Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes wins Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching 2017

The Provost of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth informed campus of the exciting news with this email blast on February 13th:

MANNING PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING 2017 

The winner of the Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching for 2017 is Nora Ganim Barnesof the Department of Management and Marketing. Nora Barnes joined the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1985. She earned a Ph.D. in Consumer Behavior from the University of Connecticut and is a Chancellor Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Marketing Research.

Her teaching portfolio shows a sustained program of reflective and innovative teaching practice.  At the heart of her teaching philosophy is a commitment to experiential learning, which prompts students to master concepts through real-life scenarios.  Exemplary of this approach is her “Marketing Research” course which she aptly describes in terms of “transforming an undergraduate class into a marketing research agency.”  While placing students in contact with companies, these projects also directly benefit the campus and surrounding community.  For example, a recent initiative focused on the campus food bank.  Identifying the population most in need, potential frequency of use, and the members in the community that are most likely to volunteer or donate items, this project laid the groundwork for what is now Arnie’s Cupboard.

In her “Social Media Marketing” and “E-commerce” classes, students conduct Twitter conferences with social media pioneers like Shel Isreal (author of Naked Conversations, the first book on business blogging), Paul Gillin (nationally known social media consultant), Gina Hernandez (Executive Director of the Society for New Communications Research) and others. To date, approximately 1,600 students have been involved in conducting research studies.  These students have performed market research studies for over 400 organizations, including campus groups, national and international companies and nonprofits.  Additionally, Dr. Barnes’ classes have been cited in Business Week, Fortune Magazine, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, Wall St. Journal, Financial Times, NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Marketing Communications, the Journal of Marketing Management and other business and academic publications. This student-centered research has also provided the basis for Dr. Barnes impressive record of scholarship which features over 180 publications.

The Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching honors outstanding faculty members from each of the five campuses of the University of Massachusetts. This competitive prize is presented to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching along with exemplary dedication to students and the campus community. Manning Prize winners have an established record of implementing unique, innovative or alternative pedagogies, or teaching methods that have deepened student learning. The Manning Prize carries a $10,000 award.

The Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching was established in 2015 by UMass Lowell alumni Robert and Donna Manning. Mr. Manning is Chairman and Co-CEO of MFS Investment Management and chairs the Board of Trustees for the University of Massachusetts. The Manning’s have generously provided support to offer a Prize on each of the five UMass campuses for the next three years.

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Spring Ahead to a Beer Tasting at Moby Dick Brewing, Co.

The UMass Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research will be hosting a spring fundraiser at the Moby Dick Brewing, Co. on Monday, March 13th from 5 to 8pm at the corner of Water and Union Street in New Bedford.

We have a limited number of tickets on sale for $40 each, and you must be 21 years or older. This event will include beer tasting, raffles, food, music and a basketball tournament.

See you there!

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Press Release: UMD Announces Celebrity Scholarship Dinner with Red Sox Slugger David Ortiz

The UMass Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research 17^th  annual Celebrity/Scholarship Dinner will feature Red Sox Slugger David Ortiz.  The dinner will be held on April 26^th 2017 at the Venus de Milo Restaurant in Swansea, MA.   BayCoast Bank and the family of Frank B. Sousa, Jr. are sponsoring the event.

Bank President, Nick Christ said, “Education is a top priority in the region and helping to keep students in school is essential.   The Center for Marketing Research has demonstrated success in doing just that by working closely with students, giving them opportunities for networking, internships and employment as well as providing a significant amount of scholarships. We are happy to lend our support for their program.”

Helene Sousa, who sits on the Center’s Advisory Board, echoes his sentiments.  “The Center is dedicated to serving the students in a variety of ways.  The scholarship dinner is an important part of that mission.  My family is proud to be involved.”

Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Director of the Center, sees BayCoast Bank and the Sousa Family as a great fit given that both are dedicated to help improve educational outcomes for students in our region.   She added, “We are proud and appreciative to have them as our sponsors.”

