WVU Marketing Communications Today

A Crisis is sometimes defined as anything that interrupts normal business operations … something Webster says that brings about a turning point or decisive moment when difficult decisions must be made. Many if not most organizations, companies, and leaders understand the need to put a crisis plan in place before the next crisis hits, no matter how unpredictable the actual event might be.   ----more---- My next guest argues that even those entities that carefully prepare crisis plans fail spectacularly when tested because they forget about one key feature of a successful crisis response: COMMUNICATING through it. Without a Crisis Communications strategy she says, your reputation and your very viability might be in jeopardy. About Susan's guest: Aileen Pincus launched The Pincus Group after more than two decades of communications experience. Aileen worked as a local and national television reporter in Portland, Tampa, and Washington DC, before leading communications for a U.S. Senator, and then joining a global public relations firm as senior executive trainer. She now leads training and strategy for the firm’s clients around the country. Aileen’s communications experience spans the fields of journalism, politics, and public relations. She has trained senior executives from around the country for one of the nation’s largest public relations firms, Golin/Harris International.   Her work in strategy and communications training for Fortune 500 companies included counsel for the pharmaceutical, medical research, banking, automotive, legal, chemical, engineering, and technology industries, as well as for political and non-profit groups. Prior to training and consulting in private industry, Aileen worked as a senior staff advisor for a U.S. Senator. As Communications Director, she coordinated all local, regional and national media efforts, and served as the Senator’s chief spokeswoman. Aileen comes to media and communications consulting after an extensive career in journalism. Aileen reported for local and national television news markets around the country for nearly two decades. She was an award-winning reporter for the NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon, the ABC affiliate in Tampa, for the Fox affiliate in Washington DC and for CNN, where she reported on national stories for CNN affiliates around the country. As President and founding partner of The Pincus Group, Aileen now directs effective media strategies and communication training for clients around the country. She writes and speaks on effective communication for national organizations and forums. Aileen is a graduate of California State University at Northridge, School of Journalism. She is listed in Who’s Who as one of the nation’s most influential people. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Susan Jones from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Marketing and communications during a crisis demand flexibility and adaptability. For the West Virginia University Foundation, that was never more apparent than during the height of COVID-19. The Foundation’s IMC team of 4 had to quickly put together two campaigns in less than a month to help raise emergency funding for students hurt by the pandemic. ----more---- Learn how this small staff was able to create two compelling campaigns while working remotely and amidst other job responsibilities. Find out what worked and what didn’t, and how under budget constraints, powerful messages were delivered to move donors to donate more than a half-million dollars in one day. About Susan's guest: Bill Nevin is assistant vice president for communications for the West Virginia University Foundation, the private fundraising arm of West Virginia University. In his role at the Foundation, Nevin oversees all areas of internal and external communication and marketing. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2007, he spent six years with WVU News & Information Services (now University Relations/News) as assistant director and external communications manager. ___________________________________________ WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Susan Jones from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Diversity is no longer a nice to have, but a business imperative, especially for the communications industry. Now more than ever, advertising, PR and marketing firms need to be as diverse as the consumers they want to reach. In this podcast, we will explore why diversity is critical to the industry and what agencies are doing to address the challenge. ----more---- About Whitney's guest: Michele Lanza leads Global Talent Acquisition for Ketchum. She has a keen interest in innovative strategies, such as the creation of LaunchPad, Ketchum’s blind selection process for entry-level talent, that was featured in Fast Company.  Michele is passionate about deploying recruiting processes that foster diversity and inclusion because she has experienced firsthand the value it creates for teams and businesses. In addition to her role at Ketchum, Michele is the founder of Work Wider, a career and recruitment social platform for all underrepresented communities. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Whitney Drake from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Content marketing is based on research and data management, of course, but then what? Where do our Big Ideas come from? ----more---- About Cyndi's guest: Larry Stultz, Ph.D., has been on the IMC faculty since 2007. He served as department chair for the Bachelor of Arts in Advertising program at The Art Institute of Atlanta, where he taught courses in conceptual thinking and campaign development for twenty years. He also taught creative campaigns at Atlanta’s Portfolio Center. Prior to entering the teaching phase of his life, he operated design and advertising firms in New Orleans and Atlanta with clients in hospitality and tourism, commercial real estate, corporate communications, health care, and social services. He has served on the board of directors of the Atlanta Ad Club and provides ideation facilitation and consulting services to clients in the southeast. Stultz holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Visual Design from Purdue University, and he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Policy: Social Foundations from Georgia State University in 2006. He lives in Sugar Hill, GA on the north side of Atlanta with Tricia, his wife of fifty years. His two daughters, a son-in-law, and four grandsons also live in ATL where they spend a lot of time on youth team sports. Stultz also spends time camping, kayaking, hiking, and fly fishing in North Georgia. