<p><span class="p-body">A digital-first marketing and business strategist, Adjunct Assistant Professor Joanne Tombrakos has taught courses as an adjunct assistant professor in the Integrated Marketing &amp; Communications department. An expert in content marketing, social media, pitch-perfecting, and personal branding and is the author of multiple books. She also hosts a weekly podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-mindfulness-and-martinis/id1528864533" target="_blank" title="Marketing, Mindfulness &amp; Martinis"> <i>Marketing, Mindfulness &amp; Martinis</i></a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;and the author of&nbsp;four books including Crafting Your Pitch, A Storytelling Framework.</span></p>

<p>&quot;I fell into marketing and advertising when I got a job selling ads on a fledgling country music radio station in Philadelphia,&quot; she recalls. &quot;I had two degrees in education and no business experience. I wanted the experience. I had no idea I would fall in love with the industry. That was 1983. I consider that job a mini-MBA.&quot;</p> <p>According to Tombrakos, who also holds a BA from Rider College and an M.Ed. from Temple University, many of the lessons she learned during this time would serve her decades later as the world shifted to digital—not the least of which was user engagement. &quot;Many tout radio as the original social media,&quot; she muses. &quot;From there, I went on to CBS and Time Warner Cable, NY1 News, and NY1 Noticias. In 2008, I branched out on my own, graduating into digital.&quot;</p> <p>Tombrakos believes that storytelling is everything in marketing. &quot;It engages and connects us. A good story has the ability to change our brain chemistry and give us that delightful feeling we get when we eat chocolate or fall in love,&quot; she explains. &quot;The term has been elevated today in marketing circles as a result of the noisy, distracting environment we're living in. No one wants messages pushed at them using old-school marketing methods. They want to be pulled in. Story is the way to do that.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p><span class="p-body">One&nbsp;program Tombrakos is involved in is the Real-World Strategic Partnership headed by David Hollander. Each semester her students work with companies which have included Samsung, Porsche, Converse and EY. Leaders from the individual companies give the students a problem to solve with the assignment being to pitch their idea at the end of the semester. Not only do students get to solve a real-world problem with real-world interactions, they leam to work better within a team and improve their presentation skills.</span></p>

<p>&quot;In today's fragmented media landscape, everyone—not just products and services—is a brand, so marketing is more important than ever,&quot; concludes Tombrakos. &quot;The challenge is to remember that at the end of the day the core of what we do has not changed. We are problem solvers, humans trying to connect with other humans and persuade them that we have a solution that is worth spending money on.&quot;</p> <p>Earning an <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-integrated-marketing.html" title="MS in Integrated Marketing">MS in Integrated Marketing</a> at NYU SPS can open doors that you may have never imagined were possible. See where you can start the next chapter of your career with a degree from the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/division-of-programs-in-business.html" title="Division of Programs in Business">Division of Programs in Business</a>.</p>