Pros and Cons of a Marketing Education

Originally Published in Business North, March 2021  

I don’t recall when I first noticed that a lot of young people are interested marketing degrees. I'm an extrovert, so I frequently strike up conversations with people in grocery store lines. If I learn that the checkout person is in college, I often ask what they’re studying. It is amazing how many say, “Marketing.” 

Even before Mad Men marketing careers had some kind of chic mystique. And with the advent of online marketing, the field has become more interesting than ever. Maybe there’s something to be said for the thrill of sitting in an office here and influencing the behavior of consumers all over the world. 

As I thought about this subject and how to write about it, I felt it might be useful to pick the brain of someone who has been active on both sides of this matter, the academic side and “real world” activities in a corporate capacity. 

Over the years Parnell Thill has been an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Business Development at St. Scholastica where he taught courses in the MBA program on distribution, promotion, pricing, communications and so on. He’s also taught or co-taught classes at UMD, St. Cloud State and Fond du Lac Community College. He is currently a Senior Marketing Manager at AMSOIL INC. after previously serving as VP Marketing at Ikonics.

 

The Value of a Degree

How important is a degree in marketing? Thill began by stating, “If the program is solid and the instructors equally solid--it is possible to have one without the other-- then the study itself is utilitarian in the way that rigorous study of any given subject is. That is, like physical exercise, the intellectual demands of studying marketing, given the broad nature of the topic, is gray-matter inducing. In other words, no one makes a living doing pushups every morning, but doing pushups every morning is still good for you.”

He elaborated by noting that the manner in which consumers consume may be evolving, but the fundamentals of “consumerism” remain constant. Those who appreciate and respect these underlying fundamentals will have an advantage over marketers who do not.

The Downside of an Education

When it comes to landing a position in marketing today, employers are more concerned with getting a candidate with experience, Thill said. “Increasingly, the word ‘experience’ is code for, ‘The kind of experience we need for an immediate impact within our organization and market.’ A general B.S. or B.A. degree in Marketing (or anything else) is not synonymous with being qualified to meet that definition of ‘experience.’”

Another variable Thill underscores is the cost. A college education is more expensive than ever. In the old days it could be assumed that future salary opportunities would offset the costs associated with college and post-graduate degrees. These expectations may be suspect today for many.

A third weakness of the academic route to a marketing career is the textbooks. “While exceptions exist,” he said, “generally, marketing textbooks—especially those concentrated on the ever-evolving tactical landscape in an attempt at relevance—are outdated within hours of their publication.” 

I suspect that this flaw is what leads art students to neglect art history and philosophy students to disparage the Greek classics.

Misconceptions about Marketing

I asked Thill what he saw as the biggest misconceptions about marketing. He began by reiterating something I’d noted in a previous column, the tendency to confuse marketing strategy with tactics.

“For me,” he replied, “the most fundamental and ubiquitous misconception about marketing is that marketing is synonymous with advertising. Or social media. Or graphic design. Or events. Or public relations.”  He then compared it to equating a steering wheel or tires, engine or chassis to an automobile. “All of these elements are critical, but only in concert with the system as a whole.”

“A related misconception,” he added, “is that marketing is a cute and fun add-on to the ‘real business’ of running a business, and therefore anyone can do it.”

An Alternative Marketing Education

To have a future in marketing is not an either/or decision of whether to go to school or not. Thill shared that there are alternatives. One model hearkens back to the trades model in which you follow a graduated progression through apprenticeship, journeyman, master, etc.  “This makes a ton of sense,’ he said. “It ensures that practical experience accompanies theoretical education.”

All too often, though, young professionals are in such a hurry to get to the top that they fail to learn all the lessons that can be absorbed on each rung of the ladder. In the Twin Cities, executive recruiters make good money plucking the discontented from here and plugging them in there. I saw how it’s done because I worked for a executive recruiter for four months and saw firsthand how others did it.

If money is the only objective, I suppose one can play that game. The better play (my opinion only) is to hone your skills and become the best you can be. Stay for as long as it takes in your current setting so that you’re worth what the next company will pay you. If the culture is right you may even retire there.

Suggested Readings

I can’t say enough for the value of books to advance any aspect of your career. Thus, I asked Parnell to make some book recommendations. Here are three.

