Dr. Neil Hair

RIT's Saunders College of Business launched it's online EMBA program about three years ago with the express intention of innovating the provision of online education for executives. Top among those innovations are the use of highly immersive, interactive experiential approaches. Unlike our regular MBA and undergraduate business programs, executives bring with them a set of unique challenges that alter the usual approaches of instruction. One example is in the use of pro-bono real world client projects. Contractual obligations towards current employers and time constraints are two of these challenges. Add to the mix the geographic dispersion of many of our executive students (some serving overseas in the military for instance) and we find ourselves limited in what we can do to create great learning experiences. Undeterred and fully supportive of 'experience' based approaches the program arrived at a potential solution. In my Marketing Strategy course I make use of something as seemingly simple as a fictitious 'client'. Each week the client reveals additional issues surrounding it's ability to compete effectively in the market – and the job of the EMBA team is to reflect on the ways in which the theoretically rich nature of the materials can be applied to solving this problem. The results are in – executives love it and so too the judges of innovative teaching practices at institute level at RIT. Students get the benefit of application (something critical to the success of executive training where more often than not students need to be able to apply their learning to their jobs on Monday morning), the immersion of team interaction (thanks Adobe Connect), and the delivery of a real world marketing plan at the end of the intensive process (our EMBA courses last a short 6 weeks). It is with great pleasure therefore that Ive been awarded the task of representing the approach of my course specifically at the Educational Futures Faculty Showcase in the Spring. For more information on our online EMBA and the benefits of the program look here.

I recently had the pleasure of serving on a panel of RIT forward thinkers for the Wallace Center at RIT. Liz Lawley, Enid Cardinal, Ryne Raffaelle and Mike Johansson gathered with the purpose of identifying top practices or tips for forward thinking. Several gems were shared including;

1. Consider your network sacred – it holds all of the answers to future problems if you engage or follow the right people.

2. Forget local news – focus on whats happening internationally in science and technology and make a daily commitment to it.

3. Shower, drive, day dream, and find yourself in waiting rooms more often. The down time of these daily events and activities can provide great 'thinking time' to ponder problems and solutions.

4. Play more! See exploration of new things as a form of play time. Give yourself an hour and invest in exploration of new software, worlds, techniques, stuff.. low risk, low investment, high potential ROI.

5. Learn to spot patterns of conversation in social networks – who shares common insights on issues that are not normally related or connected to each other? A great way of spotting higher level patterns of thinking regards new concepts.

6. Have FUN more often thinking about the future. Pontificate – naval gaze – identify common problems that might be solved by a little additional investment of time and energy.

7. Fail more! Its ok to FAIL. Failure shows us what the limitations of a system are, and how we might pick ourselves up and succeed more often.

8. Join the dots more. Plan on paper, problems towards possible solutions. Think about goals. A goal-less life is an unhappy life (or is it?).

9. Don't allow yourself the luxury of the 'I have no time to think about the future' argument. You have plenty of time to watch TV, read books / magazines, surf the net.

10. Think backwards. Chart a position in the future. Picture it – and then work backwards. Like setting goals, backward scenario planning can do wonders for forward thinking.
 

Several high profile stories recently hit the social media airwaves. One – a chap being sued for keeping his twitter followers by a former employer, and another for having ticked the 'career opportunities' box. Crazy times it seems for those of us who believe in the power of a well built, nurtured network of like minded individuals! It seems that there are an increasing number of potential pitfalls in this space. A few thoughts on how to avoid the main issues;

1. Personal versus private. Should I accept my bosses facebook friend request? Should I friend a prospective hire? Should I stay 'friends' with an ex-employee? Some a little easier to answer than others and we see many turning towards two or more facebook accounts as a way of segmenting content for different 'markets'. A classic marketing problem is it not? Likewise Twitter, where do I draw the line between being a professional and being a passionate home-brewer for instance? A balance is perhaps the answer here. Be mindful of the fact that the boss might get a little twitchy if you keep posting pictures of your mates stag night in Prague (especially if your mate is the boss!), but being a class A bore with no social commentary on any personal branded account leaves Jack a very dull person, who quite rightly deserves to spend his days smelling of elder flower.