The dinner is the focal point for awarding scholarships to UMassD returning students.  To date the Center for Marketing Research has awarded over $150,000 to both graduates and undergraduates at the UMassD.

Any donor of a $1000 scholarship will take the stage with David Ortiz to present it.  There is also an opportunity to purchase ads in the Keepsake Program Book.

The event is open to the public.  Tickets include a full course dinner at the Venus de Milo and an evening with David Ortiz.  David will assist in awarding scholarships and will speak about his career, challenges and will share some behind the scenes Red Sox stories.  He will take questions from the audience.  There will be a Silent Auction with signed memorabilia.  Individual tickets are $150 and tables of 10 are available for $1450.  For tickets, scholarship information, program book ads or for more information please call or email Ava Lescault at 508-910-6435 or alescault@umassd.edu.  Tickets can also be purchased by credit card online at  www.venusdemilo.com.

 

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3 of the best company blogs in 2016

Dr. Barnes was cited in an article titled “3 of the best company blogs in 2016”, published on December 15th 2016.

The article states:

Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., chancellor professor of marketing and director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, said that corporate blogs should serve as a direct extension of a company and be a strong part of its overall image.

“Blogs humanize companies, provide opportunities for engagement and help establish thought leadership,” she noted. “They are free from the restrictions of platforms that host them and serve as an authentic image of a corporate entity.”

To read the full article visit http://www.brafton.com/blog/content-writing/3-of-the-best-company-blogs-in-2016/

 

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The 5 Biggest Economic Trends for Small Businesses in 2017

Jessica Stillman, Contributor of the Inc. 500, notes that the 5 biggest economic trends for small businesses in the upcoming year include:

1. Small business goes global
2. Employees? Who needs Employees?
3. Corporations embrace freelancers
4. It’s all about the platforms
5. Business coaches go mainstream

 

To read the full article and learn more about the 5 biggest economic trends for small businesses in 2017, visit http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-5-biggest-economic-trends-for-small-businesses-in-2017.html?cid=readmoretext2

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Top 5 Social Media Trends for Businesses in 2017

Ryan Holmes, founder and CEO of Hootsuite writes about the top 5 trends in social media for businesses in the upcoming year.

To sum up his article, the five big movements that promise to change how businesses use social media in 2017 include:

1. The “reachpocalypse” peaks
2. Employees become your social media army
3. The social media skills gap widens
4. CEOs finally get the hang of social media
5. Sales and customer service get more social

“The one constant that businesses can depend on is that social media itself isn’t going anywhere”, Holmes concludes. “It’s increasingly the one reliable place to reach consumers.”

To find out more about the Top 5 Social Media Trends for Businesses in 2017 or to read the full article, visit http://www.inc.com/ryan-holmes/top-5-social-media-trends-for-businesses-in-2017.html?hootPostID=34f3934a387157f9f27866978521b802

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UMass Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research Now Accepting Spring Clients

Have you considered marketing research to make your business more competitive? Interested in the satisfaction level of your customers and/or clients? Thinking about the possibility of a new location? Get the information you need from a source you can trust! Why not go through a local provider? The UMass Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research (CMR) is currently accepting requests from area businesses and other organizations to perform marketing research for the Spring semester, beginning in January 2017.

The UMass Dartmouth Center performs customized market research at very affordable prices. We can give you information you need to gain a more complete understanding of both existing and potential customers. With over 10 years of experience in marketing research, you can expect valuable results. The final report is presented to the client at a dinner reception at the end of the semester. CMR provides high quality, affordable marketing assistance utilizing Center staff, faculty, students, and expert practitioners.

Clients of the Center range from small and start-up businesses to Fortune 500 Companies and include both the commercial and non-profit sectors. Each semester approximately 8 clients are selected for participation in our ongoing research program involving our graduate and undergraduate Marketing students. The final project is a statistically valid survey research study that rivals the best commercial companies. Results will be presented at a client dinner in December.  For a full listing of past clients and testimonials from them, please visit our website: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr.

