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Press Release

San Francisco State University and Mike Gospe Partner to Teach Integrated Marketing Best Practices in Summer 2009

Gospe teaches "Essentials of Integrated Marketing" course for working professionals as part of SFSU's College of Extended Learning

May 18, 2009 — San Francisco State University has invited Mike Gospe, author and principal of KickStart Alliance, to teach "Essentials of Integrated Marketing" as part of the summer curriculum for working professionals. This is the introductory course of SFSU's Integrated Marketing Program which provides insight, hands-on exercises, and practical tips and tricks required to market products and services successfully in today's tough economic climate.

Summer registration has already begun. Courses start on June 8, 2009, and are held at SFSU's downtown San Francisco campus located at 835 Market Street, 6th floor, San Francisco. To get more information or to register, click here.

"We're delighted to welcome Mike back to our faculty of seasoned marketing professionals," said Lauren Vanett, director of the CEL Integrated Marketing Program. "Mike is a recognized author and leader with a passion for integrated marketing, and he brings a wealth of real-life-in-the-trenches experience that our students will enjoy and benefit from."

Introduction to the Integrated Marketing Program
To succeed in today's world, every business or organization—whether a large corporation, government agency, small business, non­profit, independent "solopreneur" or consultant—needs to be able to market itself to its target audience or customers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bulletin 2540), "Employment of advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers is expected to grow faster than average (an increase of 21 to 35%) for all occupations through 2012, spurred by intense domestic and global competition in products and services offered to consumers."

With this kind of job growth in mind, the Integrated Marketing Program has been designed to provide participants with a solid foundation in marketing fundamentals. Six courses make up the program, and participants who complete the entire series receive a certificate of completion to add to their résumé.

"The traditional rules of marketing have changed for the simple reason that people are no longer interested in being sold to," said Mike Gospe. "The next generation of successful marketers will be those who know how to engage each target audience in a relevant, meaningful dialog where the customer and their ‘problem' are at the center of the universe, not the product." The Integrated Marketing Program introduces and demystifies the newest techniques and best practices being used by the best marketing teams today.

About the SFSU CEL Integrated Marketing Program
The Integrated Marketing Program is designed to provide participants with a solid foundation in marketing fundamentals and skills that can be applied immediately on the job. Topics covered include:

• What ‘integrated marketing' is and why the rules of marketing have changed
  
• How to develop integrated marketing campaigns
  
• Why branding is so important and how to use it
  
• How market research works and how to conduct it
  
• How to maximize search engine marketing
  
• The latest online marketing tools and trends

The program is designed for those who:

• Work in marketing and want to broaden or update their knowledge and skill base
  
• Have marketing responsibilities but limited or no training
  
• Want to make a career change
• Want to build their résumé
  
• Choose to earn a Certificate in Integrated Marketing

Summer registration has already begun. Courses start on June 8, 2009, and are held at SFSU's downtown San Francisco campus located at 835 Market Street, 6th floor, San Francisco. To get more information or to register, click here.

About Mike Gospe
Mike Gospe, author, co-founder and principal of KickStart Alliance, is an accomplished leader, marketing strategist and corporate executive. For more than 23 years, he worked the angles of campaign management. Mike led a team of go-to-market strategists at HP, guided a worldwide organization to tailor global marketing launches and regional campaigns at Sun, and helped companies of all sizes to improve and optimize their marketing investment. He wears the victories and battle scars of campaign development, paying attention to what worked and what didn't. 

Mike is a popular speaker on this subject and his articles and book on the subject are now being used at Santa Clara University and San Francisco State University's College of Extended Learning to train the next generation of marketers. His new book, Marketing Campaign Development: What Marketing Executives Need to Know About Architecting Global Integrated Marketing Campaigns, is available on Amazon.com.      

February 2009