Marketing Communications Today is a collection of resources for marketing communications
professionals filled with industry research, marketing trends, and career
information about integrated marketing and data-driven communications.
Learn industry insights through the Marketing Communications Today blog,
podcast, as well as Integrate Online.
In this provocative episode, database management expert Theresa Kushner explains why she believes that the marketing profession as we know it today is obsolete. What does this mean for the future of the marketing discipline, and for organizations as a whole? Listen here to find out.
Ruth Stevens: We're dying to know what you meant by this very provocative statement,
marketing is dead.
Theresa Kushner: First of all, Ruth, it's your fault to begin with here. You
sent the article from marketing profs about ‘is the marketing database dead’ and
I thought, it's the wrong question, it's not the database and marketing that's
dead, it's the fact that marketing has been countermanded. It's been taken over
by sales, it's been taken over by strategy, it's been taken over by operations,
it's just so dispersed throughout the organization that as a discipline it doesn't
have the force it once had. You could see that from the fact that marketing has
adjectives in front of it now. It’s relationship marketing or it’s Internet marketing
or it’s partner marketing, it doesn't have its own, definable entity. And, quite
frankly, when it disperses like that, you get sections and portions of marketing
that can be so easily absorbed into other disciplines.
Graduation, a time of celebration. It’s also a time to recognize the sacrifices and
support of family and friends who carried the graduate through the tougher times,
especially the tougher times in the past year. We united to celebrate the accomplishments
of not only the Class of 2021, but also the Class of 2020.
I’ve overseen the WVU Marketing Communications online programs for over 15 years,
since 2005. That means that I have had the distinct honor and privilege of recognizing
every student that has ever completed the program as they walk across the stage,
aside from the one year my sister’s wedding coincided with graduation weekend.
This year’s ceremony was different. We gathered at the Mountaineer Field at Milan
Puskar Stadium and we were fortunately greeted with perfect weather. While the
scenario was different, the purpose was not.
During the pandemic, we’ve all be watching with horror as stores close and shopping
behavior has turned upside down. Amazon’s sales are up 40% in the last 12 months.
What’s the future of retail, we have to ask? Join us for an engaging discussion
with Paul Leinwand and Samrat Sharma from PriceWaterhouseCoopers’s as they discuss
the future of consumer markets and where the consumer shopping experience is headed.
Paul Leinwand is global director of the Strategy& unit of PwC based in Chicago
and teaches strategy and management as an adjunct at Kellogg Graduate School of
Business. Samrat Sharma also works at Strategy& and has an MBA from Carnegie
Mellon.
Cyndi Greenglass: Can you describe what you mean by the store of the future?
Samrat Sharma: You know, this is a great topic, we're having a ton of discussions
with a lot of our clients today. As difficult as disruption can be, it often nudges
us. We were already going through a trend where the store was being redefined to
be more omnichannel, to be more experience rich in a really fusing the physical
and digital world way. If at all, the pandemic just accelerated that. So, what
does that mean? In a practical sense, it means technology will continue to revolutionize
or enable both online and physical retail, forcing a real change, a real shift
in business models, but, primarily driven by the consumers because what consumers
like you and I are really looking for is a frictionless, completely tech enabled
experience. The retailers and, quite honestly, the manufacturers, are trying to
respond and serve the consumers where they meet the consumers, where they want
to be met. As a result of that, traditional channels will continue to blur as retailers
and manufacturers both embrace this whole direct to consumer model. The fulfillment
experience will become an increasingly critical point of differentiation, execution
and as a result of the pandemic health and safety, will continue to be a key component
of the loyalty that any retailer will be able to drive in the future.
Each semester the WVU Marketing Communications online programs is excited to welcome
a new group of individuals into the MCNetwork. The WVU Marketing Communications
graduate student population consistently varies in their levels of experience and
expertise, with some just completing their undergraduate studies to those holding
senior leadership positions at the world's most elite agencies and brands. Each
student brings a unique style and perspective to the program.
Meet some of the students who will be joining the WVU Marketing Communications
Network this summer semester:
At the conclusion of each semester, the WVU Marketing Communications Programs are
excited to celebrate our graduates. Meet the members of the class of Spring 2021
who have successfully completed their studies!
Design thinking has been around a while, and it sounds alluring, but there’s still
some confusion about what it means to marketers.