2. Personal network versus professional network. Whereas the point above relates to content, this point relates to intended use. Personal networks can be extremely helpful in solving work related or personal problems (I need content ideas for a social media presentation in NYC versus I need a ride into NYC!). So too can professional networks that are perhaps less interested in what you had for dinner and more interested in the sorts of challenges you're facing in the work space. Again, I think a balance is needed, perhaps you start with two and migrate from one to the other as you get more comfortable with the nature of your relationship with the said individual. Perhaps the chap in the news could have avoided legal issues had he made it clear to his followers that he was changing his position and how they might continue to follow him – if they so chose to do so. Perhaps things could have been different had the employer made it clear in its governance policies that twitter accounts set up on behalf of the company were regarded as corporate real estate. Perhaps these issues could have been avoided had the poster included his alternative feed @someothername.

3. On the issue of that pointless 'interested in career opportunities' box. Lets talk semantics for a second. What on earth does that statement mean? Interested in a better job? within the same company? interested in a multi-million dollar account that might advance the career somewhat? Interested in getting some advice on how to be more competitive generally? WHAT does that statement mean? One could also argue that ones CULTURE and the nature of the semiotic that is the little box – REQUIRES someone to put a tick in it so it looks better on screen! (ok, maybe a little off base with that one but a lawyer might have fun trying to argue it). Irrelevant anyways – how on earth do you think head hunters operate? they sit and wait for the little box to be ticked before pouncing? The common sense assumption is that EVERYONE may or MAY NOT be interested in career opportunities – what ever that might mean. Nuff said.

4. Control. AA double edged sword. You facebook friend your boss and block your wall or restrict content. What does that say to the boss? Better yet – ask the question of your company openly – what is the policy on personal versus professional use of social networks? You don't want to offend anyone – or be honest – lets face it, you don't want to see pictures of me drooling over cats and kittens when you hired me to be in charge of multi-billion dollar acquisitions. Or better still, have a one rule policy that you stick with personally, regardless of how pally you are with a team mate – no work friends on facebook. Follow me on twitter and or linkedin which is more related to the content and context of my job.

5. Strategize! Think about what it is that you want to get out of your networks – of all shapes and sizes. What image are you trying to project? The personal branding concept. This should guide your actions and activities.

6. Common sense. It trumps all of the above. Some things just shouldn't be shared with social networks (the love of Barry Manilow for instance).

Over the past few months I have been working away as a special edition editor for one of my favourite journals – the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising. Edited by Dr Eldon Li the publication has had a commendable impact on the state of our understanding in the field. When I was asked to edit a special edition I therefore accepted. Accordingly you can expect the special edition on Social Media Marketing and Advertising in the forthcoming year. Several highlights – a number of papers that help segment the social collective – vital in targeting the right consumer, social CRM in a business to business context, and papers that help extend the methodology for exploring social media spaces.

I finally find myself some time to reflect on the comings and goings of a busy marketing professor. The last few months have been something of a whirlwind of happenings. One highlight (of my academic life thus far in fact) was hosting the 19th International Colloquium in Relationship Marketing. This global conference is my absolute favourite – largely because of the supportive culture that it has engendered over the years, and especially as it was the first venue where I presented my doctoral work (Kaiserslautern, Germany, back in 2002). It was the only conference over my doctoral career where I felt truly energized by those around me and the advice that I was given (who would not relish the opportunity to get feedback on an early research idea from the likes of Gummesson, Gronroos and my all time academic favourite friend Ballantyne for instance?). Two years ago whilst attending the Swansea conference the latter academic asked if I would host the 19th. I jumped at the task. Organizing an international conference is no easy task, and I can assure you this tested just about every inch of these skills in order to make it a success. And thankfully armed with people from Saunders like Dana Pierce (the true organizing force of the event) – Vic Perotti (who kept me sane throughout) and my marketing colleagues including Raj Murthy (AKA @theraj), Joe Miller and Adriana Boveda-Lambie all attended or presented their papers of leading edge research. The topic of the conference was 'The Future of Relationship Marketing A Technologically Connected Global Social Network' – the site is still live *here*. All of the papers dealt with relationship marketing, an area clearly dear to my heart. The key to the conference's success was its intimacy, 30 international academics representing over ten different countries from New Zealand to Finland. Specifically limited under my direction as host to engender what became a number of single track sessions where all delegates got to muse over, and debate the content of each others papers in depth. We also played hard as academics, visiting the Rohrbachs brewery in Ogden, the Lower Mills Gallery, and a gala event for the final evening at the award winning Casa Larga Winery. We showcased some of the best spots the area has to offer including the obligatory tour of Niagara Falls during Fridays final event. It was a real pleasure hosting the event and seeing so many colleagues and friends descend on Rochester. My thanks too the out going Dean of the Saunders College who supported the event whole heartedly.  Just another reason to believe in the quality of education youre getting at Saunders, an environment that truly supports a quality research environment that ultimately benefits all our students and faculty alike. I should know, Ive already included many of the findings of key papers in my internet marketing and strategy classes on social media. Some of the little Neil'isms inflicted on the conference include: a live twitter stream were papers were debated realtime throughout the event, pictures were shared, and speakers were teased (especially the one that broke the presentation controller!), a collection of youtube videos of speakers in action, plenty of pictures to capture the vibe, and goodie bags of local produce to welcome delegates with. Who says conferences cant be unique and fun at the same time?

