Northwestern Kellogg Professor Jim Lecinski on being a whole brain marketer | Modern Marketers
Oct 23, 2024
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Jim Lecinski, a clinical professor at Northwestern's Kellogg School, shares insights from his shift from tech to academia. He emphasizes the importance of combining creativity and analytics to thrive as a marketer. Jim also discusses the evolving role of marketing leaders and the necessity of adapting to AI's impact on marketing strategies. With a focus on outcome-based marketing, he advocates for collaboration between marketing and finance to ensure strategic investments yield measurable returns.
Jim Lecinski emphasizes the necessity for marketers to blend creativity and analytical skills, embodying the traits of curiosity and empathy for effective strategy.
The podcast highlights the importance of leveraging AI in marketing, encouraging marketers to integrate these tools for enhancing consumer understanding and driving business growth.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Marketing Education
Teaching marketing strategy at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management involves preparing students for varied roles in marketing, consulting, and beyond. Courses cover omni-channel marketing and the application of AI in marketing, emphasizing the evolution of marketing from traditional methods to modern approaches. The professor highlights the traits essential for upcoming marketing leaders, such as curiosity and empathy, as well as the importance of understanding consumer decision-making. This educational framework aims to instill practical skills and insights in students who will soon navigate the complexities of the marketing landscape.
The Role of AI in Modern Marketing
AI's transformative impact on marketing requires marketers to engage actively with AI tools to stay relevant and effective in their roles. The conversation highlights that marketers should not only familiarize themselves with AI's functionalities but also understand its implications for consumer behavior and marketing strategies. Practical applications discussed include using AI for preparation and ideation before client meetings and as a means of refining marketing materials post-creation. Emphasizing hands-on experience with AI, marketers are encouraged to incorporate these tools into their daily routines to fully leverage their capabilities.
Shifting Mindsets: From Tasks to Outcomes
Modern marketing emphasizes value creation and growth over traditional metrics such as engagement or likes. A key strategy involves transforming the approach to annual marketing plans from a task-based method to an outcome-based focus. This means aligning marketing efforts with clear business objectives, such as revenue or profit growth, and engaging the CFO in a productive dialogue about necessary investments. By shifting the conversation from a simple list of tasks to discussing strategies for achieving growth, marketers position themselves as essential contributors to their organizations' overall success.
This week on Modern Marketers, Jim Lecinski, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, joins Google’s Joshua Spanier and Bethany Poole to talk about Jim’s career pivot from tech executive to college professor, what traits make up the most effective marketer, and the ability to combine left and right brain to be a whole-brain marketer. Jim discusses what he sees as top of mind for rising-star marketers in his classes, how he wrote a book on AI — well before the recent buzz — in 2021, and advice for creating a marketing plan that excites your C-suite.
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