I recently got the opportunity to interview Kenny Day, Oklahoma Baptist University’s Marketing Communications Coordinator. He gave me some important insight into what goes into marketing for our university. First, Kenny told me about how the company was set up. According to Alexander Chernev, "A company’s ability to successfully compete in a given market is defined by its resources – core competencies and strategic assets – that enable the company to fulfill customer needs" (2014).

Kenny explained how his company was comprised to fulfill customer needs. "My boss is Paula Gower, the Associate Vice President for Marketing Communications. I report to her. I work in multiple areas. I do a lot of writing: news stories, advertising, speeches. Lane Castleberry is our web content and social media coordinator. Damon Seymour is our web developer. We also have a graphic designer, Shelly Marker-Cash, and Sophie Stanley is our Marketing Communications Assistant."

My marketing research class had done some work for Paula Gower, so automatically, I saw how many different aspects go into marketing. There’s research, communication, web content, advertising, graphic design, and that just barely scratches the surface.

Kenny’s biggest challenges were time and trying to choose what to include in his writing. "You have to be able to decide what are the most important things." With so much information to convey to your constituents, it is vital that you know exactly what they are looking for. The key for Kenny is good content.

I asked him about how technology had changed his career. I wanted to know how he stayed on top of it all through the years. He said, "Social media is probably the biggest change. There are so many different places to communicate your message. There’s also so many places people can be out there disparaging your brand that you have to be watching. The exploding amount of media out there is the biggest change."

I finally asked him about any ethical issues he has to deal with. This is especially important today as morality and truth have become very skewed. Of Christian marketers, Scott B. Rae and Kenman L. Wong write, "Business faculty should take the lead, first in debunking the belief that marketing is simply advertising and selling, a notion that unnecessarily relegates the discipline to a narrow promotional role" (2012). Kenny and his team of marketers actually have the integrity of the university on their shoulders.

Kenny explained, "In any setting you’re in, and especially communications, privacy is a big issue. There are things you can and cannot say. There are many things we know that we can’t tell anyone. There are even things I know that I can’t tell my wife. A lot of people will blur that line, but I would challenge you in your careers, don’t blur that line. You can’t just say, ‘Well, I know they’re not going to tell anyone.’ You can’t do that." I will definitely remember that advice: don’t blur lines in any ethical situation.

References

Chernev, A. (2014). Strategic Marketing Management. Chicago: Cerebellum Press.

Rae, S.B., Wong, K.L. (2012). Beyond Integrity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.