Just read with interest a story from the UK about a young woman who felt she couldn’t justify the cost of a 27,000 GBP college degree (about $43,000) – and so she’s not going. Fair enough you might say. College isn’t for everyone. She is however a top performing student. So why can’t she justify the cost? The answer: the lack of perceived value. A marketing problem! Her argument is quite clear it seems, why bother spending that sort of money getting drunk, meeting new friends, having a good time and maybe getting a job at the end of it?  You can do that at home for a fraction of the cost (invest in a twitter account and pursue many random tweetups – ones bound score a few interesting people). Back to the issue of this being a marketing problem. We have a huge issue as marketers where the consumer / customer lack awareness of how our ‘product’ can satisfy a need. Promotion is of course one activity we can engage in to help them see the light – and who doesn’t want to hug a 6ft cuddly tiger now and again? But to me this issue is primarily one of the content of the degree and a perceived lack of worth in the mind of the investor. I can’t blame Brits for suddenly taking stock and asking whether or not they should invest what essentially amounts to a mini home mortgage for something that used to be ‘free’. Enter marketing and its role in demonstrating the value of the experience. How best to do this? First things first – understand the value that a degree provides. At Saunders and RIT we focus on practical understanding, supported by many faculty that are either clinical in nature (ie war torn from the trenches sort of salt) or research animals that help lead the field with new knowledge or understanding. Increasingly of course, we have both and students get the benefit of this range of faculty experience. One might ask – is that experience worth the price tag of $55k for a three-four year degree? At face value – HELL NO, nice try academic enrollment officer. BUT – dig a little deeper and you’ll spot the value from a consumer perspective. The one thing most incoming freshmen lack for undergraduate (and increasingly fast track MBA degrees) is real world experience.  Our programs strengths at RIT and Saunders in particular is its focus on providing you with this exposure to real problems. Consider the Saunders Resume (a concept I have talked about before now). You have the opportunity, at last count over 20, to engage with faculty that teach experiential based courses with real clients. Carefully plotting ones path through a program can easily yield over ten consulting class projects (5 alone in my advanced internet marketing class). Now that’s a lot of experience you would not otherwise have had. Sure, some projects might not turn out great, team dynamic issues, a wayward client etc (which doesn’t not mean by the way that you can’t still extol the benefit of the experience there of – see my blog post on making the most from your consulting experience on this site), but many will turn out sufficient enough for you to want to make use of them on your resume moving forward. Likewise the student clubs and campus events like the many conferences we host every year. Experience that does not usually find its way onto a resume at the end of the process. And then there is the network you build of like-minded interesting people (more on this in another post). So how best to promote this from a marketing perspective? One answer is to demonstrate value by comparing an incoming students resume at the point of entry with that at the point of exit. A college experience taken seriously is a powerful way of demonstrating your worth to not just an employer, but yourself as well.
 

