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college
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A Professor’s Wisdom for Marketing Communications
01 May 2011 by eburns / No Comments
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of guest speaking during a graduate class at Emerson College. The class, Graduate Marketing Communications Planning (GM606).
I spoke on the topic of public relations, from the agency perspective, and the importance of integrating that discipline with all aspects of marketing, advertising and more. The class was a diverse group of students with varying majors – marketing, communications, journalism and more. They were a very smart bunch with a lot of good questions around the areas of social media, today’s media landscape and the future of PR and marketing.
I also had the opportunity to speak with the professor of the class – Kimberly Lorusso, who is also a successful marketer in her own right, as she is a Global Alliances Marketing Manager for Novell and will soon be a contributing blogger with BtoB Magazine, beginning in May. (Kim is also a former classmate of mine, having both graduated from Bentley University with degrees in Marketing and Business Communications, respectively.) During my post-session conversation, I asked Professor Lorusso a few questions about teaching marketing/communications to today’s students and the details she provided gave me some really good insight into tomorrow’s marketers and PR professionals.
Professor Kim Lorusso
Q: What is the formal name of your class and can you give me a quick overview of what it is all about?
A: The official course name at Emerson is Graduate Marketing Communications Planning or GM606. This is one of the required courses in Emerson’s Graduate Marketing Communications and Advertising program (GMCA).
This course teaches and challenges students about integrated marketing communications from a channel neutral perspective – with the customer at the center. It discusses how integrated marketing communications (IMC) planning can be achieved and also addresses the barriers to IMC adoption. Traditional marketing organizations (both client and agency) typically are highly fragmented and often operate in silos (public relations, advertising, branding, creative, media planning etc.). Lack of integration across marketing functions fuels corporate politics, creates budget wars and provides sales with even more reasons to gang up on marketing. Organizations that focus on integration (marketing communications planning) can realize greater organization and marketing program efficiencies. This course is introducing students to both the traditional tools of communications planning, while emphasizing the “new” tools and the challenges marketers face within a changing marketing communications discipline. It should serve as a foundation (whether in a client or agency role) to design and implement integrated marketing communication strategies and programs.
Q: What do you think are the most important lessons that students entering the PR & Marketing workforce must know?
A: Marketing athletes or T-Shaped individuals will succeed quickly. Students are often exposed to marketing tools in silos (PR, branding, advertising, etc.). It is critical for students today to understand how various marketing roles and functions can be used together to support customer needs. A required text book in my class, ‘Brand Media Strategy’ by Antony Young discusses the importance of a “T-Shaped individual” as marketing communications planning evolves. T-shaped people understand multiple marketing functions, even if the only specialize in one. T-shaped people are the ones that are best equipped to drive integrated marketing communications. They are also the type of individual that most companies want to hire as they gain deep insights into consumers and get them to engage with a brand independent of the marketing function they hold. Marketers with t T-shaped skills are the ones that are best positioned to succeed at marketing programs with the customer in the center as opposed to the organizational silo that they report into.
Don’t settle for status quo- Go above and beyond – don’t do just what is required or asked of you – differentiate, be exceptional! This advice applies to classroom assignments, securing a job or an internship and your work ethic once you are in the workforce. Use your marketing skills – differentiate, be remarkable! I’ve been fascinated by some students that just do the status quo. It is a competitive work environment out there, compete like an athlete and train to be remarkable. Go above and beyond what is expected of you.
Align marketing programs to corporate and business objectives. Marketing programs needs to support business and corporate objectives. These usually can be netted out to revenue or some sort of ROI. Marketing today is fueled by technology, and with that technology marketers are held more accountable to show ROI. This is true in consumer packaged goods (CPG), B2B or services. Blame technology if you‘d like – but we’re all in sales and accountable to corporate and business objectives to drive revenue. Make sure you remember this as you enter the workforce and build programs that can drive revenue or have a strong business case for programs that are designed to achieve other goals.
Have clear and concise communication skills – Both written and oral! These are critical for any field, however are critical for marketing students. My #1 comment on graded papers has been: “Write more clearly and concisely”. . Texting and technology haven’t helped students improve on their writing, grammar and communication skills. I joke around that I am by no means a grammar guru, but when you start to offend me you know it’s bad! Misspelling someone’s name on a job application could cost you the job. Smiley faces while texting may be appropriate, but putting them in a thank you note or a term paper are not appropriate, acceptable or professional. Oral communication skills are also critical. Students should know when to send an e-mail vs. having a face to face or phone conversation. Simply sending an e-mail or text or tweet will not always provide a solid/sound response. Don’t underestimate face to face communication and use of the appropriate communication channel to get your message or inquiry resolved.
