Watson with his wife and their three sons. The family welcomed a daughter in November.

Courtesy | Neil Watson

After teaching at Ave Maria University and spending almost 10 years in marketing at Adidas, Neil Watson joined the Hillsdale College marketing department as an instructor last semester.

Watson said he will use his experience from working for Adidas, Tillamook Creamery, and an accounting firm to enhance students’ understanding of real-life marketing.

“Marketing is very much a practiced art, so you need to draw on all those interdisciplinary backgrounds, and you need to know a little bit of everything, but it’s very important that you’re able to go ‘do’,” Watson said. “Having stories to share from my career or being able to come from the industry world and bring it here to students enriches their experiences.”

Watson is teaching three courses this semester: “Marketing Management,” “Consumer Behavior,” and “Nonprofit Marketing.” 

“The way I try to approach the classes is: ‘We’re going to build on this theory and then put it into practice and try to actually run and do projects that are very real to life,” Watson said. “So it helps me to have had that experience, to bring it into the classroom here for students, so that they are really, truly ready to encounter the same kind of scenarios in their careers and be career ready in a unique way with that liberal arts foundation.” 

Watson’s previous experience in marketing helps students grasp marketing concepts better and feel more confident in their abilities, according to junior Katie Holford, a student in two of his courses. 

“In marketing, we learn a lot about concepts, but it can sometimes be difficult to apply those to real-life scenarios,” Holford said. “So when he introduces concepts in class and then follows them up with how you can apply them in a real-life business setting, it helps me become more confident in my marketing abilities to be able to apply the concepts I learned.” 

Watson said Hillsdale’s core curriculum and liberal arts education drew him to the college because he thinks marketing builds on every aspect of the liberal arts. 

“Marketing draws on every discipline,” Watson said.“You need to know some psychology. You need to know storytelling really well. You need to know data and analytics and some of the science. We draw from all these different disciplines that lets me and our students explore marketing from all these unique perspectives.”

Watson said Hillsdale offers an opportunity for students interested in marketing to build off of the strong liberal arts foundation and operate in the world with the formative education of Hillsdale.

Watson makes class applicable to real life, which draws students to take his courses, said senior Analise Hess, a student in Watson’s “Digital Marketing” course, and the “Sports Marketing” course he taught last semester.

“He’s very relatable and personable,” Hess said. “He tries to make the class really engaging by asking thought provoking questions throughout the lecture. He also dedicates time at the end to a hands-on activity, usually related to a real world topic applicable to the lecture material.” 

Watson said he has “shoe laced” across the globe, living in California, Washington, D.C., Germany, Hawaii, and most recently Florida before he moved to Michigan.

“Being able to enjoy a proper fall and see the colors — although that early snow was shocking — has been great,” Watson said. 

Watson and his wife have three sons and welcomed a daughter, Rosie, in November. 

“I think we’re settling in very nicely and finding the community very welcoming,” Watson said. “We’re parishioners at St. Anthony’s, and that has been a very welcoming community. And the faculty, my colleagues here, have been very helpful in orienting me.”

Watson said he is enthusiastic about teaching and getting to know the students. 

“I think in some ways, marketing and the business department have been some of our best kept secrets here.” Watson said. “Hopefully we get more students coming into the department. I’m very eager to meet as many as possible. I hope they stop by my office anytime — the door is usually open.”