![\"Eugene](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/05\/190509_Eugene_Kim_Marketing_0258.jpg\")
<\/a>(Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Mamta Saraogi \u201921 of Kolkata, India, thought of a time she tried to get her classmates to try meditation, an important part of her own life. She\u2019d explained its benefits, with the goal of helping her friends experience those benefits themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt placed a hobby that I had in the context of something that I can spread to people in a strategic way, to have an impact rather than confine it to my own personal hobby,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
If you think about it, marketing is part of everyday life, just as it is central to any business, organization, or movement. Done right, it has the potential to do tremendous good, Kim says.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he\u2019s teaching \u201cMarketing with Higher Purpose for the Conscious Human,\u201d one of five practitioner-taught courses offered this Short Term through the Center for Purposeful Work.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Mamta Saraogi \u201921 watches a presentation by representatives of athletic clothing company lululemon. An English major, Saraogi said Eugene Kim’s course has expanded her understanding of the good marketing can do. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Kim is teaching his students about purpose-driven marketing, an increasingly popular approach that sees marketing not only as driving profits, but as improving communities and the lives of customers.<\/p>\n
The class, Kim hopes, will help students \u201cunderstand that type of human behavior, that decision-making process, and then how a purpose-driven, socially conscious brand can align with someone at that level to help build more advocacy and connect better with their community.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took Kim awhile to find his purpose in purpose-driven marketing. A double major in biology and art and visual culture at Bates, he made plans to go to medical school until, one day during his junior year, he realized he\u2019d forgotten why he wanted to be a doctor in the first place.<\/p>\n
Casting about for careers that might fit his art and science background, Kim interned for local firm Rinck Advertising and discovered an interest in marketing.<\/p>\n
He worked as an account executive and strategist in Boston for several years, but found himself increasingly disillusioned.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Eugene Kim \u201908 watches representatives of athletic clothing company lululemon talk about the company’s marketing. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cOften you work with brands or companies or clients who don\u2019t have the world\u2019s best interests in mind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After six years, Kim formed his own freelance marketing business. He helps clients understand the purpose of their businesses and develop marketing plans; with one company, which makes fermented foods, he\u2019s become a business partner.<\/p>\n
Patagonia, a go-to example of a purpose-driven brand, has taken strong stances on political issues and even directly criticized the Trump administration for its environmental policies. But purpose-driven marketing doesn\u2019t necessarily mean taking up a cause. Another of Kim\u2019s clients, an aesthetic doctor, simply understands that cosmetics are only one way to feel good about yourself.<\/p>\n
Whatever the purpose, the company has to walk the walk. \u201cThat purpose needs to permeate their company culture,\u201d Kim says. \u201cEveryone who\u2019s on board needs to be aligned with where they\u2019re headed, and that needs to reflect in the way they do business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA company or brand can talk about how they support sustainability all day, but at the end of the day, if their business practices don\u2019t align with that, eventually they\u2019re not going to have staying power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Short Term class is discussion-based, with frequent guest speakers from brands like The North Face and lululemon.<\/p>\n