Mediaboss Marketing

Whether it is a Glossier pink bubble wrap pouch, a paper Sweetgreen bag, or a V plastered on a pair of Veja sneakers, the Columbia Marketing Club knows that branding and marketing are inescapable in students daily livesand not enough people on campus are talking about it.

Co-founders and co-presidents Andy Liu, CC 21, and Elena Scott, CC 21, were disappointed that they rarely saw their career interests reflected in the clubs at Columbia. This semester, they decided to create the Columbia Marketing Club, Columbias only organization dedicated to marketing and branding. Through online events, marketing education, and professional development, CMC aims to create a community for people interested in marketing, branding, retail, and e-commerce.

Marketing is a pretty broad space or function in business, so its kind of confusing why its not here, Liu said.

Soon after CMCs founding, Liu and Scott realized that they were not alone in wanting this type of space on campus: Over 60 students applied to sit on the clubs board, and their applications conveyed widespread interest in consumer goods, especially fashion.

As CMCs new creative director, Natalie Ginsberg, CC 23, oversees CMCs social media pages, creates graphics and mood boards, and manages the visual component of the club. Ginsberg explained that CMC is not only a space where she can express her creativity, but also a space where she can see her interests represented in the professional sphere.

Ive always been a little bit unsure of what I want to do, but I know that Im interested in art, interested in business, and I think the Columbia Marketing Club has just shown me that there is an intersection, Ginsberg said.

At Columbia, resources for careers in fashion, beauty, or entrepreneurship are not as developed or varied as resources for careers in finance or consulting. Moreover, at the undergraduate level, Columbia offers few courses on marketing or business.

Scott had to look outside of Columbias resources for opportunities to develop her marketing and fashion skills, interning at Dior and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While she enjoyed the few fashion courses she has taken at Columbia, her academic and professional lives have remained unconnected for most of her Columbia experience.

I have my Columbia life, and I have my fashion or professional interests outside of school life. That was very separate for me for a long time, Scott explained.

To bridge the gap, CMC hosts online events to spark conversation around issues within the marketing, fashion, and beauty industries. Over the past couple of months, CMC has collaborated with the Columbia Womens Business Society to host Zoom events with Cami Tellez, Co-Founder and CEO of Parade, a trendy, sustainable underwear brand, to discuss the brands advocacy and sustainability efforts; and Olamide Olowe, the co-founder and CEO of Topicals, a skincare brand tailored for chronic skin conditions. OIowes experience as a female entrepreneur demystified the glamor of the beauty industry; she spoke about the everyday work of building her brands image and sometimes having to deal with investors that did not understand her brand.

More recently, CMC hosted an intimate Q&A session with Jessica Chi, CC 15, BUS 21, a former beauty marketing manager at LOreal. Chi spoke about her experience in the beauty industry and gave students tips on how to stand out in business-oriented roles: Be passionate about beauty, knowledgeable of products and their packaging, and willing to do the necessary grunt work.

While most of CMCs events have focused on the intersection between business, beauty, and fashion, the board is trying to cover other industries like tech, food, and beverage to make the club more inclusive of different interests.

Were trying to make our club more gender-neutral, because a lot of the things that weve done in the past have been more directed towards females, Director of External Relations Ilana Rubin, BC 24, said. So we are trying to diversify that. Make sure its more inclusive, and that everyone can get excited about the brands were featuring.

Staff writer Esterah Brown can be contacted at esterah.brown@columbiaspectator.com. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec.

Excerpt from:
Columbia's only marketing club sparks interest in the business of beauty and fashion - CU Columbia Spectator