Internal Influence: How successful organizations use internal marketing programs

Don Schultz
Professor Emeritus-in-Service of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University and President of Agora, Inc.

 

 

Heidi Schultz
Executive Vice President
Agora, Inc. 

 

 

Learn why internal support is vital in today’s increasingly “pull-driven,” service-oriented b-to-b marketplace when Don Schultz, professor emeritus, Integrated Marketing Communications, at Northwestern University and Heidi Schultz, executive vice president of Agora, Inc., and professor at Northwestern University, lead a discussion on internal marketing at this month’s BMA Breakfast RoundTable at IIT’s Stuart School of Business.

Through a presentation of a “best practices in internal marketing” study conducted among 35 major marketing organizations, this RoundTable will demonstrate how the support of employees, influencers, recommenders and other involved stakeholders is generally the difference between marketplace success and failure.

Don and Heidi Schultz will also review the seven primary elements used by major organizations in successful internal marketing programs and give a demonstration of an internal marketing audit tool developed by Northwestern University students.

About Don Schultz

Don E. Schultz is Professor Emeritus-in-Service of Integrated Marketing Communications at The Medill School, Northwestern University. He also is President of the consulting firm, Agora, Inc., also based in in Evanston, Ill. Additionally, he is a Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management, Bedfordshire, UK, and Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. He also has served as a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University and Cheong Kong University, both in Beijing, China; the Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland; and Hull University, Hull, United Kingdom.

Following his graduation from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Marketing/Journalism, Schultz began his career as a sales promotion writer for trade magazine publishers in Dallas. From there, he moved into publication sales and management and was advertising director of a daily newspaper in Texas. He then joined Tracy-Locke Advertising and Public Relations in Dallas in 1965. He was with the agency for almost 10 years in its Dallas, New York, and Columbus, Ohio, offices as branch manager. Over this time, he served as management supervisor for a number of national consumer product, service and industrial accounts.

In 1974, Schultz resigned as senior vice president of Tracy-Locke to launch a career in academia. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Advertising and a Ph.D. in Mass Media from Michigan State University while also teaching in the MSU Department of Advertising. He joined Northwestern in 1977.

Schultz has consulted, lectured and held seminars on integrated marketing communications, marketing, advertising, sales promotion, brands and branding and communication management in Europe, South America, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America. His articles have appeared in numerous professional trade publications and academic journals, and he is the author or coauthor of 18 books. His recent books include Communicating Globally (2000) and Raising the Corporate Umbrella (2001). In 2004, he and his wife Heidi co-authored an update on the seminal text on IMC, IMC: Next Generation, an published Brand Babble: Sense and Nonsense about Brands and Branding. The couple is currently working on a new text, Building Customer Brand Relationships, with co-authors Beth Barnes and Marian Azzarro.

Schultz is a former director of the Promotion Marketing Association of America and past Chairman, Accrediting Committee, Accrediting Council in Journalism and Mass Communications. He was selected the first Direct Marketing Educator of the Year by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation. He was named Educator of the Year by the Chicago Chapter, Sales and Marketing Executives Association. The American Advertising Federation named him its Distinguished Advertising Educator of the Year. Sales and Marketing Management magazine named Schultz one of the “80 Most Influential People in Sales and Marketing.” Additionally, he has served on the boards of directors of numerous corporations and educational organizations.

Schultz resides in Evanston with his wife and business partner, Heidi.

About Heidi Schultz

Heidi Schultz is Executive Vice President of Agora, Inc., a marketing and branding consulting firm based in Evanston, Ill. She is also an adjunct lecturer in Northwestern University’s Department of Integrated Marketing Communication, where she teaches a graduate course in Building Brand Equity. She has more than 25 years of experience in media management, direct marketing, market research and strategic planning. She has worked with clients in the areas of publishing, tourism, hospitality, restaurant, retail, industrial products, technology and financial services, and she specializes in strategic marketing communication planning, branding and the application of database information to integrated marketing communications programs.

Schultz is a frequent speaker on integrated marketing and brand communication and conducts training sessions for corporations, marketing service providers and media organizations. She has been a visiting lecturer in the EMBA program of Tsinghua University, Beijing, and at Cheong King University, also in Beijing. She has served as Subject Matter Expert on four seminal benchmarking studies conducted by the American Productivity and Quality Center. The first, conducted in 1997, focused on Best Practices in Integrated Marketing Communications. This study was followed a year later by a study of Best Practices in Brand Building and Communication and in 2000 by studies on Leveraging Customer Information and Business-to-Business Branding.

Schultz is the author of numerous articles and columns on IMC, brands and branding. She has co-authored two books with her husband, Don Schultz: IMC: The Next Generation, published by McGraw-Hill, and Brand Babble: Sense and Nonsense About Brands and Branding, published by South-Western/Thomson Publishing. The couple is currently working on a new text, Building Customer Brand Relationships with co-authors Beth Barnes and Marian Azzarro.

Schultz joined Agora in June 1995 after a successful career in magazine publishing. She was the first woman publisher of Chicago magazine, the nation’s largest monthly city magazine. Prior to assuming the publisher’s role, she served as the publication’s director of operations and circulation director.

Born in Massachusetts and raised in California, Schultz attended the University of Southern California School of Journalism, earning a Phi Beta Kappa key in the process. She later earned a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Schultz’s professional career began as a promotion copywriter for CNA Insurance, before moving to McGraw-Hill as a Research and Promotion Manager for the company’s institutional publications group. In 1975, she joined Crain Communications, where she held positions in promotion, market research and circulation management on such publications as Advertising Age, Business Marketing, and Modern Healthcare, among others.

Schultz has combined professional responsibilities with active involvement in business, civic and charity organizations. She has served on the board of directors of the City and Regional Magazine Association (of which she is the former President), the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association (former Secretary), River North Association and the Apparel Industry Advisory Board.

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