Santiago Blanco, a graduate of Marketing Analyst a graduate of Universidad ORT Uruguay commercial manager at L’Oréal, spoke about what motivated him to pursue his degree at ORT, the most valuable lessons he learned during that time, how he applies the knowledge he gained to his work, his professional career, and the challenges he faces on the job.
Why did you decide to study Marketing Analysis at ORT?
I was studying business administration and felt I needed to pursue a field more closely related to business, one that was more in line with my career interests.
What is the most valuable thing you learned during your studies?
What I value most about the program are the professors. They all had impressive backgrounds and taught based on practical experience, not just theory. Their experience inspired my admiration, which then turned into a desire to learn.
What has your career path been like?
While I was in school, I worked in the sales department of an international brand auditing and recognition firm. I then worked at a domestic company in the marketing sector. And for the past 11 years, I have been working in the sales department at L’Oréal.
What is your current professional situation?
I work at L’Oréal as a sales manager. My main responsibility is to achieve the business results outlined in the budget, develop the sales strategy to meet those goals, and support the sales team throughout the process, ensuring they remain ambitious and motivated.
The current health crisis is creating additional challenges for sales teams. On the one hand, they need more motivation than they would under normal circumstances. On the other hand, they must manage the pressure to avoid the frustrations that arise from circumstances beyond their control.
You hold a position of great responsibility. How did ORT's Marketing Analyst program prepare you for these challenges?
Above all, when you have good teachers, you learn a solid theoretical framework from them, which is then supplemented and reinforced by your own experiences and real-life examples.
I’d like to emphasize that the program equips you with the tools you need and helps you understand the importance of taking a medium- and long-term perspective. The more immediate aspects are something you learn through hands-on experience.
How do you apply the knowledge you've gained in your work?
I don't do it consciously, but I put it into practice every day. Most of the learning happens on the court. But without that initial step of studying—which is what gives you an open mind and a broad base of knowledge—it's hard to achieve your goals.
The Marketing Analyst program prepares you for the various stages of your career. For example, in the early years of my career, my goals were solely business-oriented—in simple terms, they were evaluated numerically. But today, I hold a position with responsibilities that go beyond that; I work alongside a team where I use human resources management tools that I hadn’t applied before but had studied during my degree program.