Life Lessons From a Legendary Direct Marketer

Susan Kryl is a legendary direct marketer with two pieces of advice for marketers everywhere. First, use the “Day in The Life” technique to gain deep customer insight for building your marketing strategy. Second, “Learn, teach and mentor,” in order to keep up to date and give back to the world. (Advice she offers even for new entrants to the field.) Join us in a lively conversation about how Susan climbed the agency ladder to the very top, and later became a mentor to many who then did the same. Susan also shares the fascinating story of having created a win-win strategy for marketing education at DePaul University by assigning students to develop marketing plans for Chicago-area not-for-profits.

Susan Kryl's experience ranges from healthcare branding for Children’s and Northwestern Memorial Hospitals to minority marketing programs for Verizon, and to technology and financial services product launches for Informatica, RCN, GE Financial Services, and Dean Witter.

Her initiatives have also included consulting with Singtel in Singapore, and the introduction of the Discover Card with the J. Walter Thompson team in Chicago, where she led the response marketing group, JWT Direct, before founding her eponymous strategy/marketing/creative company 30 years ago.

Her leadership roles in the advertising community include terms as president of the Woman’s Advertising Club (WAC) and the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing (CADM). She also chaired Direct From The Heart (DFTH), a unique CADM program that acted as a clearinghouse between Chicago non-profits and marketing professionals and recognized the pro bono work of members.

Susan, an ardent music lover, served more than two decades as an active member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Guild Board of Directors, including several terms on the Executive Committee.

WVU Marketing Communications Today: Marketing Legends is presented by the West Virginia University Reed College of Media, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications.