Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | March 6, 2023 | wbjournal.com Educating, inspiring, and possibly employing A Clark professor's course offers contemporary practical lessons and the potential for internships from corporate executive guests BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer T here didn't seem to be any empty seats in the Clark University classroom on the aernoon of Valentine's Day for Episode 4.5 of Lawrence Norman's class Marketing to You. e classes are numbered like televi- sion shows; this is the fih class of the fourth semester he's offered the class. e class is overbooked, said teaching assistant Simi Stark, a senior at Clark in Worcester. Students in the class represent 18 different majors. People who take the class range from freshmen to graduate students. e class, including a student in the front row wearing SpongeBob SquarePants slippers, is engaged through- out the three-hour weekly class. Marketing to You brings ambitious students and accomplished executives together in an active classroom setting. Students learn from the experience of the executives while the executives stay connected with the youth market and can oen find ambitious and talented candidates for internships and jobs. Stu- dents are driven to come up with ideas for products and campaigns to market those products, and then must present them before the class during each session. On Valentine's Day, the students were gathered to meet with Allison Giorgio, vice president of marketing for Puma Group, the German athletic footwear and lifestyle brand. One of the hallmarks of the class are its guest speakers, mostly executives at companies from startups to Fortune 500 behemoths. Noah Katz, a freshman at Clark whose multi-media company e Umpire Channel since June has grown to 30,000 followers mainly on TikTok and Insta- gram, said reading about the class and its impressive guest speakers was partly responsible for him choosing Clark for his higher education. "It's not a typical course," said freshman Neel Kumar, a rapper and producer who performs under the name Masala King. "Students learn how to approach people to ask for opportunities. How to sell your- self as a brand." Kumar hopes to inspire and teach South Asian-American youth about the music industry. Pitching for internships In the Valentine's Day class, the pro- ceedings began with an acknowledge- ment of the Feb. 13 shooting at Mich- igan State University. Norman worked in Israel during a turbulent time in the country and shared his familiarity with similar tragedies. at was the one som- ber moment of the high-energy class, fueled by music and highly designed multimedia slides. Norman keeps the class current by preparing content 48 hours before the class. In this class, he discussed Super Bowl commercials aired two days before. e class is rigorously structured, broken up into sections, which helps students to stay engaged during a class Norman points out is longer than an Marketing to You featured speakers Clark University marketing professor Lawrence Norman has had these high-profile people speak in Season 4 of his Marketing to You class this year. Episode 1 Crazy Legs Conti, competitive eater and writer Episode 2 Manny Lubin & Josh Belinsky, co-founders, and Anna Carr, head of partnerships for Slate Milk Episode 3 Jed Berger, global president of Kenneth Cole Productions Episode 4 Greg Via, former vice president global partnerships at Procter & Gamble Episode 5 Allison Giorgio, vice president marketing at Puma Episode 6 Johanna Faries, senior vice president and general manager of Call of Duty for Activision Blizzard Episode 7 Uli Becker, former CEO of Reebok and former chief marketing officer for adidas Source: Lawrence Norman Clark University course Marketing to You engages students through multimedia presentations and top-tier guests. PHOTO | NOAH KATZ

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