teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

Do you sometimes have trouble keeping those non-marketing majors awake in the intro class?  One of the challenges of the introductory marketing class is motivating non-marketing majors (typically 75% or more of the class).  While this class is even more important for them — it will likely be their only marketing class — they are usually not intrinsically motivated by marketing.  My friend Tom Boyd (Cal State Fullerton) told me that early in the semester he brings in non-marketing businesspeople as guest speakers.  I tried that this semester, and taught the cross-functional chapter in Basic Marketing (chapter 20) in the second week of class.  It worked and my non-marketing majors were more motivated all semester.  A blog post from Vivek Wadhwa on the TechCrunch blog describes why IT managers need selling skills – “It’s All About Selling for Survival.” While this post targets IT people, it really fits with anyone who will eventually be in management in any functional area.  I am going to assign this reading next time I teach the class.