Business History Books » Business Consultant » What can somebody with a marketing degree do for my company?
What can somebody with a marketing degree do for my company?
Question:
i believe that the way this issue is presented is misleading. i believe that the company should find out what it NEEDS first… then find out who can deliver on those needs. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –
Response:
I couldn’t agree with you more , but to convince the owner I need to do a little more than point at other companies that have college grads. I’m trying to come up with a list of things that someone with a degree can do for us that somebody off the street can’t. For example, a person with a marketing degree knows: * How to write words that encourage a user to buy a product * Which colors to use to sell better * How to brand our name etc. I’m just guessing on the things above. I’m have no idea what you learn in college about marketing. – Felix – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I’d have asked the owner "How is this business different from what they > teach in college… or from other businesses?" > There are a lot of college grads that work for Playboy, Hustler, Hooters and > the gaming industry…. all of them selling adult fare. You are selling > entertainment… and there is a method to it…. and I’m sure that what can > be learned in a college or a graduate business school is applicable. > And if the owner hasn’t looked, how does he know?
Response:
> I would also like to create a list of what a person with > a marketing degree can do for our company that Joe > Schmoe off the street could not.
Nothing. There is nothing that person with a marketing degree brings to a business that’s worth really anything. I have a degree, have been marketing consultant for many years, and have dealt with numerous businesses. The grunt work of marketing can be taught in college, but not the gift of marketing. That spark that hits on an idea that sells. That can look at a product and see potential markets and know how to pitch the product to them. That can decipher WHY one postcard pulled in more customers than other. We’re talking creativity here. Innovation. Inventiveness. Deduction. Induction. College doesn’t teach or even encourage any of this. They’re a factory that churns out a product. For something as sterile as accounting, it might be able to turn out a person that won’t need someone holding their hand for the first few years. Not the case with marketing. The ones that are successful at marketing have always been successful at marketing. It’s in their blood. It’s their perspective on life. Their minds are simply wired this way. That’s the nature of creativity. How can you tell if someone has this gift? Simple. Talk to them. Toss them ideas and see how they handle them. Present them with a product and ask how would they pitch it and THEN ask why. You’ll quickly learn that those with the gift of marketing simply outshine everyone else. So as far as marketing is concerned, a college education is meaningless. I’d always take someone that has the spark of creativity over a degreed person anytime. I’d always pick an experienced undegreed marketing applicant over someone with a Ph.D. in marketing and no real world experience anytime. Scott Jensen — Peer-to-peer networking (a.k.a. file-sharing) is entertainment’s future. If you’d like to know why, read the white paper at the link below. http://www.nonesuch.org/p2prevolution.pdf
Response:
Do you think we’ll end up having better luck with a firm than somebody fresh out of college then? I’d be interested in speaking with brass about this. Can you email me their contact info. – Felix
Response:
> We have a marketing team of 3 people. They were been hired because > they have experience in our industry even though none of them have > stepped foot inside a university or read anything about marketing. > I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees > rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is > very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point > looking there."
Doesn’t make any difference. What counts is if the person you hire is any good. They could be a grad or could be a little old lady. I have a degree, and I do get results, but my top techy (who earns about $100 an hour) has no degree at all. You are only as good as your last job.
Response:
Although a degree should ideally show that a person started and completed something, it does not indicate what the compatibility with your company, product area, corporate culture, or project needs are, nor is the the creativity ingenuity of the person indicated, as needed in marketing. And because marketing is at least as much an art as a science, hiring a person with a sheepskin is not an indication that you are getting someone with a "Killer Marketing Instinct" which is what you need. You will find the dull yet energetic and the brilliant but lazy in the offerings. These can fool you if you are not careful. Best to go with a person who has good communications skills, good analytical skills, can manage a project, and has a history of working in marketing (and yes, believes in the core product…*muffled chuckle).. Degree or no degree they should expect to have every mock problem but the kitchen sink thrown at them during the interviews, so do it. See what turns up. (no pun intended). See if their confidence remains in tack and the solutions seem to be thorough. Have a another marketing maverick sit in on the interview by buying his/ her lunch. Don’t mimic or benchmark hustler in the hiring planning yet. They are a larger corporation, an organization in a different phase of evolution needing people who will stay in line, not mavericks, such as you need now, as a three person outfit. Your boss has a bit of a point..HOWEVER… One of you needs to learn and become the marketing go getter or you need to hire one…I tend to agree with you on that… if for no other reason that you need to track your results religiously.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I am a partner in a company that runs adult websites and affiliate >programs. >We have a marketing team of 3 people. They were been hired because >they have experience in our industry even though none of them have >stepped foot inside a university or read anything about marketing. >I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees >rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is >very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point >looking there." >I am writing to this newsgroup in hope of hearing a good response to >what he said. I would also like to create a list of what a person with >a marketing degree can do for our company that Joe Schmoe off the >street could not. >Thanks in advance for your responses. >Best Regards, >Felix
Felix, it’s not about degrees. It’s about results. If a 5 year old can get you impressive results, hire the five year old. What if they had the degree but slept in class? Or barely passed? The diploma doesn’t have their average. I’d rather have experienced people than a degree anyday. (And I have a doctorate).