Engage, listen and respond to your customers. The days of shouting to your customers are over. It’s no longer about how great your product is – it is about listening & engaging your customers and becoming a customer advocate. Don’t limit your marketing efforts to external customers or end user customers. In many marketing roles internal customers (employees) are critical to success. Make sure you are also engaging internal customers (sales, product management or other functional areas) as appropriate.
Q: How have your experiences been as a first-time professor? What was your most successful moment? What would you do differently?
A: My first semester as an adjunct has been a combination of an eye opening, rewarding, challenging and amazing experience! . My primary goal coming into teaching was to shed some unique insights about working in industry that text books don’t always teach and provide real world case studies on marketing communications topics. Additionally, my attraction to teaching was the opportunity to give marketing students exposure to B2B marketing programs and campaigns. Many marketing programs only give CPG and agency perspectives on marketing communications planning.Classroom etiquette and student norms have been eye opening. I recently read an article in ‘The Chronicle’ that discussed student behavior and an overall sense of entitlement from students. I have witnessed some of these behaviors described in the article. This is not representative of all students , but just like in any industry and company there are cultural norms that take some time to adapt to! With one semester under my belt I’m excited for future semesters!
On the topic of success – I think this is very much still TBD. Coming into teaching this semester my goal was to bridge the gap between classroom and work experience. Thus far, the most rewarding and successful moments for me have included student’s sentiment on relating topics discussed in class to their own personal job experience or upcoming interview experiences.
What will I do differently? Just like with any profession there is always room for improvement. Next time I teach this class, I will reconsider the text book. The textbook I selected had too much theory. While there is no perfect text book for Communications Planning I look forward to creating a custom text book for future semesters! If anyone knows of an ideal text book custom or packaged – I’m all ears! The closest book that I have come across is “Brand Media Strategy”. Finding a healthy balance of theory with real world examples, and striving for maximum classroom engagement will continue to be teaching goals for the future.
Q: How do you think this generation of graduates differs from when we were in college?
A: So, this question clearly dates me! I graduated from Bentley University with Erica in 1999. I’m a Gen Xer. Back then email, cell phones and texting were just becoming more popular. Bentley was cutting edge at the time – all dorm rooms had high speed internet and all incoming freshman were required to have personal computers – yes this was a big deal back then! However, even being cutting edge, our generation still spent numerous hours in the library, used encyclopedias, received lectures with transparencies (not PowerPoint presentations) and had copies of the Chicago Manual of Style on our desks. Most students today have grown up with technology. Research is a mouse click away. This technology can be both an advantage and disadvantage to students today. Finally, students today are graduating in a very difficult economy than we did It is even more important for this generation of graduates to use their marketing skills to develop their personal brands to establish credibility in the industry and differentiate themselves in a highly competitive marketplace.
Q: During the session we talked a lot about the importance of social media and its integration into traditional marketing, PR and advertising. Do you think the students of today are more or less prepared for this multi-facetted world – why or why not?
A: I believe students today are well prepared to drive integrated marketing and communications planning. Technology is the primary driver. Technology gives students today more insight and transparency into marketing message across channels. However, without the right performance objectives (KSO’s, KPI’s’, compensation) and organization structures to support client needs integration won’t happen. I believe students today can appreciate and analyze marketing programs more rapidly fueled by technology. However, without companies and agencies adopting organization structures and compensation structures to support IMC students won’t be able to execute.
Q: As you’re coming to the end of the semester, what do you think is the most important lesson that you’d like to see your students come away with?
A: Don’t engage in random acts of marketing (RAM’s). I recently saw this description on a blog and couldn’t agree more! The most important and challenging part of marketing is staying focused on specific marketing and communication goals. It’s hard to say “no” to numerous inbound requests for marketing support. However, if you don’t random acts of marketing can occur. “They are acts of marketing that are not integrated, funded or properly planned.” 1 In marketing everything is about staying focused on programs that contribute to your corporate and business objectives. Too often marketers get so caught up in how “cool” or fun a marketing program might be they forget to ask if it is in alignment with their key marketing and communications activities that drive and support business, corporate, marketing and communication objectives. Don’t engage in random act of marketing, it’s ok to say “no” to specific requests and programs, just be prepared to back up your reasoning! Success in marketing comes with focus.
To follow or learn more about the Emerson GMCA conversation, view any of these sources on Twitter #GM606 or #GMCA or visit the Emerson GMCA blog. To learn more about Professor Lorusso and her work, follow her on Twitter at @KimLorusso.
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