Keynote speaker and award honoree James Moorhead, left, with Karen Taylor and Craig Taylor.
The Gary L. and Karen S. Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing at The University of Akron provided the setting as local and national marketing practitioners and experts gathered May 21 for the 2015 Interaction Marketing Summit. The theme of this year’s event was the “new” direct marketing, and the evolution of the industry over the past decade.
Craig Taylor, Taylor Institute executive advisory board member and InfoCision CEO, presented James Moorhead, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for DISH Network, with the prestigious Direct Marketer of the Year award. The son of Taylor Institute founders Gary and Karen Taylor, the younger Taylor is carrying on the tradition of advancing industry best practices as the Taylor Institute celebrates its 10-year anniversary of presenting this award to outstanding direct marketing leaders.
Practical lessons for students
Moorhead, who delivered the keynote address, shared specific advice with the numerous UA students in attendance. He told them there are three lessons that they needed to learn. The first lesson is that failure should be expected. Second, he reminded them that marketers are forced to adapt their skill sets. And finally, Moorhead encouraged them to never give up.
Dr. Terry Daugherty, UA associate professor of marketing and associate director of Suarez Applied Marketing Research Laboratories, spoke on the future of marketing research and the use of consumer neuroscience (CNS) techniques to gain behavioral insights.
Rounding out the day, Fathom CEO Scot Lowry discussed the importance of purpose-driven leadership in a purpose-driven organization and indicated that demand for meaning is the new wave of industry.
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