The program was a pioneer in the Uruguayan market in terms of professionalizing marketing. In the 1990s, new phenomena began to emerge worldwide; for example, the Internet. International companies, with innovative strategies for the medium, increased their presence in Uruguay as a result of the economic liberalization process that began with the creation of Mercosur, among other factors.
“As an educational institution, all of this compelled us to prepare for an uncertain future,” said Jaime Damiani, academic secretary of the School of Business and Social Sciences. Marketing analyzes market and consumer behavior. Today, these concepts are changing at a rapid pace. Therefore, a marketing analyst needs to stay up to date and tackle new challenges. The university, as an educational institution, keeps pace with these changes.
The program has undergone changes in format, content, teaching strategies, and instructional tools. “In fact, over the past 25 years, there have been seven revisions to the curriculum,” said Mr. Damiani.
“In Uruguay, there was no degree program focused exclusively on marketing. Of course, over the past 25 years, there have been changes to the curriculum and adaptations. That’s a good thing, because new trends and knowledge emerge,” added Mauricio Oppenheimer, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing and co-author of the book Marketing for Human Beings and general manager of Punta Carretas Shopping.
Héctor Núñez, a professor of Market Research, describes what classes were like in the beginning: “Back then, we professors faced a challenge: how to teach such a diverse group of students. Many came from the business sector, with no formal education. (…) So we had everyone from the marketing manager of a multinational corporation to an 18-year-old who had just graduated from high school, all the way to a business owner with 40 employees, sitting in the same classroom.”
Many of the teachers interviewed agreed that diversity has been a constant feature of the student body.
25 Years of Strengths
The Marketing Analyst program would be inconceivable without its practical focus and strong ties to the job market. “At ORT, we prepare students not only to acquire knowledge, but also to perform effectively in the workplace. This commitment we have as instructors to placing students in practical work situations is a key distinguishing feature,” said Núñez.
One of the first graduates of this program, Pablo Pesce—now general manager of the Sheraton Montevideo Hotel—recognizes this advantage. “I started studying and working at practically the same time. For me, I could see how what I was learning in class applied to my day-to-day work. The program helped me think about things differently and analyze situations. Everything I learned was a valuable contribution.”
Mr. Damiani explained that the final project for the degree program is a marketing plan. The goal is for students to be able to apply it in a real-world work setting. It involves defining a real business proposal, developing an implementation strategy, and analyzing its commercial viability.
“At ORT, you learn marketing by doing marketing. We’re the only program that culminates in a business plan, and that’s challenging,” added Dinorah Margounato, B.A., associate academic coordinator of Marketing.
In addition, has standards—which, according to the faculty academic secretary, are the same as those for a university degree program—and a comprehensive strategic approach that integrates other disciplines.
Experience is passed on
“One of the program’s strengths is, without a doubt, the faculty,” said Silvia Szylkowski, coordinator of the Department of Short-Term Programs at the School of Management and Social Sciences (FACS).
When asked what had made the biggest impression on her during her classes, graduate Lara Del Valle didn’t hesitate to say: the professors. “I had some really great ones who reignited my desire to study and apply marketing, and to keep that passion for constantly seeking out new things.”
Pablo Pesce said that the quality of the faculty was one of the reasons he chose the program. “I knew the faculty was excellent. And that appealed to me.” The general manager of Punta Carretas Shopping noted that most of the professors are also business executives; for that reason, in addition to academic content, they can contribute their experience and what they learn in their day-to-day work.
Dr. Héctor Bajac, professor of Principles of Marketing and Strategic Marketing, co-author of the book Service Marketing Management, former professor of Marketing and academic secretary of the School of Communication, acknowledged that he has learned to adapt, just like all professors in this field.
“As teachers, we go through a long journey in our professional development. The challenge is to be able to provide students with shortcuts that allow them to acquire skills and abilities that are easily applicable in their professional lives. My main lesson is to translate what took me so long to learn into skills that can be applied the very next day after learning them,” agreed Carlos Souto, a marketing professor and executive manager of Personal Banking at Banco República (BROU).
Marketing Today
The impact of technology on the field of marketing has been undeniable. Guillermina Cabrera, a professor of Digital Marketing at FACS, acknowledges that despite these rapid changes, the fundamentals remain relevant.
“Having a solid foundation in marketing helps ensure that technology truly contributes to a brand, supports its growth, and isn’t just a fleeting trend,” she said. According to Ms. Margounato, the inclusion of Digital Marketing was a significant change to the curriculum.
Many professors agreed that today’s marketing professionals must take into account new tools such as big data and social media. They must also consider the ethical dimension, as marketing is becoming increasingly open and transparent. “One of the things we need to teach is that decisions, behaviors, and policies must be 100% ethical,” Oppenheimer said.
Lara Del Valle, a graduate of the program and channel analyst at Unilever, believes that “marketing is a living entity that evolves every day. There are always new trends and forms of communication in society that are changing the way marketing works.”
“We talk about digital marketing and big data, and it seems to me that these things we’ve identified as trends ultimately call into question our professional practice—the way we do our work,” said Prof. Álvaro Moré, a faculty member of the first class of Marketing Analysts and president of the Young & Rubicam agency.
Moré argues that there are new and more efficient ways to promote market intelligence that generate higher-quality information, but we must acquire the capabilities to produce and apply it. And ORT, as an educational institution, must stay ahead of these trends.
“We have to stay ahead of the curve because we’re training people who will be working in the market of the future, not the one we have today. That means we have to constantly update our curricula,” concluded Mr. Damiani.
“That’s the beauty of marketing: you have to reinvent yourself over and over again,” added Moré.
The challenge of this career is to be open to change and to explore based on reality. Flexibility and the ability to reinvent oneself must be at its core.
That is why Analista en Marketing remains as relevant today as it was 25 years ago, when it first launched in Uruguay.
Graduate Stories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WoELIpeiuo
Experiences of teachers and coordinators
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBAxtuDNcgI
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Marketing Analyst Academic Coordination Program organized an event for its graduates, which took place on September 28, 2017, at the School of Business and Social Sciences.