Roger Mader sets us straight in this podcast, explaining the skills and tools
of design thinking that apply to marketing practice, and how it can be used to
improve marketing results. In short, he describes a process for predicting your
customers’ future needs and interests, and serving them better than the competition.
Join Roger, Managing Partner at
Ampersand
and professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, to hear where design thinking
can take marketers, on the sub-series,
Marketing Horizons.
Cyndi Greenglass: Could start by grounding us all in here, what is your view,
what are the specific skills or attributes of design thinking for marketing and
marketers?
Roger Mader: I recently spent a year with Subway, one of my clients who I advised
on innovation as their chief marketing officer globally. I was asked because design
thinking is so closely aligned with the core competencies of marketing. Design
thinking begins by understanding your customer by using deep empathy to understand
what the needs of your audience are, so that you can conceive products that will
better serve what they need.
In honor of Mother’s Day coming up, the WVU Marketing Communications Online Programs
wanted to take a moment to highlight a couple of our mothers currently working
toward their master’s degree. Meet Katie and Whitney:
What does Mother’s Day mean to you?
Mother's Day means hitting the pause button, pulling back and reflecting on all that
I've gotten to do with and for my girls this year. It's a moment to be thankful
for the opportunity to be a mother and gives me pause to think about all the women
out there that have that hope.
There are many highly talented and skilled people in the marketing communications
industry. The fully online master’s degrees in Data, Digital and Integrated Marketing
Communications sets your ideal career in motion. Hear from our students why they
chose to grow their career with a master’s degree, online.
In STCM 421, I was introduced to data analytics by my professor Dr. Fraustino. I
was amazed by what all could be done with data especially in the world of media.
I finally understood why I was receiving certain Instagram advertisements that
always felt so personalized to me, and I loved it! I began to learn more and more
about data analytics and wanted to be a part of this growing industry. In the spring
of 2020, I was deciding if I wanted to continue my education or go into the workforce
and I was presented the opportunity of working for EcoCAR. This gave me the opportunity
to stay at WVU and enroll in the Data Marketing Communications program. Through
this program I expected to gain a better understanding of data analytics and how
to use this information effectively for communication purposes. Perhaps collecting
data on a consumer base to creating a new marketing campaign for them. This is
just one small example of what I expect to learn through this program. What is
most important is learning data visualization, so I can let other people within
a company understand what the numbers mean and what to do next. I’ve always been
a person to go off the beaten path. Many of my peers form my hometown when into
the same trades or degrees. I wanted to do something that I found passion in, and
for me that was media. That passion has now evolved to include data. This is a
growing field that shows no signs of slowing down, and I want to be a part of this
movement. Data can be used in any industry, so the job opportunities are endless.
I selected this program because I felt as if I was at a point in my career where
I was getting comfortable. There wasn’t any room to grow in my current position
because I have a traditional communications background, and I lack the digital
and analytical education needed to move into the marketing organization. I was
intrigued by WVU's “learn it today, apply it tomorrow” curriculum approach, and
I applied because I believed the courses outlined would shape me into a more well-rounded
marketing professional with experience beyond just social media. I’ve already been
able to apply my learnings when working with our marketing team, and I’m hopeful
that after I graduate, I could make the career switch. It’s taken courage to step
out of my comfort zone, but I’m confident that this program will continue giving
me the skills and confidence I need.
Behavioral science is a relatively new field, with huge implications for marketing. Neuromarketing
can actually help you develop more persuasive communications that will increase
your response rates. Join Nancy Harhut, Chief Creative Officer at HBT Marketing,
as she explains how she persuades her target audiences successfully, using the
lessons of behavioral science, on the sub-series, Marketing Horizons.
Cyndi Greenglass: What is behavioral science and what does it have to do with
marketing?
Apple released its app tracking transparency (ATT) framework with iOS 14.5, limiting
an advertiser’s ability to track user behavior. With these changes, companies are
going to need to evaluate how to best reach their customers.
How does it work? A window will pop up asking the user if they want to allow tracking
within the app they are using. If they say no, the app must stop monitoring and
sharing the users data. Early surveys have suggested 80% will opt out of most tracking.
"Unless you receive permission from the user to enable tracking, the device's advertising
identifier value will be all zeros and you may not track them," Apple said this
week in an online message to developers.
