the same time and not enough people were available to install them. The agency also made a point of showing that everything created for ads is completely real. From the Andes Telecommuter which could be placed in bars to simulate environments which would sound preferable as background noise when on the phone with a parent or significant other, to an ad in which a child dragged his older brothers clothes around in the mud to prevent getting hand-me-downs, each advertisement needed to be real in order to get the full effect. The clothes were actually washed after being dragged around, and came out completely clean to show the actual effects of the product. This surprised our group, as we believed that the ads we see on TV must have been staged.

When I asked about costs and profits for each, they said the cost was covered by their clients and they only charge a fee on top of the cost to create the ad. So the agency itself is making a lot less money than I had believed. Everybody liked the agency, and the ads were all very funny and creative. That is why Del Campo is one of the best branding agencies in Argentina, and have found so much success in generating social media attention for their clients.

Fwd: ¡Vamos Vamos a la River Plate!

#RiverVuelveASerRiver


For our last day in Argentina our group visited La Monumental, home of the largest and most prestigious Argentine soccer club: River Plate. 








We first listened to a marketing presentation given by Luis Nogaro. Being a passionate fan of the club, Luis' enthusiasm was immediately felt as he described what is like to work for his favorite team. Luis was brought in a couple years ago to help River get back on track after experiencing 15 years of poor management and results on the field. "River returns to be River" is the slogan above and is the main propaganda that Luis and his team has implemented through multiple marketing channels to regain financial, competitive and emotional stability back to the club and its fans. With such a rich history having won a total of 35 national championships, Luis knew that success was achievable, no matter how difficult the path would be. Since the change in management and marketing strategy in December 2013, River has already won titles including the Copa Libertadores, the equivalent of the champions league for South America and was able to play against Barcelona for the Club World Cup last month. Off the field, the club saw their revenues nearly double with an increase in $120 and their budget doubled up to $760 million. Reaffirming the philosophy by connecting players with the club's values was the most difficult task for Luis. One example of the club's values is education, where players are not allowed to ever reach the first team if they do not finish high school. These rules, coupled with inspirational and promotional advertisements and other marketing strategies have reconnected the club back with the fans and success.

The second part of our visit was a tour of the museum, stadium and field. The pictures do not do this stunning stadium justice. Our tour guide Patrick was also one of our most passionate presenters on this trip so far and did a great job reiterating the importance and history of the winningest club in Argentina. Being a soccer fan and the amazing job done by Luis and Patrick, this visit definitely will be one of the highlights of my SIE experience.

¡VAMOS VAMOS A LA RIVER PLATE! ¡VAMOS VAMOS A LA RIVER PLATE!

Matt Gosselin

Yamaha Tour

Today was an awesome business day in Argentina and we started it off by heading to the Yamaha factory about an hour and a half away from our hotel. It was a later start to the day (10:20 a.m.) so everyone got to sleep in a little later but everyone still looked pretty exhausted at breakfast and on the morning bus ride. We arrived at Yamaha at around noon and headed to the waiting room to check in and were immediately impressed by the bikes out front. 

Davis and Dan in matching shirts 

After looking at the bikes in the waiting room, we were taken into a conference room to learn about the history of Yamaha. We learned all about Genichi Kawakami, the founder of Yamaha, and how he decided to start selling bikes and also diversify into other product categories including quads, marine products, and spare parts. It was very interesting to see how the business got to where it is today when they had originally started with helicopter propellers. We also learned about the company philosophy which is, "Total honesty toward the customer and making products that hold their own." The philosophy really represents how Kawakami led his company because he always put the customer first and focused on the quality of the products. The history lesson was informative but it was awesome to see the assembly line afterwards. 

Finished Yamaha scooters on the assembly line 

The plant was huge and it included two assembly lines, finished bikes, and spare parts (both imported and domestic). Srdan told us how different a plant in the United States would be because they would not waste the space on storage like they did here in Argentina. The most amazing part of the tour was how we saw bikes being manufactured right in front of us in only 11 different steps. We saw the workers make multiple bikes and we were in the plant for less than an hour. They are able to make about 160 bikes per day and every one of them is tested at the end of the assembly line which we also got to see. They test everything from tail lights to top speed and it all works even though the bike was only made in the matter of about 30 minutes. Overall, it was an awesome experience and very cool to see the bikes being made in the manufacturing plant right in front of us. Now it's time to stay out late and get up early again; it's all a vicious "cycle".

From left to right: Steve, Ryan, Dustin, Griffin, Dan

Group photo outside of Yamaha