Jessie Dawes recently talked with Perry Drake about the variety of interesting courses he is teaching, which include Database Management and Modeling, Web Analytics, and an upcoming Social Media Analytics class.

Professor Drake has been with the NYU M.S. in Integrated Marketing program for a number of years and he consistently inspires students by showing them how to extract knowledge from a complex multi-channel world to make better marketing decisions. Should you take one of his classes, you will certainly gain a solid understanding of both marketing and statistics, along with core tools such as SAS, SPSS, Google Analytics, Omniture, Radian 6, among others.

It’s no wonder that Professor Drake’s Web Analytics students have consistently ranked in the top tier of the Google Online Marketing Challenge and the Omniture Challenge.

Professor Neil Feinstein, Director of Brand and Strategy at True North, recently took time out of his busy day to chat with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) about what will be important for brands to consider in the coming year. He explains that modern marketing is about constant invention. “Marketers have less money to spend, more channels to spend it in, and more disparate audiences to talk to.” Despite these challenges, “they are figuring out ways to communicate with people in a very meaningful way. The invention of how they are doing this is always interesting to me.”

See Neil at the ECHO Awards on Tuesday, October 4 in Boston. And, if you real want to learn about brand strategy, you’ll have to take his class, “Campaign I: Strategy and Execution“.

Professor Suneel Grover, SAS’s Solutions Architect, recently spoke about his DMA workshop Customer Intelligence and Analytics. Suneel teaches SAS: Advanced Database Analysis in the M.S. in Integrated Marketing program where he dives even deeper into the details of SAS database analysis.

- Written by Sunaina Sen (MS in Integrated Marketing 2012 Candidate), Douglas Davis (Adjunct Instructor – Campaign I: Strategy and Execution) and Andrea Waite (Adjunct Instructor – Campaign II: Planning and Management)

I joined the NYU MSIM program in August 2010, and as part of the first semester curriculum, I took the Campaign Management and Media Planning classes. The two classes were highly coordinated and as part of our final project, I was assigned to a team to develop an integrated marketing campaign for Cisco’s new technology product the Cius.

What separates an integrated marketing campaign from its counterparts is its ability to connect, leverage, coordinate and integrate marketing communication tools to support the end objective and deliver the greatest impact on the targeted consumer. So while multi-channel marketing looks to use many different marketing channels to reach a consumer, integrated marketing weaves together a campaign that engages consumers and helps form ongoing experience with the consumer.  Thereby our task was to think through the various points of the consumer journey and ensure that the message was on brand, on target and message. For a group of students just entering the field this sounded like a hard task, but certainly not impossible.

Our first task was to deep dive into the world of tablet computers and the technical side of the product. This is where we embraced NYU’s databases to gain insights via secondary research, and Googled to learn more – we wanted to understand the technology, the competition, and what differentiated the Cius from its counterparts. This also helped us learn the jargon used in the industry. Most importantly, we needed to dive into the complexities of our customer – learn who they are (demographic factors), what are their needs (psychographics and lifestyle factors), opinion, need and use of technology, and how best to communicate with them (media consumption). Taking a multi dimensional approach provided us the opportunity to refine our target persona and design a holistic campaign.

This knowledge provided the ammunition to conceptualize an idea, the next step to developing our campaign, and sitting in Starbucks the ideas flowed. However, the toughest part was assessing the concepts and moving away from the “I like it” or “I hate it” terminology we were using. With the guidance of our professors, we realized that in order to assess a concept we need to consider if it supports our objective. As hard as it was, we abandoned this technique and instead determined the criteria to judge our creative. We wrote down everything, and most importantly learned to collaborate, and playing off each other was the key to success. A lot of this newfound wisdom came from our discussions in the classroom, where we bounced off ideas with our classmates and professors. Most importantly, we received vital input from our professors, particularly in how to operate in a B2B environment, and we never felt forced to implement their views. This learning environment provided us the room to be creative and keep a clear focus on our strategy. We also received vital input from guest lecturers who shared their experience in areas such as branded entertainment and PR, email, and search marketing.

After we had developed a concept, and various creative executions, we transitioned into a media planning role. Based on the media channels a team decided to utilize (my team went with online, print, OOH, social media, search) we had to identify the properties, flighting strategy and media spend, and point-of-view documents. We also got the chance to analyze MRI data – to identify the appropriate media channel and properties, use Google AdWords and Insights for our search strategy, and databases such as Quantcast Planner and SRDS Media Solution. Most importantly we needed to be able to justify our choice of properties and media allocation, which ensured that we applied a rigorous process to fact check and ensure we got the most bang for our buck.

To conclude, we donned many hats, from an account executive writing a creative brief, a strategist developing the overall plan, a planner developing media plans and identifying the best channels to buy, to a creative team developing the various executions of our plans. We presented our plans to the client and presented a video storyboard, print executions, out-of-home plans, digital plans – banner, Google search, and detailed media plans.

