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You might think that someone who works for the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School has no need for an M.S. in strategic communications; but you'd have to think again.
David Rogers, who works as the Center's associate director, has been pursuing part-time studies for the past two years in strategic communications at the School of Continuing Education (SCE), and believes he has learned a lot. In particular, he appreciated being in a class made up of experienced communications professionals like himself, and taking classes that focus on real-world issues of strategy and business.
Rogers has now completed his Advanced Communications Project, the equivalent of a master's thesis for the program, in which he advised a new women's magazine called Tango on how to build a brand that would connect with readers.
The project was a learning experience from beginning to end, he says.
He had to be enterprising to come up with the idea for the project in the first place. When he reached the final semester, he knew that he wanted to do a project on a consumer brand in need of crafting an identity. He also knew he wanted to work with a relatively new company -- one that had already gotten off the ground but was still young enough to be open to new ideas.
But knowing what he wanted was one thing and finding a suitable candidate, quite another.
Rogers found help when he walked across the hall to the Business School's Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship. They put him in touch with three CU alums leading new businesses that the Lang Center had helped to nurture -- a path that led ultimately to Tango, a magazine that bills itself as being "about relationships."
Thus a project was born -- after which, Rogers says, the real work began, starting with a survey of the women's magazine industry and of Tango's previous customer research. To understand the brand more thoroughly, he then interviewed the editorial team, performed a linguistic analysis of the magazine copy, and led consumer groups through a series of questions, games and interactive exercises.
Rogers says that he often relied on advice from his supervisor, Louise Whittet, an expert in strategic planning and brand development, in shaping his research and contacting sources in magazine advertising. With her help, he was able to "get in touch with experts whom I could never have otherwise reached," he says.
He also gained valuable input into his project at the independent seminars taught by faculty advisers throughout the semester. At one, the faculty discussed the differences between a market-based brand -- one that is developed to meet the needs of a pre-existing market -- and a "lighthouse" brand, where a company, using its leaders' vision and passion, attempts to drive the market in new directions.
Rogers could see that the magazine world -- and the media industry generally -- favored the latter approach. "You don't write a screenplay or a TV show based on market research," he explained. Using this observation as his starting point, he began to develop a strategy focusing on Tango's unique take on relationships and finding the core audience most likely to be interested in the magazine's message.
The final test, however, came when Rogers had to present his analysis and recommendations last December, twice -- first to a review board of SCE faculty and board members, and the next day to Tango's editors and founder.
It was an intimidating situation, combining the intensity of an academic oral defense with a real-world pitch in a corporate boardroom. Fortunately, Rogers had done enough preparation that he was able to sail through with flying colors. In fact, Tango was so impressed by the quality of his research that they followed up to discuss the cover of their next issue and future editorial strategy.
Trudi Baldwin, who has directed the M.S. in strategic communications since the program's inception in 2002, says that Rogers' story is far from atypical. During the past three years, she has received a great deal of glowing feedback -- both from the students who have participated and from representatives of the companies and organizations they have worked closely with, who acknowledge having received valuable advice. "The benefits go both ways," Baldwin says, pointing out that a number of students have received job offers as a result of their work in the program or have moved up within their own workplace.
Whittet concurs with Baldwin's assessment, saying that she often observes students who are already in the industry getting a "broader and deeper view of the field" and later "moving to fill wide-ranging roles" in their companies. "They develop into strategic thinkers instead of just doers," she explains.
About the SCE Master's Programs
The M.S. program in strategic communications is the first graduate program to be offered by the School of Continuing Education. It has graduated 70 students since its inception in 2002.
Gratified by the program's success, SCE has since added three more graduate-level programs:
• Fundraising Management for Nonprofits;
• Landscape Design; and
• Technology Management.
In fall 2006, it will be offering two more: in information and archive
management and in actuarial science.
Click for more information on all of SCE's programs. |
