UMaine Marketing Club to Host National Marketing Expert
Contact: Harold Daniel, 581-1933; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Students from the UMaine Business School are bringing in a nationally known marketing research expert to campus Oct. 21 to meet with business students and address a public forum in the evening.
Local business owners and operators, or anyone interested in learning about the benefits of market research, are invited to attend the evening session, at 7 p.m. in the Room 101 lecture hall at the D.P. Corbett Building, adjacent to the back of the Maine Center for the Arts. The event, which will include a question and answer session and reception afterwards, is free, although members of the UMaine student chapter of the American Marketing Association will appreciate small donations to help cover expenses, according to Elizabeth Duran, chapter president.
Rodney Cober, executive vice president of client services for Burke Marketing Research headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, will spend the day meeting with students in Prof. Harold Daniel’s marketing research classes, and address a broader public audience in the evening. Burke Marketing Research is a major supplier of marketing research services to international companies including many Fortune 500 companies like Proctor and Gamble.
Daniel, the faculty advisor to the UMaine AMA, formerly worked with Cober when Daniel worked in the private sector before pursuing career in academics.
The theme of Cober’s talk will be the value of marketing research, including a novel concept in the industry using marketing research findings to calculate returns on marketing investments. Market research is a critical but often overlooked component of any business that relies on public perception of its company and products, according to Daniel and Duran, the president of the UMaine AMA.
“Personally, I think this event is really exciting, because this is a student-lead effort, and I think there is a crying need for this kind of program within the community,” Daniel says. “Business owners and operators hopefully will get something out of it they can take back to their businesses.”
Students, Duran says, look forward to hearing from an authority of Cober’s caliber and they also are eager to talk with local business people about their marketing challenges. Daniel’s marketing students previously have been recognized for their work with local small businesses, non-profits and national companies, helping to improve their marketing practices while offering students a practical educational opportunity.
“I think it’s important to businesses and to students because it puts a real life perspective on business issues,” beyond textbooks, Duran says. “I think it’s really important for the businesses to attend these seminars because maybe they don’t realize how important market research is.”
Cober serves on the Burke Board of Directors and has been a member of the Board of The Council of American Survey Research Organizations. He holds undergraduate degrees from Valley Forge Military Academy and the University of Maryland and an MS in marketing from Penn State University.
Cober has overall responsibility for the quality of the measurement, analytical and consulting services that Burke provides its clients. In addition to its domestic business, he also is responsible for the coordination and implementation of Burke’s worldwide customer loyalty and custom research programs.
Cober also brought the concepts of customer-driven service-quality to the Burke organization.
Further information about the UMaine visit is available by calling Daniel at 581-1933 or emailing him or Duran at hdaniel@umit.maine.edu or eduran@umit.maine.edu.