Are the Sunday newspaper ads really triggering you to buy more at the grocery store?

Manufacturers and retailers invest billions in feature ads — so maximizing their effectiveness is important for retailers. How are grocery stores trying to get your attention? And how can the strategies these retailers use help businesses perfect their product promotion ads?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up,
Jie Zhang, assistant professor of marketing at the Smith School and a recognized marketing expert discusses the five key elements to think about when creating an advertisement.

Assistant Professor Zhang’s recent research projects focus on online promotion customizations and shopping behavior, and various topics that aim at improving decision making for retail management. She is a recognized expert in applying econometric and statistical models to study consumers’ purchase behavior and response to various promotion programs. Her research has won the Procter & Gamble Marketing Innovation Research. She has published articles in leading marketing journals such as Marketing Science and the Journal of Marketing Research.

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One Small Business Helping Many Others through Microfinance

Microfinance is often considered one of the most effective, flexible, and sustainable strategies in the fight against global poverty. It consists of making small loans, usually less than $200, to individuals, usually women, to establish or expand a small, self-sustaining business.

In the next edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith MBA student and entrepreneur Cherry Kwunyeun discusses microfinance, how she started her own business that uses microfinance to support small women-run enterprises, and how other entrepreneurs can turn their idea into a successful business venture.

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What is driving the increasing demand for executive education programs?

Business leaders face challenging decisions driven by a global economy, shifting markets and new technologies. In an increasingly competitive marketplace executive education has become a favorite strategic weapon.

In the next edition of Smith Business Close-Up Alison Buckley, Director of Corporate Outreach (PPS), discusses the types of executive education offerings today’s leading businesses rely on and what companies are doing to develop talent.

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Get the most from a slow housing market

The current housing downturn and the damage it's inflicting on the economy do not appear to be over. With risky, adjustable-rate mortgages still being offered, foreclosure rates could climb even higher. That's a big reason why the stocks of the nation's 20 largest homebuilders have fallen an average 65% since the start of 2007. Is there any good news in all of this?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with Robert H. Smith School of Business, Professor Albert “Pete” Kyle discusses the housing marketing in the Maryland area – what is causing the downturn, has the war in Iraq impacted the situation and how the greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area is fairing compared to other regions throughout the country.

Professor Kyle is the Smith Chair Professor of Finance and a recognized expert in venture capital and private equity, corporate finance, option pricing, market microstructure, and asset pricing.

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Can social networking sites help your business?

Some experts say it isn’t what you know, but who you know that really counts. Do social networking sites bring entrepreneurs together to help small businesses find potential customers and investors—or are they more hype than substance?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Tyser Teaching Fellow and Smith School Professor Oliver Schlake discusses the growing popularity of online sites such as LinkedIn, the importance of networking and his take on whether or not virtual networking is as effective as face-to-face interaction.

Oliver Schlake is a Tyser Teaching Fellow at the Smith School, entrepreneur, researcher and senior business consultant and strategic advisor for leading companies and government agencies in Europe and North-America. His publications and research on scenario-based strategic planning and innovation strategy have been featured in leading academic and practitioner journals worldwide.

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New Markets Growth Fund –  Leading Early-Stage Venture Capitalism in the DC Area

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Rajesh Rai, principal and co-founder of New Markets Growth Fund, discusses the $20 million venture capital fund located at the Smith School, that invests in high-growth technology companies and start-ups in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area.

New Markets Growth Fund's investors include a wide range of individual investors as well as companies from both the private and public sector and economic development organizations including Empower Baltimore and the Maryland Department of Economic and Business Development. To find out more about the fund, visit www.newmarketsfund.com

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September 20, 2007

How Will Recent Product Recalls Impact Manufacturing in China?

What do the recent manufacturing problems in China mean for U.S. businesses and consumers? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith School professor Anil Gupta, discusses the outsourcing of manufacturing to China, how this impacts U.S. business and China’s role in the global economy.

Professor Anil K. Gupta is the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Smith School. He is the research director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and also the research director for the Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER). Professor Gupta is a recognized expert in the fields of strategy, globalization, innovation and entrepreneurship and organization design.

