UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Marketing and branding professionals told their stories and stressed three major lessons to Penn State Smeal College of Business students at Penn State Prime’s ninth annual “Forging a Career in Branding Panel,” held recently on Zoom.
Penn State Prime is a student-run marketing organization that works hands-on with industry professionals throughout their time at Penn State. For the last nine years, it has hosted the “Forging a Career in Branding” panel. It invites Penn State alumni and career professionals to talk about their experiences in branding.
This year’s panelists included: Alex Cohen, a senior marketing manager at Comcast; Linda Nguyen, a customer business manager at Unilever; Catlin Rush, a marketing manager for Meta; Nick Bayer, the CEO and founder of Saxby’s; and Lynne Field, head of strategy at Future Brand.
One attendee said he was struck by the nonlinear path the panelists said they took to their current positions.
“They shared that their career paths were not simple and straight, and it took challenges, self-introspection and lateral movement to discover what they liked,” said Jayani Jayakanthan, a junior marketing major. “This event gave me a fuller understanding of careers in brand marketing, and the passion that goes into each project.”
In addition, the panelists explored three themes that served as lessons for the students in attendance.
Lesson No. 1: Have a growth mindset
All of the panelists agreed that taking time to learn your audience is an extremely valuable skill when working in marketing. However, they also discussed the importance of learning about yourself and growing.
“Also learn about yourself,” Rush said “I think being very introspective and being self-aware is an incredibly valuable skill.”
Cohen discussed how it is important to put yourself in uncomfortable positions in order to grow not only in your career but also as a person. He said he believes this is what will help students excel in their careers.
Nguyen agreed.
“I think it's always evolving. It never stops. Just that learning experience to become a good leader,” she said.
Lesson #2: Be a storyteller
“No matter what brand you work in, or if you move into a sales role, you need to be a good storyteller,” Cohen said. “Whether they're directly working on the brand, or, in Nick's case, if you're the CEO of the company or you're a barista at a counter, you are an embodiment of the brand.”
Cohen advised marketing students to take creative writing classes to better tell the stories of their company and brand.
The panelists stressed the importance of soft skills with emotional intelligence and resilience.
“Put yourself in an uncomfortable position, work with teams and do those things. That's what employers are looking for,” Bayer said.
Lesson #3: Redirecting your goals is key
“It's about expecting and inspiring brilliance,” Field said. “Dare to fail.”
The panelists said they were constantly looking how to do better in their branding, sales and marketing. At their companies, there were projects that failed. And they stressed the importance of opportunity.
Nguyen described how Unilever pulled a Dove shampoo and conditioner after consumers were confused with Dove’s brand clarity. They were known for body positivity and self-esteem, yet the shampoo was branded in sustainability.
“I think it's really important to sometimes just put your pride aside and really take a step back and be like, ‘OK, what is the data telling us?’” she said.
From there, they moved on with different products and found new opportunities.
The panelists shared how this mindset extends to their personal and professional lives.
Cohen worked for Penn State Athletics when he was a student, and his goal was to work in sports. He worked for Major League Baseball for three years, but he decided to move to Dell’s marketing team.
He said he never expected to leave sports, but he knew it was the right choice to improve his skills.
“You bring in, you know, new ways of thinking. I never thought when I was starting out that I would be ending up at Comcast. I thought I was going to be in sports my entire career,” Cohen said.
The wisdom the panelists shared resonated with Jayakanthan.
“I also feel encouraged to reach out to people such as the panelists for advice and direction, and appreciate their time and efforts,” he said.
The panelists said they walked in the shoes of Penn State Smeal students. They had internships through the school, participated in THON, volunteered for the Homecoming committee and more. Today, they work in marketing and sales departments at national companies.
“Involvement on campus really gave me the opportunity to apply so much of what I was learning in class very practically,” Rush said. “I cannot state enough just the encouragement of being involved on campus.”