Staff profile
Name and job title
Dr Julia Wolny, Principal Teaching Fellow in Marketing at the Southampton Management School.
How long have you been at the University?
Three years.
Can you give us a quick overview of your job?
I am an industry-focused marketing academic and Programme Director for BSc Marketing and BSc International Marketing.
On the research side, I am Chair of the e-Marketing Special Interest Group at the Academy of Marketing, which brings together individuals and organisations with interest in digital and omni-channel marketing research and education internationally.
What makes the BSc Marketing and BSc International Marketing course so distinctive?
Our marketing degrees have been developed with practitioner input and have strong emphasis on data and digital marketing skills – this is where the industry is facing significant skills shortages.
This approach has contributed to our BSc Marketing course being ranked in the top 10 marketing degrees in the UK (Ninth in the 2014 Independent Complete University Guide), after being established for only three years.
Why are connections with industry so crucial in the work that you do?
Connections with industry give our courses credibility in the marketplace. One of the main challenges in my role is to deliver courses that provide skills and knowledge that will still be relevant in four year’s time, when students complete the course. This is why I am delighted the marketing programmes have recently gained accreditation by the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDDM) confirming that we are equipping students with professionally relevant skills.
You specialise in bringing marketing and creativity together. Why is this collaboration so important?
Today’s consumers are marketing savvy, they know when they are being fed marketing campaigns. As marketers, and as academics in fact, we need to be innovative and collaborative in the way we communicate and deliver value. In order to get noticed, marketers must create unique experiences, not just for, but with users/consumers. It is easy for the creative aspects of marketing to be overshadowed by ‘big data’ – but these aspects need to support and feed into each other.
Why do you think connections are important to our University?
Our connections with the past form crucial foundations for the University, however connecting with the future, especially in the digital age we live in, will help Southampton be a distinctive, global leader in education, research and enterprise.
What have been the most significant connections you have had in your career?
Throughout my career I have built relationships with non-academic stakeholders, private companies and public bodies, as well as students and faculty to integrate academia and practice. My most recent collaborations have involved adopting innovative approaches to researching the ever changing world of digital communication and user-behaviour. These connections have resulted in the sharing of collaborative and sole-authored research at over 30 conferences, including at Google and IBM.
I feel very fortunate to have worked with many brilliant colleagues, mentors and students over the years.