May 14, 2004
Springfield, OH-Professor Pamela Schindler addressed the Honors' Luncheon on May 14, 2004, as the last official responsibility in her year as Distinguished Teacher. She brought along a surprise for the nearly 200 people in attendance: a performance by a cappella group The WittMen Crew.
"I had a serious message, but I wanted to start my brief presentation with something that almost everyone on campus identifies with me-advertising," shared Schindler who has taught creative advertising since joining the faculty in 1975. "Mike Parker ['04] is a favorite student who also participated in the 2000 Creative Advertising Partnership program. He has been involved with WittMen Crew for several years. When I approached him about singing commercials as part of my introduction, he thought the men would be willing." Parker and eight other members, started off the presentation singing jingles, including such favorites as Almond Joy (Sometimes you feel like a nut.), Chevrolet trucks (Like a Rock), Tums, and Folgers Coffee. "I knew once they started singing, that anything I might say would be anticlimactic; but that was the purpose of inviting them," explained Schindler. "I wanted the event to be entertaining."
WittMen crew, originally funded by a "Build a Better Wittenberg" grant, is comprised of men from different majors including Theater and Dance, Psychology, and Management. "We're a group of guys that like to hang out," shared Parker. "We like to sing, and it's our good fortune that other people like to watch and listen."
But Schindler did have a more serious message. Citing results from a Yankelovich Partners' Yankelovich Monitor® study released on April 15 at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' annual meeting, Schindler shared that US adults were feeling overwhelmed, besieged, and disgusted by the way marketing, especially promotion, had invaded their lives. Then she welcomed the graduates to the ranks of marketers, indicating as an employee that they were all going to be on the "front lines of customer service" with a customer who has well armed with information and increasingly savvy about using it to their advantage. "Unprecedented access to information has allowed customers to wrench power away from organizations," shared Schindler. But all that information has made it more difficult for marketers to get through the clutter. In their frustration they "shout every message at us," described Schindler. "It's like a constant carpet commercial screaming at us from every direction." Citing the exponential increase in marketing resistors, those who actively avoid overt marketing by turning off their TVs and radios, unsubscribing to e-mail lists, rejecting participation in surveys, and registering for the Federal Do-Not-Call list, she indicted that the new graduates would have a challenge waiting in their new jobs, and not necessarily one that they had consciously prepared for. With more than 38% of U.S. Adults indicating they have joined the ranks of marketing resistors, Schindler indicated resistors had reached "critical mass." Sharing that disgruntled customers blame all organizations for the intrusion, she said that soon those practicing marketing resistance would be blaming the new graduates. And as critical "inside marketers," only they would have the influence to make the necessary change to win those resistors back.
After thanking the audience, Schindler invited The WittMen Crew to show the audience "what they could really do with music," holding up their most recent CD, True Story, and encouraging the audience to purchase one immediately following the luncheon.
Schindler joined the Wittenberg Faculty in 1975 after working as an associate buyer for two divisions of Federated Department Stores. In addition to teaching courses in marketing management, creative advertising, research, and small business, Schindler created Wittenberg's Center for Applied Management (WittCAM) in 1994 and serves as its director. She is also co-author of Business Research Methods with Donald Cooper, published by McGraw-Hill.
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