Instructors Perspective:

Andrea Waite

For Fall 2011, Professor Davis and I chose the Cisco Cius’ product launch for Campaign I and II’s term project. Our goal was to create an assignment, which required a deep understanding of a complex category (B2B technology) and a niche target (business decision makers). Students relied on a variety of tools and approaches taught in class to deliver innovative strategies, strong target insights, and an overall fully-integrated marketing plan. Despite very high expectations, I was truly impressed with the final projects and pleased to see the enthusiasm and confidence students had when they presented their plans.

Douglas Davis

Technology is a category that moves faster than your client can brief you. The day after you are briefed, you’ll read headlines that will force you to reconsider your approach. Students found this out first hand as they were tasked with positioning and launching a B to B product that was not a competitor to the iPad. Then came the headlines stating the iPad was capturing larger shares of the business market. Needless to say, this wasn’t an easy brief. In the end I was pleased at what our students had retained and were able to produce. I’m confident that each team gained valuable and relevant experience on this project. I’m looking forward to equipping students to tackle another challenging brief in the fall.

An MBA, which seeks a scientific approach to management, is a gateway to a wide range of disciplines. The degree typically provides a core curriculum in accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, and operations with specialization in the final year. According to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, there are over 4,000 MBA programs in the United States offered by over 454 institutions. Admission to top schools can be competitive and require several years of experience. Generally, Fortune 500 employers prefer to recruit graduate students from top tier MBA programs.

The M.S. in Integrated Marketing is a relatively new degree with only handful of programs in the United States. Top programs include Northwestern University, New York University and John Hopkins University. The degree focuses on marketing as a key business process in support of a company’s overall growth strategy. The curriculum has courses in digital marketing, analytics, finance, media planning, creative strategy, and branding.

With all of this information in your pocket, how do you decide which one is right for you? First, it is important to take a look at your career goals. If you are interested in pursuing a career in finance, accounting, sales, or management, an MBA may be the most appropriate. However, if you have a passion and love for marketing, then you may be better off pursing a specialized degree. A marketing degree at NYU includes 14 laser-focused classes; even the finance course concentrates on the metrics that will help guide better marketing decisions, which in turn impacts the overall business.

With a Marketing Master’s Degree a student can feel confident and competitive when applying to marketing positions within any organization. However, an MBA will strengthen your resume when applying to position in finance and accounting. According the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), over 26% of MBA students enter finance or accounting job functions.

The difference in salary based on job function is also evident. According to PayScale, the average salaries for MBA’s with financial positions are much higher than marketing positions.



The decision to choose an MBA or M.S. in Marketing is a difficult one. A cost/benefit analysis combined with a personal career assessment is essential to making the right choice. While an MBA will allow overall flexibility in a career, an M.S. in Marketing may be appropriate for those confident in developing their marketing career.

A Capstone business plan may soon become a reality. NYU graduate Rafael Aitijas has raised over $50,000 on Kickstarter to support his creation, The Loog Guitar.

Described on his website:

“With its 3 strings, The Loog Guitar makes it easy for anyone to play guitar. Kids find themselves exploring the instrument and quickly learn where to place their fingers to create sounds they like. It is a stimulating experience where kids have fun and learn to make music right from the start. And because The Loog Guitar comes with nylon strings, not only it is easy for kids to play, it is also easy on their hands.”

Check it out…

Loog Guitar on Kickstarter

Kibby has a clear philosophy on social media: transparency. He uses Facebook to build company culture by using humor, and at times offering advice. He uses Twitter to discuss his interests and a peek into his personal life. His usage of LinkedIn was not discussed in great details, however with 459 connections and his own admission of checking Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn prior to his company email each morning, it is safe to ascertain his usage intentions fall along the same lines of his other social media accounts.

As tweeted, Kibby seeks to immerge himself with like-minded, or better people than himself. So, it is of no surprise that he asks prospective employees what type of mobile phone they have. Kibby likes “dabblers and first movers” and believes that these savvy skills are “needed for people to launch products more effectively.” It is important to Kibby that prospective employees have a social life, because it demonstrates that they are actively participating and to participate, one must constantly be learning how to use all the emerging tools. And there is much truth to the statement, “How can one effectively sell a new tool or app to senior management or their community, if they themselves have not mastered it?” As Kibby contends, “the only way to understand an opportunity is if you are engaged with it.”

Kibby has a clearly defined strategy for the type of talent he seeks and his methods for recruitment. It is definitely not a one size fits all, but if you are transparent and seeking a pretty super cool boss and culture, Pearson may be the place for you!

Useful links:
Career Page
Facebook

His tweets about visiting NYU MSIM!!

So what is all this fancy talk?

EBIF is Enhanced Binary Interchange Format, essentially the multimedia content format that creates web like pages viewable on an enhanced television. In other words, EBIF is the latest and greatest attempt at standardizing the software platform in order to bring interactive TV to the masses. And what is Interactive TV (ITV)? Just as it sounds: TV viewers interacting with the content as they are viewing it, which can be from voting to determine the program’s ending to shopping with a few clicks of the remote (T-commerce).

Sessions I attended (click to read synopsis and speaker bios):
The State of Cable Interactive TV
Tcommerce: Transforming the Economics of Television
Tcommerce: Lessons from the Field
Fireside: Cable, CE and Content: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing TV Ecosystem
Social TV Branding and Monetization
The Data Dilemma: Brands Demand Ad Tracking and Monetization

Bianca Slade, Barbra Sainsurin

Later that evening Adobe hosted a dinner party, including a live band and great food, where we could mingle with the judges and fellow student teams.

