Hopkins Interactive Guest Blog

Marketing at JHU

Name: Preeta Reddy

Year: Class of 2011

Hometown: Fremont, CA

Major: Psychology major, minor in Entrepreneurship & Management

****************************************************************************************************************************

Marketing is a very interesting part of the Center for Leadership Education, which is why I’ve taken an active interest in it this past year. After completing Principles of Marketing, I was able to participate in a two-week long Intersession course during which I heard from Baltimore-area speakers who provided invaluable information about media marketing as well as public relations and then visit New York City where we heard from companies like NBC, CBS, and MTV about media marketing. In the spring semester of 2009, I took Advertising and Promotion, where I and other classmates worked closely with Nissan and EdVenture Partners (our liaison with Nissan) to create awareness about the Nissan cube ® on the Hopkins campus.

During the Intersession course I learned about the specific work that P.R. agencies did – crisis management, fostering a good reputation, building awareness about certain initiatives (e.g. green initiatives) that a company was implementing, as well as the specific work that media firms did – developing programs, keeping track of viewership/listeners, marketing to specific markets, among others. The trip to New York City was a great way to get exposure to huge media giants as well as reputed P.R. firms.

The Advertising and Promotion class was a unique, hands-on experience where our class formed a marketing agency. Serving as co-manager of the Campaign Strategy and Implementation department, my co-manager and I as well as the rest of our team were responsible for creating the “big event” that would generate interest and exposure for the Nissan cube ® on campus. The other departments, Advertising, P.R., Research, Budget, and Reports/Presentations, played huge roles in the marketing campaign. Research conducted thorough surveys and tabulated data in a short period of time to give crucial information to the rest of the class, which we used to determine how to tailor our campaign to the Johns Hopkins undergraduates. P.R. helped get funding and donations for our campaign as well as exposure to the non-Hopkins community. Advertising created a website, two commercials, as well as multiple flyers and banners, as well as employing various non-traditional methods such as a flash mob and an actual cube made out of PVC pipe to garner attention to our campaign. Budget kept track of spending and added value while Reports/Presentations gathered all the work we had done during the semester and created presentations and reports to present to our client, Nissan.

Basically, there was something for everyone in this agency, whether it be analyzing research data or coming up with ideas and executing commercials. In a nutshell, I think that perfectly exemplifies the marketing world, and especially the type of unique experiences that you can have at Johns Hopkins University in the CLE department.

So, You Think You Can Run a Business?

Name: Luke Kelly-Clyne

Year: Class of 2010

Hometown: Wilton, CT

Major: Political Science

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

Not all Hopkins students are pre-meds. Let me say it again: not all Hopkins students are pre-meds. Once more for the people in the back: not all Hopkins students are pre-meds. After three years on campus, I have come to realize that JHU kids really only share one thing in common and that thing is the capacity to think innovatively and critically … NOT the desire to don a stethoscope.

It is a well-known fact that Hopkins is situated among the world’s best in the fields of medicine, public health, engineering, music, and international relations. Soon, business may be added to that impressive list. With the newly opened Carey School of Business and the just-added major (and minor) in Financial Economics, Hopkins has begun to position itself to contribute to society a new class of businesspeople. Knowing the ferociously curious nature of the average student here, and hearing definitive life plans that include “changing the world,” I would bet that many in this “new class” will be entrepreneurs.

When I arrived on campus in 2006, the Carey School was not around and the Center for Financial Economics had not yet been conceived. Luckily, the Center for Leadership Education had already begun to shape Hopkins as a business-friendly campus with the W.P. Carey minor in Entrepreneurship and Management and with a program called Hopkins Student Enterprises (HSE).

Hopkins Student Enterprises, started in 2005, became the school’s student business incubator. We all have “ideas for businesses”. Few of them end up coming to fruition, though, as soon as we realize that we also need... money. That’s where HSE comes in. Students can submit a business plan through the website or by coming into the HSE office. If the idea is a good one, HSE will fund its development and will put the student who submitted the plan to work as an “Enterprise Manager” so that they can call the shots for their new venture. Managers hire and oversee a staff, market their business to the wider community (often Baltimore at large), sell their product, and get the invaluable experience of learning through actually doing.

I started as a consultant for one of HSE’s businesses called Hopkins Technology Commercialization Agency (HTCA) in 2007. Since, I have moved into an administrative role as Vice President and have been lucky enough to help start our two newest businesses Hopkins Delivery Enterprises (HDE) and Hopkins Student Creative Services (HSCS). Next year, I will be stepping in as President.

My time with HSE has been one of my most rewarding experiences at Hopkins and, if you are interested in the process of entrepreneurship, I would strongly recommend thinking about joining the team (whether you start your own business or work for an existing one). The organization’s faculty advisers are incredibly supportive and are always there when you need them, but make a point of being hands-off on a day-to-day basis. This is a space for JHU kids to very realistically put their money where their mouth is, to take the things they’ve learned in the classroom and to be put in a situation where they make or break their own path. It is an opportunity for students to learn a tremendous amount about themselves and to channel, in an extremely exciting, creative way, the fierce ambition that seems to permeate every wall of this campus.

Please e-mail hse@jhu.edu if this sounds like something you may want to be a part of. You do not need to be majoring in a business-related field to work with us, so don’t worry.