the MSMI Intelligencer Report
Welcome Lucky 13 MSMI class!!
The newest members of our MSMI program showed no signs of triskaidekaphobia despite being our 13th cohort. Students enjoyed their special lucky 13 cookies and keychains. A big thank you to Asst. Dean Kate Kennon and Asst Dean Susan McGowan, who were there to review specifics of the program and to Sajan Dihenia, Odette Ofosu-Siaw, Vrinda Jodhwani, and Vidhi Jain members of Cohort 12 who provided personal advice and encouragement. We look forward to an exciting semester helping all of you grow, succeed, and elevate your talents to the next level.
Do Brands Vote?
Silly question? Although Brands don’t vote, marketers intensely discuss and debate how their Brands will navigate in a presidential election year. Brand strategies on many levels, from messaging and promotions to media strategy, are impacted in a presidential year. Given the highly polarizing nature of this election, Brands need to know how to engage with their consumers. Do they align with values or issues or do they stay neutral and promote “Get out the Vote”? Many fashion Brands are taking the latter approach, as highlighted in this article: Vogue; Designers Encourage Civic Engagement. The NFL also launched a high profile Voter Initiative Campaign. However, in this heated climate, even this approach is deemed by some as “political” because there is a belief that higher voter turnout favors Democrats, but it has not been proven conclusively.
Beyond messaging and communications, all Brands will find themselves struggling to get attention. Some consumers may tune out due to the intensity of the political coverage. Ad costs rise sharply as political ads crowd out the inventory across TV, radio and digital platforms. Brands usually reassess their media strategy in an election year as they consider increasing their budgets to maintain visibility or spending on alternative and less politically charged channels such as streaming, influencers, or niche websites.
For more on this subject, here are two reports that provide deeper insights: Ogilvy’s Election2024BuildingaResilient Brand and the Edelman Trust Barometer. Both provide interesting perspectives for Brands to consider in developing their marketing strategy.
Pumpkin time
On a lighter note, perhaps you’ve noticed that something comes over us in the fall. It’s our obsession with everything pumpkin… pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin jack-o-lanterns. Almost every food or snack Brand has a pumpkin spice variety. Last year the pumpkin spice market was valued at $600 MM. Much of this craze was fueled by Starbucks’ launch of the Pumpkin Spice Latte over 20 years ago. For more on this famous case history in product innovation, read PSLturns20. And for our longstanding attachment to this orange-colored gourd, which is really a fruit, NPR did a piece several years ago — Why Americans go crazy for pumpkins
CareerNotes
It’s not too early to get started on your putting together your career portfolio — resume, LinkedIn profile, networking contacts, etc. Fordham offers a comprehensive array of resources:
Ancy Joseph, Career Advising Consultant and Adjunct Professor. Schedule an appointment through CareerPath.
Alums-In- Residence: Alex Carlin , Senior UX Research at Google, Chenyi Li, Senior Data Scientist, Spotify, Hana Kalaie Sharan, Product Marketing Mgr. Amazon
Remember, you must complete the Career Development User Agreement (https://fordham.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_55RDCv3LPE5DAz4), to schedule appointments in CareerPath.
Follow The Marketing Area at Gabelli School of Business on LinkedIn. Every Friday, new job opportunities are posted.
The Grad Insider is an important resource for news and events from the Student Success Center. You can sign up here to receive Grad Insider and the Student Success Center Calendar is another way to keep track of events weekly.
New2NY
There is probably too much happening in New York in October to cover here, but we can highlight a few standouts —
-Halloween is always wild in New York, especially the Village Halloween Parade, on Thurs, night, October 31. Can’t wait that long? Then join in the fun at Fordham’s Annual Halloween Party! Friday, October 11th, 8:00PM - 10:00PM
- New York gets all kinds of visitors but there’s one group that may seem out of place, when you first see them. The Great Elephant Migration, an exhibit of 100 elephants is on display in the Meatpacking District as part of a global fundraising effort to uplift indigenous voices and motivate humans to share space with their animal neighbors. Elephant
- And finally, in the sports world, nothing compares to New York baseball in the postseason. Both teams, the Yanks and the Mets, will be playing in the National League Division Series and the Yankees in the American League Division series. Pick a team, find a watch party, and whether you find yourself singing OMG or Frank Sinatra’s New York, NewYork, enjoy the fun. Playoff Schedule.