University of San Francisco Professor Ryan Langan, Ph.D. Discusses the Ways the Medium Impacts the Message

 

What if subject matter changes faster than you can finish teaching the established knowledge? That is the current challenge for several fields of study, perhaps none more so than marketing.

On today’s podcast we were joined by Ryan Langan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Management at the University of San Francisco.

Dr. Langan discussed the ways in which rapidly changing technology impacts the importance of maintaining a grasp of the fundamentals of marketing, the natural collaboration that should exist between traditional marketing and digital marketing, the challenges that the new digital landscape presents when attempting to create targeted marketing, and the importance of properly determining the actual customer for a given campaign.

“Even as fast as digital marketing is evolving, if they understand, kind of, the boundary conditions, and the theories, and again the frameworks that guide some of these principles and practices, that allows them to make informed decisions even as the technology evolves,” Dr. Langan said.

Unfortunately, universities aren’t evolving anywhere near as fast. Dr. Langan discovered that, though there have been improvements in the last five years, “27 percent of universities do not offer any digital marketing classes.”

While marketing itself “is a concept and a process,” the digital aspect of modern marketing is strictly “the manner or the media in which you use to communicate,” Dr. Langan said.

Yet, while the physical principles of the steam engine and the internal combustion engine are fundamentally the same, you wouldn’t want to go to an automotive school that “only taught you how to work on steam-powered engines.”

Through this dialogue, Dr. Langan covers the areas of analytics (including Google analytics), big data, AI, virtual and augmented reality, and social media—and the use of weather data to sell the right sandwiches at the right time. Listen and discover how, in digital as in traditional marketing, the medium is still the message.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Education Technology Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!
Twitter – @EdTechMKSL
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Commerce media
A Look at the Rise of Commerce Media Networks: How Nift Helps Brands Own How Their Message Shows Up
July 2, 2025

As traditional digital advertising struggles to retain consumer trust, brands are exploring new, more authentic ways to connect with shoppers. Platforms like commerce media networks, which weave together commerce, content, and data, are emerging as powerful tools in this shift. Research from MG2 Advisory reveals that only about 37% of consumers feel brands genuinely…

Read More
Hospitality leadership
Heart-First Hospitality Leadership: How Saying ‘Yes’ Transforms Guest Experiences, Boosts Staff Morale, and Drives Business Results
July 2, 2025

As the hospitality industry emerges from years of pandemic-driven upheaval, hospitality leadership is evolving to meet new challenges. Leaders are looking for new ways to retain staff, elevate guest satisfaction, and drive revenue without burning out their teams. One trend gaining traction is the power of “Yes”: empowering employees to say yes more often,…

Read More
civic leadership
Mayor Gerard Hudspeth’s Civic Leadership Journey: What Politics Teaches About People
July 2, 2025

What does a mayor learn about human nature? In this episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations that Build Equity, host Jason Winningham sits down with Gerard Hudspeth, longtime mayor of Denton, Texas, and a respected figure in civic leadership. Drawing from his years in public service, Hudspeth explores how leading a city reveals the core…

Read More
sepsis
Debunking Sepsis Myths – Episode 1
July 1, 2025

In the first episode of The Michael Rothman podcast, we address misconceptions about sepsis in healthcare. Although it’s often claimed that sepsis accounts for nearly a third of hospital deaths, many of these deaths are linked to chronic conditions with sepsis as a secondary factor. The frequently cited statistic that delays in treating sepsis increase…

Read More