On Marketing by Phil Kotler
Every marketing pro should have this oldie-but-goodie on the shelf, he said. Just as every aspiring musician should listen to early 20^th century blue and classical superstars like Mendelson and Mozart, in order to know “where we came from,” aspiring marketers should know the classics. This is one. 

Good to Great by Jim Collins
Perhaps it’s become cliché now, “but I think it’s a good example of the breadth of influence good marketing has on successful organizations,” he said.

I Hate Your Bike: Marketing Fundamentals for Experts and Posers by Parnell Thill
Tentatively scheduled for release in June 2021, we just had to put this in here. When my own marketing book is ready I will keep you posted. 

* * *

Related Links

No Silver Bullets and Four Other Things I've Learned About Marketing

Internet Marketing: Five Considerations

Why Print Still Matters for Marketers

This Day In History: Events of Note, Events to Mourn -- With Commentary

Young Mr. Disney with famous his pal Mickey

Walt Disney was trending on Twitter today. He's been dead for quite some time, so it couldn't have been news about his passing. Sure enough, it was news about his coming back to life after being stored in a cryogenic state since his passing in 1966. 

Just kidding. On this day in History Walt Disney was born in 1901.

Upon reading this I had two directions to consider. (1) a blog post about Mr. Disney and his influence, or (2) an overview of other events that took place on this day in history. I'm choosing the latter. 

DID YOU KNOW

ON THIS DAY in history... 

In 1848 the California Gold Rush began. 
California was pretty desolate before that. There used to be three ways to get to the West Coast back before the Transcontinental Railroad. All of them took six months and were fraught with peril. One was was by boat, around the tip of South America, passing through the treacherous Straits of Magellan. The second route was to go by sea down to the Panama Isthmus and do a land passage to the other side. The danger there, of course, was malaria and dengue fever. A third route was equally challenging, by wagon train across the continent. There were no guarantees and many hazards on this journey, too.

Two other big Gold Rush events occurred in our history. One was the Black Hills Gold Rush (1976-77) and the second was the Yukon Gold Rush (1892-1912). Adventurer and author Jack London wrote many stories about the latter. (If you can find it, look for his tale "Lost Face") As for the Black Hills, there is still "gold in them thar hills. (To this day people are still chasing gold in myriad ways, but that's a different story.)

The Bermuda Triangle Event of 1945
Depending on which account you read, on this day in 1945 either four or five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers disappeared approximately 100 miles off the coast of Florida. Flight 19 took off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station on a routine three-hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They never returned, disappearing without a trace.

1791--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dies in Vienna.
Years ago I made lists of favorite things with one list being favorite short classical compositions. More recently I shared these in story titled 10 Classical Music Favorites of Exquisite Beauty. Two Mozart compositions were on this list. What an amazingly productive genius. He packed so much into such a short life that it seems almost inconceivable.

Publicity still for Bob Dylan's "Heaven's Door" whisky.*

1933--The 21st Amendment ends Prohibition in the United States
13 years earlier the Volstead Act was passed and, as with many decisions, the law of unintended consequences was set in motion. Interestingly, Jack London wrote a novel in support of Prohibition titled John Barleycorn about his enjoyment of and struggles with alcohol. The fourth studio album of the British group Traffic was titled John Barleycorn Must Die. (Interesting.)

1955 - Today was the beginning of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King.
Let's pause for a moment of silence because race is still such an issue in this country.

1964 - Lorne Greene's song "Ringo" becomes a No. 1 hit single in the U.S.
It's always interesting when people famous in one discipline do something in another. Dylan making sculpture for example. Or comedian Jonathan Winters making fine art. Greene was one of the four members of the Cartwright family on one of television's longest running Weesterns, Bonanza. At our house it seems like the show was on every Sunday night from 1959 into the early 70's. Off the top of my head I am not sure how many Hollywood stars become rock stars, but I do know that fame as a rock star seems to open doors in Hollywood. Mick Jagger, David Bowie, The Beatles, Madonna come readily to mind. 