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September 6, 2007

Who are customer service leaders? What do consumers expect and what can you do to make sure your customers stay happy? In the next edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith School marketing professor Janet Wagner discusses new trends in customer service and what businesses can learn from success stories like Southwest Airlines, Yahoo and the U.S. Postal Service.

Professor Wagner is the Associate Chair of Marketing and an associate professor at the Smith School and a recognized expert in services marketing.  

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Social Responsibility: The Importance of Doing Good

Social venturing is a popular buzz word today. Why are more and more people concerned with being socially responsible today? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Melissa Carrier, associate director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, discusses the role social responsibility plays in business today, how people can become more socially responsible and what we are learning from local businesses today about corporate social responsibility. Carrier is a recognized expert in acquisitions and divestitures, venture investments, partnerships, new product launches, system implementations, and marketing.

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Are You Looking in all the Right Places? New Ways to Reach Your Customer

In today’s world of 24/7 communication, consumers are bombarded by television, radio, newspaper and online advertising—receiving approximately 3,000 messages each day. Breaking through this clutter is critical for businesses trying to reach their customers and differentiate themselves from the competition.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Kathy Boyle discusses untraditional ways companies can target their audience in today’s increasingly competitive advertising age. Kathy Boyle is an adjunct faculty member at the Smith School and a recognized strategic marketing communications expert.

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June 26, 2007

Taxing the Super Rich

Until recently few private equity firms expressed worry about what lawmakers in Washington could do to slow the success of the buyout market. A bill that was recently introduced in Congress took many private equity executives by surprise and could potentially impact the way private equity firms sell shares to the public.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Professor Albert “Pete” Kyle discusses private equity billionaires, the loophole in the tax code that allows America’s very wealthy to pay a much lower tax rate than working people and what lawmakers are doing about it.

Professor Kyle is the Smith Chair Professor of Finance and a recognized expert in venture capital and private equity, corporate finance, option pricing, market microstructure, and asset pricing.

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June 21, 2007

China: Is the reward worth the risk?

Everyone knows emerging markets are a big deal—they've got growing populations and increasing wealth. But what is the best way to leverage resources of an emerging market?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Tien Wong, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Smith School, discusses emerging markets in China, his entrepreneurial experience in that country and his insight on China’s economy.

Tien Wong is Chief Executive Officer of Opus8, Inc., a Chevy Chase, Maryland-based private investment firm specializing in middle market buyouts, private equity and venture capital investment, and an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Smith School. Tien Wong is a recognized international expert in CRM, direct marketing and business process outsourcing (BPO).

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June 7, 2007

What can consumers do to lessen the blow of rising utility costs?

Residential customers of Maryland's largest electricity provider, Baltimore Gas and Electric, will see their bills increase by as much as 50 percent next month under a plan that state regulators recently approved.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith School Professor Charles Olson, a recognized expert in the field of energy economics, discusses Maryland’s utility crisis, deregulation – and whether or not it really provided competition, lower prices and a reliable power infrastructure – and his take on whether or not Maryland power companies manipulated rates.

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May 24, 2007

The secret to success at the box office

This Memorial Day weekend millions are expected to go to the movies. Which films released over this prime summer kick-off weekend will sell the most tickets remains to be seen.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Smith School management and organization professor David Waguespack makes his predictions based on his research that assesses what makes a film successful. He discusses the movie industry, why established business partnerships are often critical to a film’s success and what has caused some of the biggest players in Hollywood to make multimillion dollar mistakes. Professor Waguespack is a recognized expert in film production and distribution, internet technology development, international patenting, and environmental management.

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May 10, 2007

Business Schools Get Back to Basics

Today’s MBAs are considering business schools not only based on the school’s reputation, rankings and curriculum – but, increasingly, based on the unique experiential learning opportunities business schools offer.

Businesses, too, demand that today’s MBAs immediately apply the skills they learn in b-school to the day-to-day responsibilities of the company.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Tray Spilker a second year MBA student talks about the Smith School’s $1.2 million Mayer Fund, his role as the fund’s portfolio manager and how today’s top business students are preparing for the real world.

