Matthew Barber, KLN ‘20, has always known that he did not want an MBA. Yet when he began working in marketing at Subaru, he knew the time was right to continue his education, as he felt ready to move up and was offered the tuition remission to make it happen. Three years later, he is not only a successful May graduate of Klein College of Media and Communciation’s hybrid Master of Science in Strategic Advertising Program with Fox School of Business, but he has been promoted to a management position with Subaru as well.
With an undergraduate degree in marketing and a minor in studio art from Messiah College, Barber has always thought of himself as creatively and strategically focused. After a brief stint doing marketing for a small local bank in upstate New York and a much longer one in marketing at Avalon Flooring, Barber took a major step when he took a temporary one-year position at Subaru to fill in for someone on maternity leave. An avid skier and a fan of the company’s culture of giving to charity and promoting safe and eco-friendly outdoor lifestyles, Barber found a way to remain a part of the team. Now, he works on Subaru’s brand partnerships experiential marketing team, focusing on partnerships and event marketing centered around Subaru’s lifestyle values. Plus, it didn’t hurt that the company’s national headquarters is in Camden, New Jersey, an easy commute from his home in the Philadelphia area.
When he received the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree with the help of tuition remission from Subaru, Barber knew which specific skills he wanted to narrowly hone in order to make himself even sharper at his current job. “I needed as many marketing classes as possible,” Barber says. “I needed to know current theories. I needed to learn how to develop more robust marketing plans. I needed to understand how to interpret research.”
More specifically, Barber says that he wanted to improve his decision-making skills and ability to create and maintain long-term marketing plans. In particular, he says that Klein courses in data visualization, brand identity systems and advertising strategy were helpful because their scope reached beyond what one would typically learn with a business degree.
“This program was the only program that would help me improve my way of thinking,” he said. “Since going through this program I’ve been a bit more decisive and quick-thinking, and also a little bit more able to build out long, multi-year plans, because the program made us do that.”
Dennis Paris, assistant professor of marketing practice at Fox, had the unique opportunity to see Barber and his classmates grow as marketing professionals from their introductory marketing course through their capstone, as he serves as the professor for both. In these courses, Paris saw Barber work on campaigns for brands such as Urban Outfitters in 2018 and Kraft Heinz in 2020.
“Across both marketing courses I witnessed Matt as a student that I would consider not only a natural, but an asset to any marketing organization,” Paris said in an email. “Not only does he appear dedicated to this profession but exudes all the attributes that would position Matt as a true value add for any business.”
Of course, this value is already evident in Barber’s recent promotion from strategic brand partnership specialist to brand partnerships & experiential marketing manager within just months of completing the program. These skills and experiences are likely ones that will continue to be valuable throughout his career.