1965--The Beatles play their last Liverpool concert
The Fab Four performed at the Liverpool Empire. There were only 5100 tickets and 40,000 applications. That week the #1 hit in the UK was their "We Can Work It Out"/"Day Tripper"... a single that I also had bought around that time.

1968--The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet was released. 
That year for Christmas I think the one thing I wanted more than anything was Beggar's Banquet. I was into the Stones because all the girls in schools seemed to swoon over The Beatles, so it was a bit of a contrarian attitude. Nevertheless I did have most of the albums by both groups up through the early 70s. And yes, I did get Beggar's Banquet for Christmas that year. The photo inside was so cool!

In 1992, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" begins a 10 week run at #1 in the UK  

As the saying goes, Ms. Houston had incredible pipes. She sold over 200 million records worldwide and according the Guinness Book of World Records she was the most awarded female artist of all time. What prompted me to include this bit of trivia was seeing that Dolly Parton was the songwriter. It wasn't until I watched the Ken Burns documentary on Country Music that I discovered Ms. Parton was a songwriter and not just a performer. Dolly Parton was the 4th of 12 children born in Eastern Tennessee, her earliest years in a one room house. If I recall correctly, she wrote her first song when she was five. 

* See: Marketing Heaven's Door: Bob Dylan's Foray into the Whiskey Business

Eric Himy's Homage to Liszt

“Art is Heaven on earth, to which one never appeals in vain when faced with the oppressions of this world.” ~ Franz Liszt

I like surprises. Two weeks ago I discovered the Oldenburg House Bed & Breakfast. Located on the outskirts of Carlton it was the birthplace of Jay Cooke State Park. The Oldenburg House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, bordering not only the park but also the Willard Munger State Trail, the National Kayak and Canoe Center and Thompson Reservoir.

In addition to being tangent to a corner of North Country paradise, the Oldenburg House is also host to music and arts events, one of which is taking place May 9 when the world-renowned pianist Eric Himy performs here. Himy, who’s training from his youth is an amazing story in-and-of itself, has been compared to pianists as distinguished as Vladimer Horowitz. The “short list” of nations where he has played to critical acclaim include Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Slovenia… and, of course, the United States where he was born to immigrant parents in New York.

I’ll share a little more about Mr. Himy another time, but wanted to make sure you had a chance to put May 9 on your calendar because there are so many things happening in May with the inaugural North X North music and arts experience.

I took lessons in classical piano when I was a boy, falling in love with the staggering beauty of Chopin (whom I am listening to as I write this) and Beethoven and Tschaikovski at that time. Any comparison, however, between Mr. Himy and myself stops there. In additino to having the wonderful privilege of being able to obtain rich musical experiences and training at an early age, Himy followed it through to some great experiences on both coasts and all the way to Juilliard. Among his earliest teachers was a 90-year old Madame Rosa who claimed to be a student of the man who is clearly his hero, Franz Liszt.

This past week I asked Mr. Himy a few questions, one of which was to make a comment on each of several classic masters and what distinguishes them. Here were his replies.

Chopin: His soul, poet of the piano.
Beethoven: His defiance and will, triumph of the human spirit.
Gershwin: Cool independent unique genius, American par excellence.
Ravel: Craftsman, sensational piano writing and colors.
Tschaikovski: All heart and passion.
Rachmaninov: In the lineage of Liszt, pianist composer, thus knows how to write for piano, harmonies that overripe and wrenching.
Liszt: The MASTER pianist…. the ROMANTIC, the DEVIL, the VIRTUSOSO…. has it all.
Mozart: Music to get purged with after, such simplicity, honesty and purity.

In addition to being an amazing pianist he’s also an insightful writer. The liner notes to his Homage To Liszt CD make for an excellent reading experience even if you are not a lover of classical music. The essay begins with a gripping opening.

“To speak of Liszt is to speak of an immense force of nature. His music has been described as powerful, radical, enigmatic and spellbinding. With his music Liszt seems to have captured the very spirit, heart, soul and genuineness of humanity.”

For an even more satisfying experience I encourage you to set aside May 9 for this memorable evening of music. The program will be hosted by Keith Swanson, conductor of the Itasca Symphony Orchestra with cellist Jeffrey Erband opening. Purchase your tickets online at  oacc.oldenburghouse.com

Photo courtesy Eric Himy