University of Limerick Alumni Spotlight: Aoibhe Murtagh
In the latest instalment of our Alumni Spotlight series, we speak to Aoibhe Murtagh, a graduate of the Bachelor of Business Studies at University of Limerick and an international marketing professional whose career has taken her from Limerick to Dublin and the Philippines.
Aoibhe shares her experience of studying Business at UL, the opportunities that shaped her career journey, and how a passion for marketing, travel, and curiosity has helped her build a career with global brands.
Tell us about yourself?
I’m born and bred in Limerick, just outside the city. The eldest of three and only girl.
Growing up, I was big into sports but also music and dance. I only live about 15 minutes from UL so I was quite familiar with the university growing up, often out there for sports competitions, swimming lessons or birthday parties and I was really intrigued by the place.
In secondary school, I studied business for my Leaving Cert and I just knew this was the path I wanted to go down. My dad had his own business and is involved in many other business ventures so I had a good insight of this world.
I liked the fast paced and ever-changing nature in particular of this world. I completed the Bachelor of Business Studies course with my major in marketing and straight out of college I worked for a Limerick based marketing agency.
After that I joined the Jameson International Brand Ambassador Programme for the next three years which saw me with roles in Dublin and the Philippines. I got to combine two things I love in this role; working for a global brand and travel.
Why did you choose to study Business at UL?
UL had a very good name for Business and in particular the cooperative placement element of the course. Not a lot of business courses in Ireland at the time had this and for me this was a crucial aspect to the course I was going to choose.
Being from Limerick, I was quite familiar with UL but that wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to be a student here. Between the state of the art facilities, clubs and societies and very high employment rates for business graduates, it was a no brainer.
What did you enjoy about the course?
I really liked the variety that the course offered. In first year we had modules such as economics, accounting, insurance which were areas I wasn’t as knowledgeable in so I enjoyed learning more about these topics.
In second year I chose marketing as my major and law as a minor. I appreciated having the opportunity to study a topic like law which wasn’t typically associated with business courses.
The option of Erasmus was also part of the course and I knew this was something I definitely wanted to do. Being able to study in another top class university was a fantastic experience and broadened my mind to potentially working abroad.
I also would like to note the flexibility of this course. I studied Spanish in secondary school and wanted to keep my level up and at the time UL didn’t offer Business and Spanish so I enquired about taking it on as an extra subject.
The lecturers I spoke to were super helpful and were able to facilitate this for me. I didn’t study Spanish for the full four years but I was really happy that I was able to take it on as an extra subject for a while.
Why did you choose University of Limerick?
Firstly, being from Limerick, I am very proud to have an establishment such as UL on our doorstep and I think everyone in Limerick would agree.
Growing up here, UL is nearly ingrained in your life especially if you play sports. I was always out in UL whether it was doing lifesaving in the pool or camps during the summer or performing in the concert hall.
I would see the students walking around and I wanted to be like them. The campus is absolutely stunning and has state of the art facilities. It feels like one big community which is what I really liked about it.
Aside from this, UL holds a strong reputation for employable graduates which is what we all hope to get when we graduate, a job. I had heard of lots of people getting fantastic placements which then were leading to employment after graduating.
UL supports you the whole way along, not just while you are studying there but even when you are gone and now looking for a job and this was very important to me in my decision of where I would go to university.
On a less serious note, UL has so many activities going on outside of academics. I had heard of the many clubs and societies and these are important to have as part of your university experience. I had been involved in many extra curricular activities as a child and teenager so this was another factor in my decision making.
Tell us about your career journey so far?
Upon graduating in 2021, the world was still coming out of COVID so the job market wasn’t the greatest. However, I was very lucky to secure a position in a Limerick based marketing agency, The Pudding. I wasn’t doing a whole lot of marketing myself but you have to start somewhere and I was eager to learn all I could.
As it was a relatively small agency, I had great visibility of everything that was going on. That’s the beauty of a smaller company.
I then left as I had plans to move to Vietnam and teach English however COVID didn’t allow for this. In hindsight, this was a blessing in disguise as I landed my dream job which was the Jameson International Brand Ambassador Programme. I had known about this programme since second year in college as I saw a UL graduate had secured a spot on it. So for the rest of my time in UL, this was my focus.