On Friday morning, the teams rehearsed on stage in the auditorium. Because I had lost a very close game of ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors’ at the dinner party, at 2:30pm Barbra and I were the first team to formally present! Looking back, I am glad we presented first because teams could watch subsequent teams only after their own presentation was completed. As the first team on stage, we were the only ones that got to see all of the other wonderful presentations.

An unexpected treat was offered after every two teams- there were raffles for Adobe products and other high tech gifts. This definitely helped liven the spirit of the competition. A short 2 hours later at 4:30pm, the winners were announced and we were then promptly whisked away to the airport. Luckily we had a few hours to spare so we shared a few laughs over dinner with a friend of mine who lives in Salt Lake City. Late that evening, we took the redeye back to New York.

Discuss the presentation process.
It was interesting to see how we all had different perspectives on the same set of data. We presented in one of Brigham Young University’s auditorium that held about 300 people. It was open to all of the students and a vast majority stayed for the entire competition. It was humbling to hear their positive comments about our analysis.

Team Bobcats Presenting

Who were the judges & how many?
There were four judges; three from Adobe, the fourth was the client, dogfunk.com. One of the Adobe judges was actually a previous winner of the Adobe Web Analytics Competition.

How were you judged?
We were judged based upon three criteria:
1) Our analysis of dogfunk.com’s on-site traffic data
2) Recommendations to optimize their website to improve purchase conversion based on their data and industry best practices
3) Financial impact of our recommendations

How did you feel during your presentation?
It was exhilarating! Before the AWAC, the largest group I had presented in front of was 30 people in a boardroom. Barbra and I were prepared and knew our stuff cold, so the nerves were gone and instead we were filled with the excitement at the opportunity to present all of our hard work. Barbra did a wonderful job kicking off the presentation so it all went very smoothly. Afterwards there was a five-minute Q&A session where the judges dug deep into our thought process with very pointed questions about our recommendations. It felt good to hear how interested they were in our analysis and what our next steps would be if we were the client.

Team Bobcats Presenting

One of the best moments in the competition came after we walked off stage. The client, dogfunk.com, gave us an update- they had already begun implementing one of our recommendations and saw an immediate lift! They had seen our recommendations from our initial submission prior to the finals competition.

How were the winners announced?
In order to build up the suspense, they had organized all of the oversized checks on stage with the winning team names hidden. The judges discussed how difficult the decision was and as you would expect, we were all at the edge of our seats as they slowly announced, fourth, third, runner up, and first place!

Barbra Sainsurin, Bianca Slade

How did you feel upon winning?
I was just thrilled! As a participant in the competition I had already felt like a winner so walking on stage with the judges to receive the oversized check was a bonus to the entire experience. It was wonderful to have been given the opportunity to learn Adobe’s Omniture SiteCatalyst and to put into practice tools learned in Professor Perry Drake’s Web Analytics course.

What did you think of the other team presentations?
All of the participants gave insightful presentations. I found it interesting that overall most teams took a different approach.

This class lecture was dedicated to best practices for mobile advertising and marketing, thus it was apropos to have a mobile location based app creator guest lecture. Selvadurai discussed the voids he noticed and subsequent steps that lead him to co-founding Foursquare. After leaving Sony, Selvadurai shared office space and combined ideas with Dennis Crowley, fellow Foursquare co-founder. Selvadurai’s inspiration came from his use of Delicious to create recommendations and tips on places he wanted to visit while extensively traveling. Crowley, already had experience in the location-based app world when he co-created Dodgeball (acquired by Google in 2005) while studying at NYU. Foursquare was a unique interpretation of Dodgeball and the voids in the marketplace that would “make cities easier to use.”

By adding the gaming component (points, badges and leader-boards), the duo sought to encourage an extra form of engagement with the app. The overall goal is to “encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so.” Tips and specials add immediate value to the user when checking in.

On the business side, Foursquare does not distinguish between a small or large company. Once a business claims their location, Foursquare offers a ton of metrics, from most recent visitors, gender breakdown to a histogram of check-ins per day. This allows a business user to engage with its mobile-app-using-customers by identifying and rewarding those that are most loyal.

Aside from a great lecture and tons of insight (I choose not to discuss it all here), I was excited to learn about a ton of neat APIs built for the Foursquare platform. Check some out below:

Weeplaces – Visualize your check-ins on a map
Create a Google map of your check-ins
Last Night’s Check-ins – you know if you need this one!
Reality view overlay your current location, showing tips & your friend’s locations
Mob Zombies – location based iPhone Game
Grab Another Beer – Keep a journal of beers you have had and where
DateSquare – matches you based on check-in preferences
Gifi – leave gifts behind for your friends to pick-up
Checkin Assistant – automatically checks you into your favorite places
Fare/Share – search for a cabmate, split the costs!

Even more here

What are your favorite uses of Foursquare? And if you had Selvadurai’s ear, what would you suggest or tell him?