Earlier this month, our College of Business hosted an Intelligent Marketing Mixer for marketing professionals who were looking to expand their knowledge and stay ahead of industry trends. This event, held at our NIU Naperville campus, allowed attendees to connect with industry experts while learning how digital marketing pairs with AI to create real marketing results.
Marketing Professor Andy Jeon led the presentation to dozens of audience members. He began by discussing how many of us use AI in our careers. He then went on to focus his discussion on deep learning, a type of machine learning that uses multilayered artificial neural networks, inspired by the human brain, to learn patterns and make decisions from vast amounts of complex, often unstructured, data. The “deep” in its name refers to the multiple layers of these networks, allowing systems to learn intricate features and abstract concepts, powering things like voice assistants, self-driving cars and facial recognition.
Jeon noted that, while most people are now familiar with one kind of AI technology — ChatGPT, Gemini and similar generative AI — they seem to be very passive users of AI technologies.
“I hope that everyone is motivated to become part of the evolution of AI technologies in marketing,” Jeon said. “By exploring new and innovative ways of using AI for their marketing or business goals, they can find their own ways of using them not relying on others’ ways.
“Unlocking our own hidden potential should be the ultimate reason to use AI and not being constrained by another technology. This is a core message I implicitly and explicitly communicate with my own students, as well,” he said.
Although AI is advancing and developing so fast, it can be difficult for busy professionals to find an opportunity to pause for a moment and think about how they are using their technologies. Jeon hopes this event, and future events like this, provide some time when professionals can reflect on these questions and find their own answers.
“For example, rather than creating content themselves, using generative AI to ‘get’ content can save a lot of time. But is it beneficial in the long run?” he asked.
Jeon noted that he encourages marketers to consider how we should more strategically use AI and develop best practices that work for individuals and the profession going forward.
“We’re living in a future shaped by the unprecedented speed of AI development. In just a few years, AI has come to have a profound impact on nearly everything we do,” Jeon said. “As the technology continues to evolve and change, the challenge is keeping pace with these shifts and learning how to use AI effectively. I believe the greatest benefit our NIU faculty can offer students is our role in actively researching and identifying the most effective ways to leverage AI, so that students can learn, adapt and apply these insights with confidence in their own work.”
Julia Mothkovich, MSDM ’23, who works as a sales manager for Comcast advertising, attended the mixer.
“I attended the mixer because in marketing, if you aren’t evolving, you’re falling behind,” said Mothkovich. “AI isn’t going away and, when used properly, it can be a great tool in marketing including content creation, automation, targeting or attribution. It is a strong focus at the company I currently work for, and I want to learn all I can so that I can separate myself from others and stay relevant.”
Mothkovich was candid about questioning when it’s best to lean on AI to help with work and when to take a step back from the tool. She noted that she recommends NIU’s marketing events to aspiring and active marketers who are eager to explore how AI is redefining the future of our industry.
Amy Graff, communications lead at McKinsey & Company, attended the event to maintain an edge in her field.
“Understanding AI is no longer a ‘nice to have’ on a résumé, but it is a requirement,” Crawford said. “NIU is among one of the first digital marketing programs to have AI elements incorporated in master’s level courses, and specific courses dedicated to leveraging and learning about AI. This fall, we’ll be launching a course in our M.S. Digital Marketing program all about agentic AI for marketers, which is really exciting as it is at the forefront of any AI conversation.”
NIU’s M.S. in Digital Marketing (MSDM) curriculum is consistently refreshed and revised to keep up with the ever-changing trends in the industry. Students can count on cutting-edge information, as our faculty are learning and researching to give our students the best information for their marketing success.
For more information about our MSDM program, go to go.niu.edu/msdm.