I spent my first year on the programme in Dublin in the head office working as a marketing portfolio activation assistant. My next two years on the programme saw me head to Manila, Philippines. This was truly life changing and an experience that has shaped me forever.
I learned so much about marketing, brand building, strategies for different markets etc. I came back to Dublin upon finishing the programme and continued working as part of the international marketing team focusing more on advocacy and education this time around.
How did your degree help you get to where you are now in your career?
As I work in marketing, having the subject as my major helped me master the basics of marketing.
I definitely felt a lot more confident in applying for roles in marketing having studied it extensively in college and also from my cooperative placement which saw me working as a marketing assistant with the postgraduate studies department. Here I got to combine what I had learned in lectures and put it into practice in real life situations.
The best example I can give of how my degree has helped me in my career is how I got my first job out of college. One of our marketing lecturers used to have regular guest speakers join our lectures, tell us about themselves, their careers, offer advice, etc.
One speaker in particular really stood out to me and I later contacted her upon graduating and she gave me my first job with her marketing agency. I’m very grateful to this lecturer for introducing us to people in the industry, helping us make connections and seeing where our career could take us.
What advice would you give to anyone considering studying at UL?
Well if I haven’t convinced you by now, I don’t know what else will! UL is second to none in my opinion when it comes to so many aspects of your college education and student life because college is a wonderful experience and that’s what it is, an experience.
The education side is obviously very important and that’s what we are all here for but the college years are such formative and important years in our lives.
UL provides an all-round experience and sets its students up for success. If you want to gain experience in areas outside of your chosen field of study such as how to manage a budget if you’re on your college hockey committee or organise an event or fundraiser for your club/society, this is all possible here and these skills are extremely beneficial when you enter the working world.
They care immensely about student life at UL and you really do feel like you are part of a community while here.
The campus is beautiful and that’s a reason in itself to come here and there are definitely days that I was back walking around it going to and from lectures.
We can get wrapped up in our course and our study so I think it’s important to remember that your time in college is a fantastic experience and you will grow as a person and learn so much about yourself. We can sometimes overlook this. You’re allowed to have fun while at college and you absolutely should.
At UL we encourage our students to Stay Curious. What keeps you curious and how important has curiosity been throughout your career?
In my industry, every day is different and the world of marketing is changing all the time.
Influencer marketing was not a thing 10-15 years ago and now you wouldn’t do a marketing campaign without some form of influencer involved.
It makes me wonder what the marketing trends or strategies will be in 10 more years.
You can’t help but be curious in my job. I love seeing what other brands come out with and taking inspiration from it.
How different industries do marketing differently, for example the alcohol industry is fundamentally different to the beauty industry but at the end of the day we have the same goal; to convince the consumer.
It’s really interesting to me to see how other industries accomplish that. From working in Ireland to working in The Philippines, I observed the differences in the way we marketed Jameson.
Culture of that country plays a huge part when curating a marketing plan. What works in Ireland normally won’t work in The Philippines and I really found this fascinating.
You have to adapt global strategy to the local culture of particular countries and that’s one thing that always has kept me curious.
What are your plans for the future?
From living in The Philippines, I realised how much I adore travelling and working abroad so I have decided to take a break from work for a while and go backpacking around Southeast Asia.
I loved Asia while I was there and I cannot wait to explore more. When my travelling comes to an end, I plan on moving to Sydney, Australia and hopefully picking up where I left off in my marketing career there.
I found I have a passion for working on global brands, so I hope to continue this further in my career. As to where I’ll end up in the world, I really don’t know!
Is there anything else you would like to share?
College is important and I would encourage everyone to engage in their course and use all of the resources provided to you.
At the same time, I would say get out of the library and immerse yourself in student life. Join a team, a society, pick up a sport or activity you’ve never done before because this is probably one of the only times in your life where you will have so many extracurricular activities at your disposal and are actively encouraged to join.
If you want to go one better, take up a role in a committee. You may not think it at the time but you will learn invaluable skills that you may not learn in your chosen course.
These range from budget management, public relations, leadership, organisation and so on.
Your lecturers are there to help you, utilise this.
Personally, I would heavily vouch for taking part in Erasmus or an abroad work placement.
There are so many opportunities offered at UL and many go undiscovered so be curious as I’ve said and seek them out.
Lastly, have fun. This is a wonderful chapter in your life, make the most of it.
