Students from Ohio State, other local universities and members of the business community recently discovered the truth behind some myths in the marketing world as part of the Columbus Advertising & Marketing Practicum (CAMP).

The presentations proved impactful for attendees, including Andrew Luby, a third-year student with a double major in marketing and German.

“I want to avoid some of the common pitfalls that young marketers are susceptible to,” he said.

The event, in its ninth consecutive year, was presented by the Fisher Association of Marketing Professionals (AMP), Fisher’s graduate marketing organization. The featured speakers included Jason Parks, founder and CEO of local digital marketing agency The Media Captain, and Bill Faust (MBA ’90), senior partner and chief strategy officer of Ologie, a branding and marketing agency.

One myth Parks shared at the event was how acquiring a large number of backlinks, with no regard to where they come from, is actually not helpful for search engine optimization. In fact, it’s rather damaging.

Faust also discussed various myths and used a variety of clips to demonstrate important information, including what makes branding distinct.

Lisa Rice, a student in Fisher’s MBA for Working Professionals program and a communications and marketing professional at Ohio State, said attending CAMP was a “no-brainer” for her.

“I really appreciated the insights from Ologie’s Bill Faust, especially, since I work in the higher education space,” she said. “I was inspired by the video clips and work examples he showed and can’t wait to dig into my next project.”

Barry Knight, a second-year MBA student, was grateful for the insight, as he’s on the cusp of graduating.

“I need to find out different, but effective, ways to further my learning as I join the working world,” he said. “This is a point that the speakers emphasized, and it’s a goal I’m trying to set this summer before my job starts.”

Candace Johnson, undergraduate student services coordinator for the College of Education and Human Ecology, left CAMP better equipped to handle important conversations down the road.

“Understanding these misconceptions will help me better explain marketing to clients and colleagues in other disciplines who may not fully understand my visions or decisions as a marketer because of a marketing myth they believed to be true,” she said.

Jenna Measelle, a brand manager at Abbot Nutrition, was honored as CAMP’s 2018 Alum of the Year. A former president of AMP, she received her MBA from Fisher in 2012. She was chosen because of her professional background and involvement in the Columbus community.

She said Fisher was her “launching point” for where she is now.

“In addition to helping provide me with a trusted network of awesome marketing professionals and colleagues, Fisher helped give me the necessary skills in leadership, organizational management, and marketing principals to be successful in my brand management role and beyond,” she said.

Paul Nierzwicki, president of AMP, said the ultimate goal of the annual event is to bring professors, undergraduate and graduate students, recent alumni and business professionals together to talk about marketing.

The timing of the event, which fell on Friday the 13th, played a role in the day’s theme.

“A lot of people think retail is dying or that, as we heard, Gen X doesn’t look at paper print ads, but not all that is necessarily true, so we thought it could be kind of a fun theme to have on Friday the 13th,” he said.