Business and creativity have always happily co-existed
in Sheila Sasser's world.
Her dad, adamant about education, used to pay her $1 for
every "A" on her report card. Her teachers, determined
to channel her gifts toward good rather than mischief,
used to give her special projects when she finished her
schoolwork early.
 |
MARKETING MOSAIC: Sheila Sasser (standing),
assistant professor of marketing and integrated
marketing communications (IMC) in EMU's College
of Business, reviews marketing documents with
(above,
from left) student Jessica Novak, Ann
Balazs, EMU's
marketing department head; and
student
Brett Eckert. Sasser was recently named
the Distinguished
Faculty Award winner in the
Research I category. |
Build Easter baskets; create a window display; write a
paper on Shakespeare. Just stay out of trouble.
Sasser has been busy ever since.
Apply an MBA to that creative and mischievous mind, and
you get an Eastern Michigan assistant professor who is,
in the words of her department head, "on the fast track
to greatness."
"She's very dynamic and motivated and energetic," said
Anne Balazs, EMU's marketing department head. "She's got
a huge amount of energy, and she's very giving and generous
with her time ... There are nights she spends here. She
might as well move in."
Sasser, the 2009 Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty
Award winner for Research I (up to 4 years of experience),
teaches advertising and integrated marketing communications
(IMC) in EMU's College of Business. And she is one of the
most cited scholars in the world when it comes to creativity
research.
"She juggles a lot of things and manages to do them all
well," Balazs said." Her classes benefit from all her connections
and experience, and she brings that to class every day."
Since coming to EMU in July 2006, Sasser has had four
papers published on creativity and integrated marketing
in the leading scholarly journals in her field, contributed
to two textbooks, presented 11 papers at conferences and
submitted seven more for review, exploring everthing from
cross-cultural advertising to eco-commerce to social networking.
Sasser is one of the most cited scholars in the world
when it comes to creativity research, said Balazs, who
mentioned that Sasser ranks third in the Social Sciences
Citation Index for the field of creativity research in
advertising and integrated marketing communications.
The significance of the award, Sasser said, sunk in when
she stepped up to accept it at a March 25 ceremony in the
Student Center Ballroom. With her mom and sister in the
audience, she couldn't help but think of her dad, who placed
such a high value on education and died six years ago.
He lived to see her publish her research.
He would have loved this.
"It's so special that people recognize all this work," said
Sasser. "Sometimes, you never get recognized. In fact,
from my research, I know you don't do the creative stuff
to get recognized. It meant a lot."
Sasser grew up in on the west side of Detroit, earned
a bachelor's degree in business from Wayne State and started
working on an MBA while she carved out a niche for herself
in advertising.
She was just one class away from finishing the MBA when
her advertising career took off and she was promoted from
senior vice president and group director at Campbell-Ewald
CECO Communications in Warren to managing director of the
New York business unit of Lintas Marketing Communications.
She was part of award-winning ad campaigns for everything
from computers to underwear, and has worked both sides
of the "Cola Wars."
She lived in New York for two years and loved it. Everything
about the city suited her high-energy personality — the
constant activity, her loft in West Village and the community
of artists and writers where someone was always filming
a movie or shooting a commercial on the sidewalk.
But, in 1992, her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease. She moved back to Michigan and shifted her emphasis
from business to academia. She finished her MBA, took a
teaching position at Wayne State and started work on a
doctorate. She also launched her own consulting firm, Sassco
International, working between her father's treatments
— with another global ad agency, BBDO, at offices in Troy
and New York.
Working with the creative had always intrigued her. At
Wayne State, she started researching the "how" and "why" of
creativity in an advertising setting. How does that big
idea develop?
Sasser's network of connections in major advertising agencies
gave her unprecedented access to people and information.
Based on that research, she's pioneered a creativity formula,
co-creation index and the Three P's (person, place and
process) Framework — tools that have given meaning
to the sometimes-fuzzy task of assessing creativity in
organizations.
Sasser's research has earned her visiting scholar invitations
from the Imperial College of London and University of Waikato
in New Zealand, and speaking engagements all over the world.
She's also taught at Michigan State University and the
University of Michigan, but likes the way EMU's College
of Business balances teaching and research.
"Eastern really blends the things I love to do," she said. "The
big research universities have tried to hire me away, but
this is a good creative environment and you can make things
happen more like a business. I think I would be bored if
I were just doing research."
Sasser started a Student Advertising Association almost
as soon as she hit campus. As its adviser, she helps its
members get advertising experience while they help local
retailers and charities. She calls her office the creative
lounge and it's not uncommon to find Ad Club students hanging
around, working on a campaign for a local charity or getting
entries ready for a Google AdWords competition.
"If they're successful, I tell them to remember me when
they're old," Sasser said.
