Mentions of Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Coco Chanel, were made when the class was asked about creative people who have used modern technology and advertising techniques to build empires.
Walking into Professor Bohn’s dark computer lab where students listened to his lecture, I am reminded of my own college classes at BMCC. Students occasionally glanced at notepads to write down what the professor was saying, spending the remaining time looking at the slides of the PowerPoint that appear on their computer screens. The class was about Marketing, mentions of ad agencies and the debate over “creativeness vs. business”, made that abundantly clear. Professor Bohn stood in the middle of the room in a sport coat, discussing several aspects of successful marketing campaigns. He would weave the internal attributes of any advertisement, and compare them to something modern. Mentions of Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Coco Chanel, were made when the class was asked about creative people who have used modern technology and advertising techniques to build empires.
“There are no products, only services,” the professor said,
The professor would use the PowerPoint to begin discussions germane to the topic of marketing. “There are no products, only services,” the professor said, stating that when someone purchases a product such as Crest toothpaste, they’re paying for the “beautiful, shiny, white teeth” that the brand promises. After finishing a few information slides, the professor began to show different ads on the screen. Prominent companies like Chanel, Campbell’s, Porche, Apple, and the U.S. Army use similar techniques to market their products. When asked about the designs and slogans that appear on the screen, the students are actively engaged with the professor, throwing idea out into the open to be discussed at will. The atmosphere was intense, but accepting. Most people took a turn to say their piece or comment on the ads, the discussion morphed from the aesthetic aspect of the ads, to what the students might have done differently to improve the ad.
Spending time in Professor Bohn’s class showed me that not only are FIT Precollege students ready for FIT, they’re striving to become the moguls of tomorrow and it shows in their work.
-Matt