Hi everyone, sorry about the delay in blogs, I had to go home for a while but  I'm back now, all is good!
 
I am back in the office at Bayer in Berlin. Things are beginning to pick up again, the start/mid August was very quiet as this is when most employees take their summer holidays. Everyone is busy now, catching up on e-mails, projects and changes that have taken place in their absence. Marketing within the pharmaceutical industry is constantly changing as regulations are becoming  tighter in some countries yet more relaxed in others, and your competition is continually changing. I have found this to be very frustrating for some staff members as weeks of hard work can come to nothing due to external factors.
 
I am still working on "concepts" for a specific drug being launched in Europe. I have now developed a strong interest in the art of the concept and it is definitely an area of work i would like to see myself involved with in the future. It is a tricky business, everyone has a unique personal style when it comes to writing concepts. I was given the challenge of trying to write 4 different concepts, all containing 3 different employees views. This proved impossible and resulted in 3 different sets of concepts growing to the grand total of 12! These will be presented and explained by each employee then my boss will make the final decision. I was surprised at how diverse the final 12 became. We are all working with the same product and the same plan yet we have very individual perceptions of how we want the end consumer to view the product.
 
Part of me felt frustrated that we could not sit as a group and come to some agreement, but that is simply not the German way. They have strong opinions and will not compromise their own judgement. As frustrating as the increased work load can be, i have to admire their strong views. They don't "dance" around the subject, they are straight to the point and say exactly what the mean. In a marketing department, this is perfect. There is nothing worse than getting a wishy washy answer that doesn't give you a clear direction of where to go next. The 'Brits' have a habit of being unclear on there views, i have been told by several members of staff not to hold back and to say exactly what i think, this mentality definitely speeds up allot of decisions and is an approach i hope to take home with me. I do have to highlight that due to my british nature this straight to the point approach was a complete culture shock when i arrived but i'm beginning to see the benefits.
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As for Berlin, It just keeps getting better and better. I have been to the best night club in the world, voted for by the New York Times. It was incredible but very expensive, 36 EUR for 3 drinks! so much for the 1 pound vodka's we are used to in Glasgow.
 
I also had the once in a lifetime experience of watching the final of the men's marathon at the world athletic championships. Abel Kirui from Kenya won gold and was the first man to cross the finish line which was positioned spectacularly at the arch of the Brandenburg Gate, truly inspiring. There were hundreds of people, blaring music and a fantastic atmosphere all round. I cant describe in words the buzz around the city. I have posted a picture so u can try to imagin!

Hope you are all doing well! Cant wait to catch up!