As companies create space for themselves in a competitive market, industry decisions are increasingly led by science and data. Many companies are working on establishing a new balance of both analytics and art to create brand engagement. Learn from expert Boston University alumni and faculty as they discuss the multi-tiered process of creating and evolving the brand identity of high level companies and organizations using both analytics and art.
Moderator:
Majja Dennis
Visiting Lecturer
College of Communication
Majja Dennis is currently a full-time Visiting Lecturer in the BU College of Communication. Her courses this semester include Introduction to Advertising and Advertising Management.
With over 25 years advertising agency experience, she brings her practical background into the classroom every day.
Ms. Dennis is known as a motivating leader with a strong track record leading teams and organizations through change to successful outcomes. She is results focused and drives those results through an inclusive goal-setting process. She has a demonstrated ability to influence at all levels of organizations and deliver proven solutions with emphasis on change management, strategy development, profitability and collaboration with key clients and internal stakeholders.
Ms. Dennis is an accomplished consultant to a number of agencies with a focus in organizational structure, executive coaching and agency brand management.
Prior to Boston University, Ms. Dennis served as Managing Director of CTP, a local Boston agency where she doubled organic client revenue in one year by refining and improving agency marketing initiatives including positioning, website content/metrics, lead development and Agency presentations.
As Chief Client Officer and EVP, Talent & Development at Allen & Gerritsen, Majja delivered a 40% revenue increase across both B2B and B2C client bases and led the recruitment and onboarding of over 50 employees including key executives. She was also a key member of the Executive team to manage the business through the acquisition of two agencies.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Dennis worked as both Account Lead and Brand Strategist on clients including Chili’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Dell and Liberty Mutual at famed Boston agency Hill, Holliday. Prior to that experience she started her career in Direct and Digital Marketing at Ryan Partnership (a division of Epsilon). There she was focused on CPG brands at Kraft, Unilever and Nestle.
A 2013 member of the Boston Ad Club’s “Women We Admire” list, Ms. Dennis earned her BA cum laude from Connecticut College with a BA in both English and Government. She was a Dean’s List Scholar and a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society.
Panelists:
Susan Fournier
Allen Questrom Professor
Dean of the Questrom School of Business
Appointed to the deanship of the Questrom School of Business at Boston University in 2018, Susan Fournier is the School’s first female dean and its first academic leader in over 40 years. Priorities under her leadership are to drive “research that matters;” build distinction in the areas of health, digital business, and social impact; and reinvent Questrom’ s business model to better align with evolving market segments, shifts to online offerings, and corporate and alumni partnerships as sources of value creation and capture.
Fournier has served 26 years as a marketing academic, 16 of these at Questrom, with previous roles as Questrom Professor in Management, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Research, and Director of the MBA and PhD Programs. She held prior academic appointments at Harvard Business School and Dartmouth Tuck School.
With over 26,000 Google Scholar citations, Fournier ranks among the top 10% of business academics in terms of impact. She is credited with five major research awards, including the Long-Term Contribution to Consumer Behavior and the Most Significant Contribution to Marketing Theory & Practice. Current research projects explore shareholder value creation through branding, the riskiness of person-brands, board-level enterprise risk management in the contemporary socio-political environment, and consumer-brand relationship development strategies over time.
Fournier has also published over 30 Harvard teaching cases in the brand strategy domain, many with best-seller status. In her role as President and Founder of the Institute for Brands & Brand Relationships, she seeks to build bridges between academics and business practitioners on strategic branding matters. She consults with a range of companies on branding issues to inform her leadership, teaching, and research.
Prior to her academic career, Fournier served as VP at Young & Rubicam Advertising and in market research management roles at Polaroid Corporation and Yankelovich Clancy Shulman. She remains an active consultant and advisor to inform her research and leadership
Alvina Patel (COM’97)
Vice President of Commercial and Brand Marketing, North America
Farfetch
Alvina Patel is the Vice President of Commercial and Brand Marketing, North America for Farfetch, the world’s largest luxury fashion marketplace. Alvina works with a diverse and talented team to build brand awareness and grow collaborative market share with Farfetch’s network of 1,000+ global boutique and brand partners serving customers in nearly 200 countries.
Alvina is an unrivaled specialist in the métiers of luxury branding, communications and marketing, having established an impressive portfolio of success over 25 years. Global powerhouses such as Christian Louboutin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, Hermès and Bulgari are among the venerable brands whose stories she’s crafted and marketed to enduring resonance throughout her career. She graduated with a BS in Communications from Boston University.
The webinar will be conducted using the online Zoom webinar platform. Access information and additional instructions on using the Zoom platform will be provided via email upon successful registration. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, and staff.