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Cyndi Greenglass from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Buyer centricity has long been the war cry for marketers and sellers alike, but the recent Global pandemic, economic crisis, and even civil unrest has proven that the reality falls desperately short of the promise. The root of the issue resides in the fact that marketing and selling, at least under ‘business as usual guidelines’, feel trite. The traditional go-to-market motions that many organizations have built come with a dependence on some degree of sleight of hand. ----more---- The promise of “results” is propped up by practices that neither understand the true needs of Buyers nor feel any ownership in achieving them. We’re living through events that have the potential to finally force true change. The only organizations surviving and in many cases thriving in the current environment are those that both had formed true relationships with their buyers and were agile enough to respond to how the market was affecting those individuals and others like them. About Mike's guest: Justin Gray Founder & CEO, LeadMD Justin is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of LeadMD, the world’s largest revenue performance consultancy, having implemented over half of the Marketo user base. Justin has made a career of launching successful companies and scaling them, with successful exits of over 200MM+ in the last decade. Justin’s latest endeavor launched in 2016 when he co-founded Six Bricks an online learning startup designed to combat employee and customer churn through experience-based education. Over the past 10 years, Justin has emerged as a strong voice for entrepreneurship, marketing, and culture. As a recognized speaker, Justin has been published over 350 times in industry publications and holds his own column, Tribal Knowledge in Inc., while writing for Entrepreneur, Tech Crunch, and others. Justin and his wife Jennifer met over marketing and three years later welcomed their son, Grayson, into the world in April of 2017 and a daughter in November 2019. This episode of WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Michael Lynch from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, every business is soul searching and wondering how to move forward with their marketing communications. Some common themes have emerged as to how businesses are trying to further humanize their brand, generate empathy from the public, and simply “do the right thing.” ----more---- In parallel, many businesses have pulled the plug, at least temporarily, on advertising programs, many of which include influencer marketing. Is this the right approach, though? Is there a hidden value of influencer marketing that most businesses have yet to grasp? In this podcast, we will learn how brands need to become re-educated on how they define digital influence and influencer marketing, why a long-term approach based on brand affinity – not mere influence – will yield better results, and why the trends that favor influencer marketing’s continued growth do not change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. About Matthew's guest: Neal Schaffer is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and development and execution of social media marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social selling initiatives. President of the digital marketing agency PDCA Social, Neal also teaches digital media to executives at Rutgers University, the Irish Management Institute (Ireland), and the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland). Fluent in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, Neal is a popular keynote speaker and has been invited to speak about digital media on four continents in more than a dozen countries. He is also the author of 4 books on social media, including Maximize Your Social (Wiley) and the recently published The Age of Influence (HarperCollins Leadership), the definitive data-driven playbook for influencer marketing that marketers have been waiting for. Check out his Maximize Your Social Influence podcast for weekly inspiration WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Matthew Cummings from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Remaining Virtually Relevant: When you’re in the business of producing large scale public gatherings, how do you take everything online? On March 15 the CDC issued guidance related to large events and mass gatherings which specifically included examples like festivals, parades, concerts, and sporting events. That guidance was basically the beginning of the widespread cancellation or postponement of events around the country due to concerns around the spread of the highly infectious COVID-19 virus. ----more---- In addition to all of the economic, cultural, and psychological impact that this global pandemic is having across the world, it is no less landmark and potentially devastating for the live event industry and its related businesses. So where does that industry go next? What has been the response and the initial impact and where do we go from here? In this podcast, we will discuss how one 65-year-old nonprofit organization that produces live events and is connected to the largest attended single-day sporting event in the world is navigating this new reality, leading with marketing and communications approaches and finding relevance via a virtual landscape. About Cyndi's guest: Mr. Bob Bryant has been Chief Executive Officer and President of 500 Festival Inc since 2013 and is only the 4th person in that position in the 58-year history of the organization. Mr. Bryant is a veteran sports management executive having served as Tournament Director of the ATP Tour BB&T Atlanta Open and in executive positions with the USTA, professional hockey, and the Arena Football League. He managed his own firm, Team Works Marketing Inc. producing and promoting a variety of events including the US Open SmashZone, Cartoon Network Smash Tennis, USA vs. Russia Hockey Exhibitions, ACC vs. Big East Basketball Challenge and the IHL All-Star Game. He also spent five years at Turner Broadcasting and the Cartoon Network, mostly as Vice President of the Off-Channel Commerce department, where he promoted and monetized new animation brands like the Powerpuff Girls and managed NASCAR and tennis-related programs. The 500 Festival produces over 50 events and programs for over 500,000 people annually as it celebrates the heritage and traditions of the Indianapolis 500 race and enriches the lives of the citizens of Indiana. Marquis events include the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, the nation’s largest half-marathon race, and the IPL 500 Festival Parade, one of the oldest and most prestigious parades in the country which is broadcast nationally and locally and attended by over 300,000 people. Bryant currently resides in Carmel, Indiana with his wife and three boys. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Cyndi Greenglass from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