Looking forward to meeting Alums on the 3rd November where I'll present my personal branding diagnostic for digital realms. This is one of the areas where I feel we as a college might better prepare graduates and alums alike. I last lectured on this topic back in NYC to a packed house of former students and RIT alums. Scores from my diagnostic revealed a wide range of those that are using technological channels like LinkedIn to good effect, and those that are digital recluses. A happy medium should be sought between managing your presence in these channels, and protecting ones personal and private lives – suggestions for which are also given in my presentation.

Recent months have seen some interesting trends with social networks. The rise of google+ for one, and the prophetic claims by many that they are done with twitter and facebook for another. It got me musing over the value of my network and invariably left me questioning that which would be lost by deactivating my presence. Facebook for me acts as a repository of knowledge of current and former friends, professional contacts, alumni, family – all the interesting people I've met. Do I stay in touch with all of them? Of course not, but does having access to them provide me with value? Absolutely. One of the key features in a study Vic Perotti and I conducted a while back – determined one key feature that many usage studies fail to mention.  Remembering. Remembering that quirky academic from an old conference that can help you with a methodological issue, a student who was fluent in Cantonese on a translation project you're working on, an old college friend that moves around a lot physically (but who's online presence is permanent). Social networks act as excellent repositories of what is otherwise an addled brain full of useless data, facts and fiction. Would I fail to function without access to my facebook network? No. Of course not. Would I miss a huge part of what is my wider social frame of reference on the world? You betcha. Seeing former students getting married, starting families, being promoted, sharing life experience, saying happy birthday, being poked (showing you're remembered or that you remember), sharing a video or just saying hello. Professionally facebook has also been an extremely useful tool as it has enabled me to engage my network in my wider research agenda. Studies on perceptions of advertising, online customer experience, trust marks in online spaces to name but a few. Seeking help is only one side of the coin, helping is of course the other. Referrals to experts, reminders of concepts, answering queries, informing your wider network of professional or personal happenings, there are many benefits of continuing to engage and co-create with your network. As with most forms of technology though, it takes time to identify and appreciate the value that it provides. We saw this with twitter, and we are seeing it with facebook. And occasionally these spaces can provide distractions, distortions, and general distemper. But hold on – one dangerous trend that exists for many graduating students (or upset academics that have probably received one too many pokes in their lives) – is the decision to defriend or deactivate contacts or ones presence in an entire system. It's like saying bon voyage to email and asking someone to phone you instead, sticking your head in the sand hoping life will go away, or making lemonade sandwiches as an aid to digestion. Resistance is futile, and you will be back (ie re-activating your account when you remember those vital contacts you have in that system). So, in recognition of all the value that social networks provide, I am prepared to make a number of pledges. I will not be deactivating my account, I will not be asking people to friend me in new spaces when they reside in the neighborhoods of old, nor do I want to begin a new life as a digital castaway. So long live 'social' networks like Facebook, 'professional' networks like Facebook, 'quirky' networks like Facebook, and long may you continue to engage and get value from your presence!

Over the course of my career I have had much occasion to celebrate good advice, mentoring, and friendship at the Saunders College of Business. I am especially grateful for all the help that Dr Stan Widrick has given me over the years. It is with huge sadness for the college, but happiness for both himself and Suzie that I report this mega marketing genius has retired. To celebrate his career and successes at guiding many a junior faculty member towards and through tenure my wife and I held a retirement party hosting 'Marketers' both past and present on Friday. As with any major change it brought with it plenty of naval gazing on my part about the changing nature of the college. Looking around I saw the old guard, Julian Yudelson, Pat Sorce, and Phil Tyler (apologies received from Gene Fram by the way who now spends most of his time on the West coast). The college was very different back in 1999 when I was first hired as a young whipper snapper. The internet for instance was causing all sorts of problems regards what courses would need to change (ie ALL OF THEM!), how pedagogy would evolve (ie COMPLETELY) and even whether or not the internet should be capitalized on syllabi (I MEAN COME ON PEOPLE?). Most faculty were still making use of transparencies – I digress – Julian then retired which was my first experience with change within the department. Soon after I left for the UK to complete my research training (PhD). Thankfully when I returned little had changed, Phil and Stan were still at the helm, Deb was relatively new to the scene, Gene was still in 5th gear, but Pat had left to head up a new Print school (still at RIT thankfully). Then in relatively quick succession it seemed we lost Gene, then Phil, and now Stan to the alluring promise of a grade free retirement. Change is upon us! Thankfully the college has made great hiring decisions, both in securing clinical and tenure track faculty. Looking around those marketers present you can't be anything other than equally excited about the quality of the new guard – just as collegial, a group where friendships meet professionally productive relationships – where friends also happen to be colleagues. We cant ask for much more and I am confident this crosses over into huge benefits for our students. All of this however keeps coming back to the impact of one person. Much of what we have to be thankful of resides in Stan's stewardship, first as department chair and then as senior associate dean. Without doubt therefore, Stan, you are an phonemenal mentor and good friend who deserves for sure, a most exceptional retirement! Thanks for all you have done mate.