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April 26, 2007

Closing the Gap Between Knowledge & Action

Businesses demand that today’s graduates be able to immediately apply the skills they learn as students to the day-to-day demands of the company. Through unique experiential learning opportunities at the Smith School, today’s business students are closing the gap between theory and practice, and knowledge and action.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Gerald Suarez, executive director of the QUEST program, an executive education senior fellow at the Smith School, and a recognized expert in organizational redesign and quality management, discusses the increasing demand for real-world learning experiences and what is driving this change. Suarez discusses Quality Enhancement System and Teams (QUEST) Program's reality-based learning experience that unites undergraduate students in business, engineering, and computer, mathematical and physical sciences and how students are providing real value to some of the region's top companies.

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April 5, 2007

How does information technology impact the securities business today?

Retail brokerage is one of the most successful examples of e-commerce, it is estimated that about 25 percent of stock trades are entered online by investors, more at brokers like Schwab, and close to 100 percent at brokers like eTrade.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up Hank Lucas, professor and chair of information systems at the Smith School and a recognized expert on information technology, discusses how IT is impacting the securities business today. Professor Lucas also discusses the upcoming 7th Annual Netcentricity Conference (to take place April 27th) hosted by the Smith School. Richard Schaeffer, chairman of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. and the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., is the conference’s keynote speaker.

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March 22, 2007

Has your doctor's office adopted to the 21st century?

Most industries use information technology to make their businesses more cost-effective, more efficient and more productive. The healthcare industry is, by many estimates, behind in the adoption of information technology.

Many physicians’ offices, hospitals and insurers still rely on archaic paper records systems. How this is evolving and what part government will ultimately play is an ongoing debate in Washington and within the healthcare industry.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up Corey Angst, Associate Director of the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) at the Smith School and a recognized expert in the barriers to health information technology adoption and diffusion, talks about the latest debate in the healthcare industry, what it means for the you – the patient, and what to expect down the road.

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March 8, 2007

Going global: how marketing a brands’ “personality” increases international sales

Brand personality is a critical component to any successful international brand strategy. What is brand personality and why do today’s marketers need to know about it?

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up Amna Kirmani, marketing professor at the Smith School and a recognized expert on product branding, talks about brand personality, global marketing and how the values of different countries impact global strategy.

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February 22, 2007

Surviving Past Start-Up: how to find capital for your new business

Nearly all entrepreneurs face challenges when it comes to finding capital for their new ventures. It takes energy and creativity to locate the necessary start-up financing.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, gives tips on ways to identify and leverage resources when launching a new business.

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February 8, 2007

Point and Click: More consumers go online

Online retail sales reached an all-time high last year – a total of $102 billion, jumping 24 percent from $82 billion in 2005, according to comScore Networks, an Internet information company. 2006 also marked an important milestone for online retailing – it is the first year online sales exceeded the $100 billion level.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Jie Zhang, assistant professor of marketing at the Smith School and a recognized expert on online marketing, talks about the reasons why online shopping is more popular than ever and what trends and improvements consumers can expect in 2007.

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February 1, 2007

$2.6 million for a 30-Second Advertising Spot?!
Do Companies Score Big with Expensive Super Bowl Commercials?

When the Chicago Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts in Miami for Super Bowl XLI on February 4, one thing remains clear, advertisers seem eager to pay record amounts for what is typically the most-watched television event of the year.

More than a dozen marketers (including Anheuser-Busch, FedEx, General Motors and the Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola divisions of PepsiCo) have agreed to pay an estimated average of $2.6 million for each 30-second commercial that will appear during the CBS broadcast of the game.

But are the ads really worth the prices advertisers are paying for them? And how are marketers trying to stand out? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Roland Rust, the David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, Marketing Department Chair and Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Service, gives his expert advice on why advertising during the Super Bowl is so lucrative.

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January 18, 2007

Carly Fiorina Talks about the Global Economy

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina talks about the global economy and America's role. Fiorina is the author of the recently published book, Tough Choices: A Memoir. She received her MBA from the Smith School in 1980. This is the final episode of a three-part series with Fiorina.

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January 4, 2007

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Smith alum Carly Fiorina talks about women in business

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, Mindy Mintz talks to former HP CEO Carly Fiorina about how women can and are thriving in business today. Carly Fiorina is the author of the recently published book, Tough Choices. She received her MBA from the Smith School in 1980.

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