CAN YOU FIND THE MARKETING IN THE MUSIC? AN INTERACTIVE CONCEPT-MATCHING ACTIVITY

Abstract

ABSTRACT Student engagement is a growing challenge within higher education, especially as technology continues to evolve and competition for attention rises. As a business discipline, many marketing students struggle to connect with the theory presented in the classroom and seek interactive, experiential learning opportunities. The authors created the Find the Marketing in the Music playlist matching activity to address this challenge and provide students with an engaging application of marketing concepts. Music is a means of personal expression and broadens listeners’ perspectives. Music can help ignite or explain feelings, highlight complexities of social situations, and serve as a vehicle driving understanding and compassion. This featured activity reveals that by pairing songs that illustrate marketing concepts with information discussed in class, students could connect to the material in a new way. This exercise allows students to leverage the creative and grounded aspects of critical thinking by connecting something artistic with concrete marketing concepts. Students note that this activity helps them better relate to the material and that the relevancy of things discussed in the classroom takes on a new level when integrated into their everyday lives.