Marketing Alumnae Return to SOM to Share their Experiences with Students and other Alumni

The Marketing and Women in Management SIGs, with the support of the SOM Alumni Association, hosted three SOM alumnae and one Yale College alumna in a "Women in Marketing" panel discussion on Thursday, November 13th.

The panel brought together alumnae with 75+ years of extensive experience in marketing with, and to, a broad range of organizations. The panelists' careers included stints at Mars, American Express, Procter & Gamble, MasterCard and Energizer. There was an entrepreneur and author, the marketing brain behind "blue M&Ms," a new product marketing consultant, and a leader in marketing of internet payment solutions.

The panelists discussed their career paths - how they got to their current positions, and the prior experiences that had the greatest impact on their career development. In addition, they remarked on the challenges of working within larger organizations, and communicating with colleagues with diverse operations-focused skills sets. They also discussed how to make decisions when in uncharted territories, in the absence of strong market research to guide decisions. They recommended that students stay focused on achieving their career goals in spite of the current economic conditions, and encouraged them to look at each class or job as a forum for exploring, testing and refining their career goals - the path may not be straight but it usually leads somewhere!

The audience included over 50 current students, Marketing Professor Subrata Sen and two alumnae - Pamela Schlobohm '78 and
May Chen '97.

The panelists were:

Nancy Francis (SOM '87), Lead Facilitator at Ideas to Go, a consulting firm that trains Creative Consumers® for developing new product concepts and marketing activities for clients such as Taco Bell, Target, Time, and Saatchi & Saatchi. Nancy has also served as Director of Marketing for the Energizer and Haagan Dazs brands.

Kathy Hiserodt (SOM '87) is a consumer packaged goods marketer who specializes in responsibly marketing candy to kids. Kathy has been with Masterfoods International and the Topps Company, and has worked on such brands as "M&M's" Chocolate Candies, Bazooka Bubble Gum, and Pokemon Trading Cards and Candy. Kathy revels in recharging stagnant or slow-growth brands.

Anna Murray (Yale '88), President of e*media, a full-service Internet marketing firm that provides strategy and design expertise for accounts such as Bayer, Keebler, and Alka-Seltzer. Ms. Murray recently published a book called The Guide to Online Marketing for Consumer Packaged Goods Companies, and is an expert on how to effectively market to women online.

Ellen Moskowitz (SOM '84), Vice President of Electronic Commerce at MasterCard International and is knowledgeable in consumer marketing issues, new product development and internet-related payment solutions for financial entities. Ellen also worked in consumer direct marketing for American Express.