John Keane teaches online and on-campus courses at LIM College. He has more than three decades of experience with major media companies such as Time Inc., Conde Nast, and Bloomberg, and he has held senior-level marketing positions at GQ, Gourmet and People magazines. Professor Keane has taught everything from marketing strategy and brand management to advertising/promotion and global marketing. He now teaches full-time in LIM’s Fashion Merchandising and Marketing department. We asked him to give us a sense of his teaching style and what students will learn in his courses.
Courses I teach:
This fall I’m teaching Introduction to Marketing, Fashion Marketing and Communications, Fashion Branding, Global Markets, Digital Marketing, and Marketing Research & Insights.
How I got into this field:
I worked in the “corporate world” for major media companies such as Time Inc. and Conde Nast for over 30 years. In my capacity as a marketing executive at a number of consumer brands, I was often a guest speaker at colleges throughout New York City. I always enjoyed the experience and thought that I might like to someday actually teach entire courses. I taught my first course at LIM College in 2013. I fell in love with teaching—and with LIM.
What students will learn in my courses:
Depending on the specifics of the course, students will learn a range of marketing and brand management principles. The overarching principle is to marry marketing theory and marketing practice. Students learn the underlying marketing concepts and are also exposed to examples of how these concepts play out in “real world” situations.
The kind of coursework my students do:
Students do a range of work, including case studies, weekly industry news analysis, semester-long projects such as the development of strategic marketing plans, and interactive class activities designed to stimulate discussion and the sharing of ideas. In some instances, I’m able to make arrangements with current industry practitioners - such brand consultants, marketing industry councils, experiential agencies, etc. - to work with us on class projects and provide students with feedback and critiques.
How student-professor interaction happens in LIM’s online courses:
When teaching courses that are full online, I communicate with my students through daily announcements on Canvas (the learning management system LIM uses) as well as weekly discussion boards. Students have the flexibility to work through the course material on their own while I am available to provide support, answer questions, remind them of due dates and next steps, and help shepherd them through the class content.
