Whisky born in sauna to export – Multidisciplinary learning experience in Global Master School with Finnish oddities

Mohammed Alsadoon and Timothy Robinson, Master degree students at University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), spent an unforgettable week in Seinäjoki, Finland. They joined Global Master School program, which brought together 32 students from SEAMK’s four partner universities:

• Aschaffenburg Technical University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• Škoda Auto University, Czech Republic
• University of Žilina, Slovakia
• University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), United States

“This is also my first time traveling out of the country. I am excited for the opportunity, because not only would I get to visit another country but also have a learning experience”, says Mohammed Alsadoon.

“The country itself has been an experience. We’ve loved how beautiful and welcoming the environment here is. Everyone’s smiling, everyone’s so nice. We really haven’t interacted with anyone that didn’t seem like they wanted to talk. And that’s actually surprising when it comes to European culture”, Robinson continues.

A valuable lesson on international marketing

From the learning experience point of view the intensive week and the assignment has been somewhat trendy, global and challenging. The student groups had the opportunity to work for the client, Kyrö Distillery Company, on export strategies and market research for the launch and development of exports to new markets. The main product of Isokyrö based distillery is rye whisky – a whisky born in sauna as the company calls it.

With background in information technology Alsadoon and Robinson have broadened their studies to business and marketing. According to them this assignment in Global Master School has been a valuable dive into international marketing. For example, students needed to think could Kyrö Distillery’s brand with sauna, nudity and other Finnish peculiarities be successful in other countries and cultures.

“When I showed this brand film with them (company founders) in the sauna to different friends of mine in the United States, some people thought it was hilarious. Because they’re, you know, in a sauna, nude. And then some people were like, that may be a little too much, you know. Some people in our country may not like that. They may feel it’s, you know, too weird. So it helped me to realize that you can’t just go into something with your mindset. You have to think about how it will affect globally”, Alsadoon says.

In the final presentation the student groups focused on certain market areas from Kyrö Distillery’ point of view. Alsadoon’s group chose Turkey.

“For an alcohol company, a Muslim country, that’s going to be an interesting one. But Turkey, as we know, is westernized, half European. And we know Istanbul is a big tourist market. So, we believe that it will make a big impact in the Asia side when entering the Asia market.”

Robinson’s group focused on the markets he’s familiar with.

“We are in the Missouri market within the United States. Kyrö Distillery already has some market share there. But they are looking into how he can expand a little bit more. So, we’re looking into ideas that he can do even further through different events that are held in different cities, such as the bigger cities, St. Louis and Kansas City.

Experienced leaders and talented students learning togehter

The Global Master School students were taught and guided by professors and lecturers with significant international business experience. One of them, Mr. Vinayak Rajagopal, Retired Regional Director, South East Asia at Boeing Global Services, has shared his knowledge as a teacher alongside with his career.

He was responsible for growing and executing services programs supporting military customers in the South East Asia region including India and Australia. His responsibilities included leadership, growth and performance of Services business in the region supporting Boeing defense products and services.

“I have always had a passion to teach and enjoyed mentoring students and other people. My idea is to contribute, because I have been one of the fortunate people to work in different fields. I also have a selfish reason for teaching as it keeps me fresh and more engaged. Particularly now when the world is changing constantly. Every day, the policy changes, the technology changes and people mindset changes. It’s constantly changing”, he says.

Mr. Rajagopals thinks Global Master School has been a learning experience for everyone with talented students and staff.

“I’ve been quite surprised and impressed with their questions and progress of plans. It’s been an enjoyable journey and I love the program. The students are not only learning from professors, they’re also learning from other students.”

Read more about the Global Master School intensive week: Cooperation deepens with long-standing partner universities during Global Master School intensive week