If you or your business would be interested in becoming a client, please contact Center Director, Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes for more information regarding our very modest fees and semester timelines.  Nora can be reached at 508-999-8756 or nbarnes@umassd.edu.

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Center for Marketing Research Cited in Forbes

On November 3rd, 2016, Forbes published an article called A Framework For Creating Millennial Brand Advocates, making mention of work done by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research (CMR).

In the third paragraph of the article, Forbes Contributor, Kyle Wong summarizes the findings of a CMR study on millennial purchasing behavior and social media. Our study explains that “millennials filter out advertising and commercial messages. They look for information before they make purchases, but they’re looking for it from their trusted sources, and their trusted sources are not manufacturers or providers of products – they tend to be people in their social networks.”

To read the full article and see the CMR’s work cited by Forbes, please visit the link below:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylewong/2016/11/03/a-framework-for-creating-millennial-brand-advocates/#26bc80543469

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2016 Fortune 500 Study

Use of Popular Tools Remains Constant as Use of Instagram Expands Quickly Among the 2016 Fortune 500:

Each year, The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research (CMR) conducts a study analyzing the social media usage of the current Fortune 500 (F500) companies. This year, each company on the 2016 F500 list was identified by name, rank, last year’s rank, rank category, and industry. Each company was counted as having a social media presence on each platform studied (Corporate Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn) if the primary corporation showed evidence of activity within the past 30 days. The number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans were also noted for companies that had active Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.

The Fortune 500 list includes the top U.S. companies ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. The 2016 list marks the 62^nd running of the list.

Top 10 F500 companies in 2016:

1. Walmart
2. Exxon Mobile
3. Apple
4. Berkshire Hathaway
5. McKesson
6. UnitedHealth Group
7. CVS Health
8. General Motors
9. Ford Motors
10. AT&T

What did we find in 2016?

Instagram successfully made a double-digit leap in adoption for the fourth year in a row. Blogging, after losing much of its stamina in previous years, saw a boost from newcomers to the F500 2016 list. Twitter remains the preferred social media platform over Facebook, although this gap is continuously closing. LinkedIn is being used by 97% of the Fortune 500 companies this year, primarily for recruiting purposes, networking and gathering industry specific information.

Of the 500 companies on this year’s list, 6 do not use any of the social media tools or platforms studied.

 

For more information on the 2016 Fortune 500 study or other published CMR studies, please visit our website: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/socialmediaresearch/

For more information on the Fortune 500 list, please visit http://beta.fortune.com/fortune500

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Twitter’s New Ad Filter

Good news for all of you tweeters out there! Twitter has been working hard at their drawing boards to bring you a new ad filter, entitled “Twitter Ads Manager”. Although it’s currently only in limited release it should be live in the full and final version over the coming months. Users of the beta version have already found their projects faster to access and easier to understand. The main goal of this project is to “easily view and optimize performance at multiple levels – campaigns, ad groups, or promoted tweets.” It’s currently being achieved through the new centralized workspace used to handle campaigns.

“Due to the improved flexibility and customization in Ads Manager, it’s been a lot easier for our team to turn campaign data into meaningful and actionable insights for our customers. Twitter is thinking about our needs as marketers and we’re excited to see more changes like this in the future.” Said Tommy Trafton a Social Coordinator at Resolution Media

The following is a list of new features that are confirmed and additional ones will follow.

• Custom filters ~ more quickly find your campaigns, ad groups, or even ads
• Custom metrics ~ help you more easily monitor metrics that matter most to you
• export only the necessary data

 

We want to hear from you! Tell us with you think! For more information, visit the link below.

https://blog.twitter.com/2016/introducing-an-easier-way-to-manage-and-report-on-twitter-ads-campaigns

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