Faculty Spotlight: 
Avery Abernethy

Position	Professor and Department Chair
Dept.	Department of Marketing
Phone	(334) 844-8544
E-mail	abernav@auburn.edu
Office	201C Lowder Business Building
Website	http://business.auburn.edu/~abernav/

 Education:

• PhD, University of South Carolina, 1988
• BSBA, University of North Carolina, 1984

1. What brought you to Auburn?

A. They were going to give me lots of money. It was also within a reasonable drive of western North Carolina where my parents were living at the time. Geographically convenient, nice university and they were giving me money.

2. How long have you been the Marketing Department Chair?

A. I have been the department chairman for about a year and a half.

3. What is your favorite responsibility as the Department Chair?

A. Teaching my classes.

4. What is the Marketing department's vision?

A. We try to be consistent with the Auburn creed. We teach practical skills for a practical world and we talk to a lot of recruiters and discuss what we are actually doing in our classes.

5. How have you seen marketing change since you were studying business?

A. It hasn't’ changed as much as you might think. The basic ideas and theories that I learned in the early 1980s all still hold. How they are applied in terms of technology and what is allowed under the legal system can change. It’s faster and easier to share information within the organization.

6. The last 5 years has consisted of dramatic growth and change for the digital sector. What do you think the future holds?

A. The digital sector has captured a lot of the stuff that had no physical weight or shape or could be shipped inexpensively in a first class letter, and that has rapidly changed. One thing that has not changed is the basic logistics and distribution and the cost of it. Let me give you an example… if you buy a computer program or app for your phone, you can buy it directly, download it instantly and you’ve got it. Once I have that infrastructure there to sell it on the web and then distribute it, then the distribution cost is minimal and you can buy it basically for instant gratification. If you buy something that has a low valued weight ratio, then it is a heck of a lot more expensive to have individual distribution and digital distribution than if it is shipped to a central point and consumers get there and take it back to their homes.

7. What issues confronting the marketing industry are you most concerned about?

A. What I am most concerned about, personally, is training a student product given our resources that can be successful in the business world and attracting good employers for our product. That is what I am most concerned about because that’s my job. There are tons of issues in marketing all over the place but that is the one I am most concerned about.

8. How do you think a Marketing student's workload compares to the workload in the corporate world?

A. Most of you guys have more free time now then when you will when you start working, and there are a lot of reasons for it. First of all, generally speaking, none of you guys have a very long commute. Auburn is a small town. Your time behind the wheel of a vehicle or in a subway car is pretty minimal. Second, most of my students do not have kids. If you take away family responsibilities, which most students don’t have, commute time, and then, frankly, how many students do you think actually work a 40-hour week in terms of attending their classes and studying? I guarantee if you’re getting paid for a 40-hour week, the corporate world will expect you to work those 40 hours.

9. In today's tough job market, how can our University and Marketing department help give students an advantage?

A. One of the things I have done is revamped our internship program. It is a lot more user-friendly and our number of interns have gone up dramatically as a result. We do a good job of giving you the business fundamentals; both in your core classes and what is taught in the actual marketing classes.

10. What are some insights that you think could benefit graduating Marketing students?

A. I have a couple of suggestions. Number one: work hard. Number two: remember when you get hired, you are part of an organization that was there before you were, and I would tread lightly my first year or two. I mean I would work hard, try and listen to my superiors, I might take initiative to do other stuff but I certainly would not try and change the organization or anything like that. Also, I would remember Dale Carnegie; people control all the money, people control all the jobs. If you can get along with people, influence people, and work well with people, that will help you. If you cannot, then it can really hurt you throughout your career. The last thing is, what you learn here is not an endpoint. We are basically teaching you guys the fundamentals and things may change. Most of the business things I have learned has been through teaching myself along the way and not what I learned sitting in a class. Learning never stops.

11. How is the Marketing Department working on bettering the program for the future?

A. The faculty has voted on some recommended concentrations within three areas: professional selling, retailing, and consumer marketing. We are not changing the degree or the requirements of the degree, but what we are doing is making recommendations of groups of electives both within the department and in the college that if you’re thinking about a degree in these fields then this is what we suggest you take as electives to better prepare yourself.


Relevant Links:

University of South Carolina Marketing
University of North Carolina PhD Program