Two of my internet marketing classes (undergraduate and graduate) have recently completed their mid term progress presentations for client projects. I am always delighted with the creativity shown in their efforts. Whether it is the use of new technology, team dynamics or the learning opportunity to be more effective communicators – I am always delighted with the outcome of this review. This quarter (and I'm going to have to get used to saying semester in times to come) was no different. I had teams that had exceptionally detailed content (invariably always leading to longer than scheduled presentations – and dinged accordingly), exceptional communicators that might do more to bring out their fellow presenters (so as not to appear too top heavy), to eloquent performances from students I don't normally hear from in class discussions (which always surprises me and delights me at the same time). I also adopt a different than normal approach towards eliciting student feedback on a teams performance. Rather than students cramming a few extra seconds into remedying problems with their presentations just noted in the wrath that is 'nasty Neil' I enforce a no tinkering rule. I also ask students to provide individual feedback on every performance – in written format – so that those presenting get to hear what they need to from their peers. There is no slacking off on my side either, usually a page of notes on questions asked, problems noted, weakness of concepts applied or lack of detail. Over the years I have come to note the problems with listening to student presentations where the only real outcome is normally a shared sense of relief that the process is OVER and that normal business (listening to lectures and participating in discussions on client solutions) can resume. My issue with that is that students then go on to make the same mistakes in front of clients. Therefore the importance of progress, progression of style, format and content is emphasized. Many problems usually noted can be alleviated with old fashioned practice. Practice, practice, practice. Other features of my own approach that I believe helps students in the afterlife that is a career:

1. ABSOLUTELY NO NOTES OF ANY KIND. If you don't know your stuff – you shouldn't be presenting.
2. Professionalism at all times. Speak the language of someone that cares and knows their stuff.
3. Remember that you yourself are being marketed. Smile – thank people for participating, control the audience.You are on stage – and you ARE being watched closely. How do you want to be remembered?
4. In the words of the famous philosophers The Wonder Pets – what's gunna work? TEAM WORK! Look at each other – look enthusiastic! refer to one another and pass seemlessly between speakers. Don't let one member run away with the presentation, work your team as effectively as you can – top and tail with strong speakers, but make sure the WHOLE team looks like winners.
5. ANSWER THE QUESTION. Someone is always going to throw you a curve ball (apparently these are rather difficult to hit with an object – like a bat). Know how to respond. DO NOT waffle an answer that you hope bored your questioner to death. You are likely to be shot, or fired – or both.
6. BY ALL MEANS USE A FAKE PC. But always make sure it plays nicely with the overhead projection system – otherwise, people will laugh at you (a. for owning a fake pc, and b. because you are likely to be shot, or fired – or both if it doesn't work).
7. HAVE YOUR SECRET GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD to answer ANYTHING, or at least deflect the difficult question being asked. You could say for instance, interesting question, we've struggled with the answer and we arent there yet – do you have any suggestions? My own though is far more effective – but unfortunately for you it's a secret.

Seems a great shame to me that as marketers we don't spend more time talking about personal branding issues, and of course presentations and communication are central to the personal platform. One final painful piece of advice that I'll offer freely – if you can, video yourself and your teams performance. There is nothing more sobering, nor more useful, than watching oneself in action. Just ask Winnie, Tuck or Ming Ming.