47 students of the subject Commercial Management II, compulsory for the students of Degree in Business Administration and Management (ADE) and the double Degree in Law and ADE, have made a research of markets for the group food distribution. Aldi.

The students conducted a quantitative and qualitative research of the marketing strategy of group in relation to consumers and potential customers in Navarra. The study included a part dedicated to virtual ethnography, which tries to understand the motivations of Internet users when relating to a brand. It includes comments on social networks, official profiles, online reputation... "it's about knowing what consumers say about Aldi and why," explains María Elena Aramendía, professor of Commercial Management II.

The exercise is the end-of-coursework of the subject, and was attended by Pablo Galarraga Moreno, manager area of Aldi, and Bárbara Beiga, manager of training of the multinational, to whom they presented the results of the research, with recommendations and improvements based on the work field.

Pablo Galarraga was very satisfied with the young people's work : "The students' initiatives are ideas for the future of business. Young people see things that we don't, and the fact that they applied what they were taught at class in a practical case at Aldi is very good for us," he explained.

Aldi's area manager indicated that he would like to repeat the experience in future courses, and consolidate this form of relationship business-university. "They were very sincere, and in addition to the advantages of having 47 programs of study and opinions about our business, the university is a breeding ground for future professionals, so we are very interested in their opinion," he stressed.

Professor María Elena Aramendía was also satisfied with the experience: "It is a good practical complement, it allows students to apply theory to a real case, and they are more motivated when they are graded by business". The 47 students were thus able to experience the difficulty of capturing the data for a market research without leaving the university.