Dr. Dennis Garrett

Associate Professor of Marketing

Winner of the John P. Raynor, S.J., Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence

What’s General Motors doing to pump up car sales? How is 3M taking advantage of its international positioning? Dennis Garrett uses real-time examples — ads, articles, CEO profiles — all pulled from the pages of top business magazines to teach students the power of market segmentation, product positioning, distribution management and crisis response. It’s all marketing made more fascinating when studied and discussed as it’s happening. It’s a technique his students love. Garrett’s attention to creating a learning experience formed around marketplace reality — and what sticks with students — makes his class a favorite.

“One of the reasons I love teaching marketing is because there are so many misconceptions. Most people think it’s about advertising, but I talk about advertising for about an hour. I like to explain what this field is all about. One of the things I’m really passionate about is giving examples. I’ll always explain the theory, but I’ll spend much more time giving examples. And I hear back from students all the time that they may forget the technical definition, but they remember the stories, and that helps them remember the concepts. What’s neat is students will say ‘Now I know what Procter & Gamble is trying to do with this ad’ or ‘I know why Kellogg’s wants that spot in the grocery aisle.’ It’s so invigorating to teach young people. I always have to stay on top of my game, and students appreciate the fact that I work hard to make sure that what I bring to class is really current. The students are why we’re here. They’re the joy in this work.”