After 20+ year career in communications that included positions in public relations, advertising, media, and marketing, Lisa Sands stepped into the role of publisher for Edible Cleveland magazine, a local independently-owned publication that is part of a network of roughly 80 other “edibles” across the U.S. and Canada. After one year, Lisa’s has had to analyze all aspects of the magazine’s operations and face many realities about the role media plays in our lives, how we’re using it, where we get our information, and what we are willing to pay for as media consumers and as marketers. We’ll discuss the holistic media landscape from the viewpoint of journalists and also marketers including: Is the traditional media landscape all doom and gloom? Is there still a place for print media in the marketing mix? Do we want to live in a world where everything we consume is online? If the answer is no, then where do we go from here? About Mike's guest: After 20+ year career in communications that included positions in public relations, advertising, media, and marketing, Lisa Sands stepped into the role of publisher for Edible Cleveland magazine, a local independently-owned publication that is part of a network of roughly 80 other “edibles” across the U.S. and Canada.  Edible Cleveland had been a passion project and a side hustle for several years, starting when she was a marketing team leader with Whole Foods Market. During her time with Whole Foods, she discovered her interest and passion for food, particularly with regard to eating better, healthier, more sustainably, and closer to home. At the time, Lisa did not fathom that she would ever advance her part-time passion project into a full-time opportunity. Being the publisher of a magazine about local food merges her professional skill set with her personal interests. She also realized that her extensive and diverse career experience that had helped clients and their projects and brands thrive could be deployed to take Edible Cleveland into some interesting new directions at a time when print and traditional media are especially challenged, yet never more important.  Lisa graduated from the West Virginia University Integrated Marketing Communications program in 2014.  Her undergraduate degree is in broadcast journalism from Kent State University.  WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Michael Lynch from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

Graduating seniors in communications and marketing are facing the daunting prospect of trying to enter the job market during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will not be an easy task. Nearly 4 million students in the US are set to graduate this year in spring 2020. With the world in crisis and uncertainty ahead, the environment continues to be dynamic and fluid. While we can’t predict what the future holds for students and graduates in the short-term, we can help prepare and equip students with information and tips for their upcoming employment journey. ----more---- About Karen's guest: Brandi Boatner Social and Influencer Communications Lead, Global Markets Brand Communications Manager, IBM Corporate Communications Brandi Boatner is an award-winning digital communications professional and prolific public speaker based in New York City. Currently, she serves as the social and influencer communications lead for Global Markets in IBM corporate communications, a newly created position. Her responsibilities include developing a consistent approach to how global markets drive engagement across digital and social platforms, key events and with influencers (both nternal and external) around strategic communications narratives such as Hybrid Cloud, Blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. Additionally, Boatner has extended responsibilities serving as the Brand Communications Manager for IBM Marketing supporting external engagements including press, events and social media for IBM's Senior Vice President of Digital Sales and Chief Marketing Officer. Recently, Boatner was inducted into the Loyola University New Orleans School of Mass Communications Hall of Fame known as the Den of Distinction, the youngest member ever inducted. She was also honored and inducted into the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Hall of Fame in late 2018. Brandi is a true advocate for diversity and inclusion serving as a member of IBM's Diversity and Inclusion Council and also serves as the former chair and current professional development chair of the IBM Black Network of New York business resource group. Given her efforts around diversity in the public relations industry, she is one of more than 40 PR leaders featured in the book Diverse Voices: Lessons in Leadership published by the Public Relations Society of America Foundation. Boatner is very active in the public relations industry where she holds several leadership positions within PRSA on both the local and national levels. She speaks all around the US and the world on a variety of industry and marketplace topics and enjoys traveling, shoe shopping, and spending time with family and friends in her hometown of New Orleans. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Karen Freberg from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.     

National Geographic was founded in 1888. When its magazine editor first introduced photographs in its monthly publication, 2 board members resigned in protest, saying photos essentially dumbed down the content. But today, National Geographic is the #1 media brand in followers on Instagram. And while magazines are shuttered almost every month, National Geographic’s print version remains on newsstands and is published worldwide in nearly 40 languages. ----more---- National Geographic has come out of its association with Rupert Murdoch and 21 st Century Fox, and now is part of Disney + and the family of ESPN and ABC News. How does this work inside the yellow border? About Cyndi's guest: Jeff Hertrick is Director, Digital Video Operations, National Geographic Partners/The Walt Disney Company. Jeff has over 30 years of award-winning video production experience, including the last 19 years at National Geographic. (2015-2019, under 21 st Century Fox, and for the past year, The Walt Disney Company) He has been responsible for video production - including National Geographic news and magazine digital publishing that appears on its website, YouTube, and re-versioned for other platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. He has also hired freelancers around the world for short-form video storytelling, and currently works to assure Nat Geo’s digital video archives are preserved and discoverable for worldwide partners and licensees. Past work has included producing for the Nat Geo Channel, Senior Producer for Discovery Science Channel, and news reporting/producing/anchoring/editing at several TV stations (NBC, CBS, Fox affiliates) in Washington, DC, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where he resides near Shepherdstown. He is also an elected board member of the OAS Federal Credit Union in Washington, DC, has been an adjunct lecturer for the Medill School of Journalism in Washington, and is a 1981 graduate of West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media. WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Cyndi Greenglass from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.