I am currently studying MSc Strategic Marketing at Imperial College Business School. So far on the programme I have studied core modules, which consist of lectures, syndicate discussions, group activities, individual case studies, and guest lectures.
Out of all my learnings, I always look forward to guest lectures. I believe it is a critical part of the modules, combining theoretical knowledge with real-life business scenarios.
Benefits of guest lectures
While lectures, group activities, and case studies help me acquire theoretical knowledge and learn from what businesses have done in the past to solve their problems, guest lectures provide a sense of what it’s like to solve those problems in the real-time dynamic business environment.
Attending guest lectures from industry professionals has:
- Helped me gain a broader view of ongoing trends
- Apply what I learned in class to real-life business scenarios
- Taught me new theories and ways of working that I hadn’t learned in my normal lectures
- Equipped me with alternative perspectives on miscellaneous topics through immersive discussions with the class
My favourite guest lectures
One of my favourite lectures was the one conducted by Celina Degen, who is a trainer at Facebook. She was invited as a part of the Brand Strategy module and talked about branding in a mobile world. She pointed out that people are mostly on their mobile nowadays, especially the younger generation, and discussed the ways advertisers and marketers need to adapt their advertisements to meet people where they are spending their time. It takes 0.4 seconds for our brain to process that it is exposed to an advertisement which is why it is imperative for marketers to capture attention quickly by connecting deeper with their audience at all levels through developing a ‘pitch, play, plunge’ strategy.
Another guest speaker was David Zuo, Product Manager at Zynga who is also an Imperial MSc Management alumnus. David shed some light on marketing for the gaming world for the Strategic Product Management module, an area I was completely unaware of previously. He compared a product to a leaking bucket and emphasised the need for constant innovation to retain the existing consumers and attract new ones. Further, he discussed tech ethics and shared his thoughts on sketching a line between profitability and detrimental impact.
Guest lectures are a true representation of the ‘Imperial view’ of marketing. They are not just about learning from the speakers’ experiences, but also a great opportunity to engage with them as most of the sessions have Q&As towards the end. Students often seek mentors for answers to key issues concerning their career possibilities.
In my opinion, the specialists who are already working in such sectors are the ideal people to address these issues and studying at Imperial College Business School offers this opportunity.
Share
