This last Friday in Marketing Management was quite special, and we were honored to welcome our guest speaker, Mr. John Murn. Murn worked for more than ten years in advertising and marketing. During this period he gained a great deal of experience at various agencies in client-side advertising, consulting, B2B/C advertising, and e-commerce. Originally Murn was a copywriter but circumstances led him to make a big change in his life, and he now works as a successful advertising marketing strategist.

 

This was not Murn's first time at NSYSU. Last time he visited as a guest speaker for the International Business Seminar class. The topic of his presentation was “Does the platform fit the brand?” On the occasion of this visit Murn touched on a different topic: “How does media get made?” Most people think it is a very simple process but the reality is quite different, as Murn demonstrated to our students.  

 

The speech was separated into three sections. The first section was primarily theoretical and students received an introduction as to which positions perform which tasks and the overall process of making media. To get a deeper understanding in this area, it was also necessary to introduce and explain some pertinent vocabulary. For example everybody knows what a brand is, but does everybody really know all the marketing functions it possesses?

 

After a short break in which students had an opportunity to talk to John and discuss various questions, we moved to the “preparation” section of the presentation. John separated students into three teams and each team was assigned to read, discuss, and prepare for the last part. Each group had a different assignment which put their team into a situation of a real company which was in a need of a new advertising and marketing promotion. 

 

When all teams were done preparing, it was time to begin the third section in which students from each group could experience a simulated meeting. Each team had to consult with Murn about the conditions described in the assignment and try to secure the best deal. Each team played a different party in the company, so students could experience the different angles of the negotiation process. Negotiating with a professional like John was quite tough, but it gave our students a valuable experience.

 

Before the end of his visit Murn had one last thing he wanted to share with everybody. During his life in Taiwan, he has worked for many different companies and he wanted to share his experience about getting a job in Taiwan as a foreigner. Murn gave our international students some tips on how to find a position with a company. All of this information was extremely valuable and everybody was thankful for Murn’s visit. Hopefully we will have a chance to meet up with him at our campus again soon!