Response:
The first difficulty is to attract someone smart with a business degree in the adult(i.e. porn) industry, which is rather an unusual sector to work in for a graduate. Now what can a marketing graduate bring for your business? Well, normally, business and marketing courses, when they are well taught, can apply to ANY sector of business. If you focus on the right kind of graduate (especially at postgraduate level with a good work experience), he should be able to design some marketing research campaigns(which are extremely difficult to do for someone who doesnt know anything about it), and he should know the basic how and why of strategy and consumer behaviour. Apart from that, a university graduate should have numeracy and litteracy skills that a High school graduate does not have. However, a degree does not do everything, and personality is very important too. In front of investors or bankers, someone with a university degree can sometimes be a good thing too. Obviously, a university degree does not make someone superior to any other one, but not having a university degree certainly does not make you superior to someone who does not have one… Fabrice Pombet Doctoral student Imperial College London
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I am a partner in a company that runs adult websites and affiliate > programs. > We have a marketing team of 3 people. They were been hired because > they have experience in our industry even though none of them have > stepped foot inside a university or read anything about marketing. > I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees > rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is > very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point > looking there." > I am writing to this newsgroup in hope of hearing a good response to > what he said. I would also like to create a list of what a person with > a marketing degree can do for our company that Joe Schmoe off the > street could not. > Thanks in advance for your responses. > Best Regards, > Felix
Response:
> I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees > rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is > very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point > looking there."
I’d have asked the owner "How is this business different from what they teach in college… or from other businesses?" There are a lot of college grads that work for Playboy, Hustler, Hooters and the gaming industry…. all of them selling adult fare. You are selling entertainment… and there is a method to it…. and I’m sure that what can be learned in a college or a graduate business school is applicable. And if the owner hasn’t looked, how does he know? Al Canton Adams-Blake Company, Inc. *** JAYA123 – the new web-based total-office system for the small biz. Order entry, billing, bookkeeping, etc. for $14.95 a month. Everyone says "It’s cool as a moose!!" See why at:http://www.jaya123.com ***
Response:
I am a partner in a company that runs adult websites and affiliate programs. We have a marketing team of 3 people. They were been hired because they have experience in our industry even though none of them have stepped foot inside a university or read anything about marketing. I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point looking there." I am writing to this newsgroup in hope of hearing a good response to what he said. I would also like to create a list of what a person with a marketing degree can do for our company that Joe Schmoe off the street could not. Thanks in advance for your responses. Best Regards, Felix
Response:
He is right about internet marketing is a different animal. You have to be part techie, part salesman, part marketer. Above all you have to have people who are SMART. Because none of the marketing is written in books yet, it is learned on the job. Adult entertainment is very competitive for the paid stuff. Because their is so much great free stuff its a hard sell in this market. Our firm does marketing for consumer products. If you are interested in hearing from the brass, let me know. I will have them call you.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I am a partner in a company that runs adult websites and affiliate > programs. > We have a marketing team of 3 people. They were been hired because > they have experience in our industry even though none of them have > stepped foot inside a university or read anything about marketing. > I have spoken to one of the owners about hiring people with degrees > rather than the people we have. His response was, "Our business is > very different than what they teach in college, so there is no point > looking there." > I am writing to this newsgroup in hope of hearing a good response to > what he said. I would also like to create a list of what a person with > a marketing degree can do for our company that Joe Schmoe off the > street could not. > Thanks in advance for your responses. > Best Regards, > Felix