Thankful Series: Professor John Murphy

This is the first in what will become a weekly series of thank you notes to people who have contributed to my life. John Cohen, Athletic Director at Mississippi State University, provides the impetus for this series.

Many of us had a favorite teacher. A person that impacted us beyond the classroom. I was a particularly disinterested student. Took a sledgehammer to get my attention. Had a few high school teachers who made a dent -- Llewellyn Smith, Jim Pitts and Alecia Woodhams all come to mind. Thank you.

But my world was truly opened up by a marketing Professor at the University of Texas -- John Murphy.

As an Advertising Major, a prerequisite to graduation was Marketing 301, a class that I was instructed to take in my second semester of Freshman year. Typical of UT at the time, class was taught in a 200 seat auditorium. And typical of me at the time, I attended the class with only some degree of regularity. Which was a shame, because Professor Murphy was not the king of an easy grade. He judged my efforts as Disappointing, nearly Disastrous, or put more Directly, worthy of a D. Apparently, my ability to understand Product, Place, Price and Promotion through the magical art of symbiosis (purchase text book, keep near bed, sleep through class) were overrated.

So I got the chance to do it all over again. This time during the summer months, which fortunately gave me a real opportunity to learn from John. Thankfully, a wake up call had been served.

Next time around with Professor Murphy was an Advertising 401 class. I was no longer asleep, but I was on occasion still a bit drowsy. John gave the class a business-to-business branding assignment. I was to develop an ad selling steel to contractors. Focused as I was by this time at doing it right, I still managed to get it wrong. Imagine a skimpily clad woman, easy on the eyes, sitting seductively on a steel beam. Connect that to a headline that read "For the hottest deal in steel". Illustriously, John awarded me with a Frankfooter, a Fabulous, Frenetic, Failing grade.

So chastised for a second time, I had the good fortune of taking my capstone class with John working on a Frito Lay assignment. In truth, even I couldn't screw this one up. Glen Gill, who has had a spectacular career as a Creative Director in various and sundry NYC agencies, came up with the idea of putting a Ziploc insert into a Lays bag insuring freshness long after the first open. As the Account Manager on the assignment, I was smart enough to say 'great idea'. Yep, we road on Glen's back to my first ever Astounding, Accredited, grade "A" in a John Murphy taught class.

Along the way John helped me get a sales job at the Daily Texan, while inspiring me to become a student in every class my Junior and Senior years. Never Cum Laude, I at least was fully engaged.

John literally awoke my brain. He let me know that being clever and quick witted wasn't going to be enough. He piqued my interest in all things advertising. He showed me the value of hard, intellectual work. And, dammit, he forever engrained the 4Ps in my now nearly geriatric brain.

Professor Murphy, thank you so much for your impact on my life. Not sure that I have lived up to the potential that you found, but I have absolutely been blessed with a 30+ year long career in the field of my choice. What a blessing you were to me and thousands of other students like me. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you again.