Assistant Professor of Marketing
University: Lander University
Location: Greenwood, South Carolina
Having lived and worked abroad for over 14 years, Dr. Jennifer B. Barhorst brings years of global experience to the classroom at Lander University. An emphasis on the global aspect of business has been a part of Dr. Barhorst’s professional D.N.A. for several years. For example, she obtained a B.S.B.A. with an emphasis in International Business from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in International Management from a consortium of six European universities. In addition, Dr. Barhorst has undertaken a P.hD. in Marketing from a top AACSB accredited business school in Scotland – Strathclyde Business School. Professionally, she has consulted and worked with global firms helping them to achieve their business objectives.
Source: Lander University
STUKENT PRODUCTS USED
Dr. Barhorst has used the following materials in her teaching:
Digital Marketing Essentials
Mimic Pro Simulation
DR. BARHORST’S TEACHING TIPS
REAL-WORLD PROJECTS
Having only recently joined academia from industry, I understand how important it is for students to be able to apply the concepts they learn in class. I, therefore, believe in facilitating real-world projects in my classes. This past semester, I leveraged the development and introduction of my Digital Marketing course in my Marketing Management class. Every semester, my Marketing Management students work with local businesses to come up with a new marketing strategy. This is so helpful to our community as many small businesses cannot afford the marketing expertise they need to fully realize their potential. I required each team in my Marketing Management class to have at least one team member who was also taking Digital Marketing at the same time. I then instructed the Digital Marketing team members in each group to assess each businesses’ digital footprint and to make recommendations for improvement. I was delighted with the results! Students’ clearly applied the knowledge they learned from the knowledge gained from competing in the Mimic Pro simulation and the concepts learned in the Digital Marketing course. This type of activity is a win-win. For small businesses, they receive some great ideas on how they can improve their marketing efforts. For students, it is a real-world project that they can add to their resume as a marketing consultant.
DIGITAL INFLUENCERS
In addition to facilitating real-world projects, I also like to recognize any burgeoning digital influencers in my class. We, in marketing, are witnessing a paradigm shift in the role of the marketer. Everyone now has a voice in brands and we must be able to leverage and amplify the voices that are most aligned with the brands that we are marketing. This is not an easy task and we spend quite a bit of time on digital influencers in my course. Those who are burgeoning digital influencers in my class have the opportunity to give a short guest lecture on how they have built a following and what they have learned. We then discuss influencers, brand fit and the role that influencers play. I would like to develop a special topics course on influencers as we have much to learn about them and their role in the marketing domain.
GLOBAL CONTEXT
Finally, I am passionate about the global context. Where possible, I incorporate materials and examples from abroad to keep students thinking about the rest of the world. After all, many marketing functions are centralised and students will have to be able to work with colleagues in other countries. An exciting plan I am working on for the future is to take a group of students to Estonia. Estonia is set to be the world’s first ‘digital country’ and I have heard that they have some ground-breaking digital marketing agencies there. I’d like to not only go myself but to take some marketing students so that we can all learn together.
Lander University, Greenwood, South Carolina
DR. BARHORST’S HOBBIES
I am a travel fanatic! Having lived in Europe for almost 14 years, I took advantage of the cheap low frills flights to destinations all over the European continent. For those who have not traveled to Europe, many aspire to highly regarded destinations like London or Paris. These destinations deserve the praise they get, however, there are so many other destinations that are just as praiseworthy. Some of my favourite destinations are Warsaw (for its beautiful scenery and people), Barcelona & neighbouring Sitges (for the beautiful architecture and tapas) and many spots in Italy (Rome, Venice, Positano, Amalfi). Now that I am back in the States, I plan on taking further trips abroad in the future and hitting Asia – Japan and China for sure as well as many others.
Rome
Connect with Jennifer Barhorst
Congratulations, and thank you, Jennifer!
