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Academic Research Techniques Propel the Marketing Field

Fickle consumers, the proliferation of advertising, the brave new world of innovative media, globalization, and the overwhelming number of product choices can certainly complicate the best marketing efforts. But, according to Douglas Bowman, a Caldwell Research Fellow and associate professor of marketing at Goizueta, academic research and analysis techniques are now enabling those in the marketing field to break through this clutter and better understand their return on investment. He notes, “Scholarly research in finance took off with the availability of high quality data. Marketing is now at a similar stage, where the availability of data together with advances in research technology allows the field to investigate problems that previously were unapproachable.”

In the budget-conscious business world, everyone is driven by the almighty dollar. However, getting a handle on ROI is difficult in as creative an environment as marketing. Says Bowman, “Marketing is never going to be a field like physics, where set laws of gravity apply. There’s always going to be a softer side that needs to be coupled with the data-driven side. The most successful people in the discipline are those who understand this balance.” That’s why Bowman devotes considerable time researching this linkage. His current work deals with understanding account management and resource deployment as it relates to customer loyalty. His previous research has centered on the evolving nature of buyer-seller relationships and the direct ties between brand marketing and brand performance.

Today, Bowman also serves as codirector of research for the Institute of Brand Science at Emory University. In addition, he chairs the social sciences division of Emory’s University Research Council, which provides university faculty with seed funding for research. In the classroom, Bowman teaches product and brand management and a PhD seminar in empirical models in marketing. He says, “Brand management is a sought-after career path for Goizueta graduates. Issues related to building brands and linking brand equity to customer equity have accelerated in importance as firms seek ways to differentiate product offerings.”

With numerous awards, publications, and research association roles to his credit, Bowman says that one of the highlights of his career included chairing the 2005 INFORMS Marketing Science Conference, which brought to Emory the largest and most prestigious marketing academic conference held at a b-school. In 2007, he chairs the Advanced Research Techniques Forum, the most technical of the American Marketing Association’s research conferences. Of course, Bowman’s students are the beneficiaries of his sweeping and distinguished work in the field. He adds, “A natural outcome of pursuing research that is motivated by problems of practical importance is the integration between my teaching and research. Marketing is an applied discipline. My goal is to produce research and to teach in a way that is both scientifically rigorous and practically relevant.”

Cori M. Donaldson 04MBA(below), recently accepted a position as an industry relationship manager for Discover Card, a business unit within Morgan Stanley. Prior to her new position, Donaldson held the post of senior marketing manager for American Express, facilitating a number of high-profile strategic partnerships and co-branding efforts for the well-known global company. She managed the marketing, operational, and financial efforts from the New York City offices, handling such clients as Delta Airlines, Virgin America, Midwest Airlines, and Spirit. The post was always challenging, but never boring, says Donaldson. For instance, she headed the development and execution for a multimillion-dollar co-branded airport terminal with Delta at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

It is her Goizueta experience that Donaldson says she continually draws on to help her at work. After a summer internship at American Express, she quickly moved up the corporate ladder of the well-known financial company. She notes, “The marketing electives I took at Goizueta were great preparation, particularly the Goizueta Marketing Strategy Competition held by Dr. Reshma Shah.” Donaldson also points to the school’s emphasis on presentation and leadership skills. “I selected Goizueta because of its focus on leadership,” she says. “Any decent business school can teach all of the basics you need to know about business, but I did not find this level of focus on leadership at other business schools. Regardless of your selected field—marketing, finance, nonprofit, entrepreneurship—strong and effective leadership is essential to becoming successful.”

As senior manager in marketing research for Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Kumar Kantheti 02MBA manages the primary marketing research conducted in support of sales and marketing of the company’s products. From the Marietta, Georgia corporate offices, Kantheti also directs the generation, analysis, and reporting on the pharmaceutical environment and competitive activities in the industry. And, as the company looks toward product innovation and merger and acquisition opportunities to grow the business, Kantheti is a critical part of this strategic process.

Kantheti believes that additional innovation in the field, particularly on the IT side, will be needed to meet the challenges presented by marketing to a global community. He adds, “The marketing field, in my view, is currently entering a phase where many of the old dynamics are challenged—the biggest factor being the advent of globalization.” He says that his experience at Goizueta has helped him to meet the changing dynamics of the field head-on. Says Kantheti, “The faculty at Goizueta is very much in touch with the industry through a number of avenues, including board memberships, consulting, industry panels and interactions, and executive education. This process helps them to bring a real-life approach to various issues they see being practiced in the boardrooms into the classrooms.”

III. Researching the Role of Human Capital
in the Consulting Arena

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