June 2022 - Vol 2. Issue 6
Packing your Bags?
June marks the start of summer and the peak season for travel. The U.S. travel and tourism industry generates $1.9 trillion in economic output; supports 9.5 million American jobs and accounts for 2.9% of U.S. GDP. With travel restrictions easing, the industry looked for a strong rebound this summer. But 40 year high inflation rates and uncertainties about health and safety have many changing their vacation plans. The MSMI Intelligencer looks at whether travelers will be taking to the skies, the open road or enjoying a staycation this season.
In a March 2022 study fielded by Deloitte, finances are replacing health as the main travel concern. Travelers will spend more but take fewer trips. More plan to take road trips than flights. One interesting finding was that a new group of travelers (20%) has emerged, the “laptop lugger”, who plans to mix work with their vacation. For more insights, read the full survey on Deloitte.
Another study conducted by Lending Tree, an online lender, points to the same trend. Their study suggests 73% of Americans do have travel plans, a significant increase of 20 pts. from last year. Travelers know they will spend more on fuel, food, and lodging so they are doing fewer trips. For those not traveling, 57% say they can’t afford to do so, up from 43% last summer.
From June 20 to 24, there is another significant group of travelers who will be packing their bags and laptops and jetting off to Cannes, France for the International Festival of Creativity. Senior marketing and advertising executives and the top creative talent from across the globe flock here for the annual awards ceremonies. Much like the Oscars, Agencies and their Creative directors hope to take home a coveted Lion and be acknowledged by their peers for their creative excellence. For five straight days, there are events, panels, award ceremonies and lots of champagne and opportunities for new business. Check out the event lineup here In our July issue, we’ll cover the winning campaigns.
MSMI graduation ceremony
During the last week of May, the MSMI Cohort 10 had their graduation ceremonies. A few of our MSMI graduates have words of wisdom about their experiences in the Marketing Intelligence program.
“Graduating from MSMI and seeing my classmates celebrating their own feat left me excited for what’s to come! I cannot wait to reconnect with these same people in a couple of years and hear where life and their Gabelli degree has taken them!” - Katrina Velilla, MSMI 22’
“It was a mix of emotions because this was my first graduation ceremony since my undergrad ceremony didn't happen due to Covid so I was very happy but at the same time sad because my parents couldn't be there to see me but they did make arrangements back at home to do a live screening/ I felt it got over so soon; we just started and it doesn't seem like it's already been a year.” - Shambhavi Chaturvedi, MSMI 22’
“Graduating from Fordham's MSMI program, I feel so much more confident in myself because of the up-to-date curriculum and fantastic delivery by professors. I believe I have developed a data-driven approach to problem-solving which will help me increase efficiency and effectively achieve business objectives for any company that I work for. I feel a little sad that my time at Fordham has almost come to an end so soon but I will cherish this experience for the rest of my lifetime.” - Meet Dave, MSMI 22’
Master Grad Schools interviews Aditya Gupta, MSMI ‘22
Master Grad Schools’ mission is to connect students and leading postgraduate institutions. Aditya Gupta was selected to offer his insights on what to expect from the MSMI program and how it helped him make the transition from engineering to marketing.
Applied Project Briefings
The final capstone project briefings have begun. Last week, MSMI students traveled to McCann Worldgroup offices to be briefed on their assignments. Three teams were briefed on their projects — Truth about Beauty, Truth about the Metaverse and Truth about Commerce. Others Zoomed with clients for their project briefings. These projects are designed for students to work directly with major companies and Brands in NYC to provide their insight intelligence and consultation on real business issues. In addition to the above projects, companies such as Mindshare Media, Medidata Solutions, a life science tech company, QWASI technology and Rensa Game developers have also given students additional business challenges to solve. These projects end with presentations to the clients in mid-July.
Save the Date —
Wednesday, July 27 6 to 8 PM for our End-of-Program event. More details to follow.