Rob Kwortnik, Associate Professor of Services Marketing, joined Cornell’s faculty after earning his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Temple University in 2003. He also earned a B.A. in Journalism from Temple and an MBA from California State University, Northridge. Professor Kwortnik’s research focuses on consumer behavior in service contexts, with special attention to service experience management. He has published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Service Research, The International Journal of Research in Marketing, and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, among others. He has been honored eight times as a Teacher of the Year by students at the School of Hotel Administration. Prior to his career in academics, Professor Kwortnik held several professional positions in marketing and was a travel industry consultant. He is a recognized expert on the leisure cruise industry.
Implementing Brand Strategy Through Digital MediaCornell Course
Course Overview
A brand's marketing communications must be where target consumers are, and they are increasingly online. As the number of online channels grows, it becomes even more important to ensure that marketing communications are integrated and targeted to the brand's key audience. Successfully defining that target audience, then designing communication that will resonate with them and shape their brand beliefs, must be the basis of the organization's online marketing. With those in hand, you can focus on the two main channels of online marketing: website and search engine marketing.
In this course, you will examine how to identify the brand's target market and develop a brand voice that will resonate with them. You will also determine how to develop a creative strategy and marketing messages that will effectively shape the target audience's brand beliefs. You will then examine the importance of the brand website as the centerpiece of your online channels along with the many ways to keep the website functional, engaging, and fresh. Finally, you will explore search engine marketing, including how to bid on search keywords, which keywords to bid on, and how to make effective use of online display advertising. Throughout the course, you will remain centered on the importance of ensuring that the brand channels speak with one voice, with messaging tailored to the target audience and in support of the broader integrated marketing strategy.
It is highly recommended that you have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Marketing the Hospitality Brand Through Digital Media
Key Course Takeaways
- Build the foundation for a creative strategy
- Develop the “big idea” creative strategy for the IMC campaign
- Optimize brand-owned channels
- Integrate search engine optimization and search engine marketing
How It Works
Course Authors
Bill Carroll is a clinical professor (ret.) at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration. For more than 12 years he taught economics, pricing, and marketing distribution courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive-education levels. He holds a B.A. degree in economics from Rutgers, an M.S. in labor studies from the University of Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in economics from Penn State.
As CEO of Marketing Economics, a consulting firm specializing in travel industry pricing, distribution, yield management, and strategic planning, Dr. Carroll works with a variety of clients, including global distribution systems, hotel service companies, and travel intermediaries. He also works closely with PhoCusWright, Inc., a travel industry research, consulting, and publishing company, and he has written a number of reports and articles, including a report covering the evolution of hotel distribution and its impact on major chains and intermediaries.
For over 25 years, Dr. Carroll held a variety of senior positions in the travel industry. He was the Division Vice President for Global Marketing Planning at Hertz, where he was responsible for global pricing, yield management, marketing information systems, and counter sales. He implemented the first decentralized yield management system in the car rental industry and a comprehensive executive information system (EIS) that gained national recognition. Following Hertz, Dr. Carroll served as the Global Vice President for Reed Elsevier’s Travel Group, which included responsibility for Travel Weekly, the Hotel and Travel Index, the Official Hotel Guide, and the Official Meetings and Facilities Guide. He was also responsible for production and database systems and the migration of information products to electronic distribution.
Prior to his work in the travel industry, Dr. Carroll was an assistant professor of economics at Drew University, where he taught courses in econometrics, public finance, labor, and environmental economics. He also served as a member of the economics staff at AT&T, where he was an expert witness before state regulatory bodies and prepared filings on pricing and forecasting with the Federal Communications Commission.
Dr. Carroll has written numerous academic and popular-press articles on economics and travel industry topics. In addition to his business and academic career, he is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and was a university lacrosse coach for over 10 years.
Who Should Enroll
- Marketers
- Operations professionals
- Revenue managers
- Sales professionals
- Property ownership groups
- Hospitality executives
100% Online
cornell's Top Minds
career