Mendoza’s new Master of Science in Digital Marketing Program announces a new advisory board

This fall, the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business launched its highly anticipated new Master of Science in Digital Marketing (MSDM). The 10-month program gives students command over the rapidly changing tools and the insights necessary to advance as leaders in one of the fastest-growing fields in business. 

The first cohort of 39 students stepped onto campus in September, hitting the ground running with a semester’s worth of courses taught by industry pioneers, including the program’s academic director, Associate Marketing Professor Kevin Hartman, formerly Google’s Chief Analytics Strategist.

“In this program, we are blending theoretical understanding of the hot, interesting, complex topic of digital marketing and the application of that understanding into job skills,” Hartman said.

As the program launched, so did a key support component. Hartman formed an MSDM advisory board made up of some of the most influential and disruptive leaders in the industry, many of whom are alumni.

The advisors will be actively involved in guiding the program as it scales. “The board’s role is to provide the industry insight and expertise that I need to ensure that what we are building academically translates to what hiring managers, brands and marketers are looking for today,” Hartman said.

The MSDM Advisory Board members include:

• Stephanie Gallo (BA ‘94), Chief Marketing Officer of Gallo, the largest family-owned winery in the world, and a member of the University of Notre Dame Board of Fellows.
• Kim Einan (BA ‘99), Chief Strategy Officer of Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc., one of the world’s largest global marketing and communications holding companies.
• Gene Foca (BA ‘87), Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer of Getty Images, a leading visual media company that provides stock photography, video, music and editorial content to creative professionals worldwide.
• Tiffany Tibbot (BBA ‘12), Owner and Principal Consultant of Spill the Tea Digital, a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in performance marketing, paid media strategy and customer growth.
• Ken Dice (BA ‘87), Founder of Reference Standard, a strategic and culture-centered partner for CEOs and CMOs to help accelerate their vision, their plans. and their teams.

The MSDM program prepares students for roles in a range of industries demanding expertise in digital marketing, social media management and marketing analytics. In the spring, Hartman will teach Applied Digital Marketing, a 17-week capstone course in which students will divide into small groups, with each team serving its own client with a real-life marketing project designed to let them test out what they’ve previously learned in the classroom in a professional setting.

“Our board members have helped shape the design of this program. They have also spent time with our MSDM students in the classroom discussing real-world business challenges that their companies face and sharing what they look for in good candidates for their marketing jobs,” Hartman said. “They are incredibly busy, but they care about being hands-on.”

Below,  several MSDM Advisory Board members share their stories, their vision for the future direction of digital marketing and which skills will become most critical. 

Kim Einan

Einan is an industry leader known for blending creativity, rigor and a deep understanding of human behavior to unlock growth for brands. Before joining Omnicom, Einan was Global CSO at Publicis’s Starcom, where she redefined the agency’s strategic practice, building a world-class insights and research team, reshaping its positioning and designing a new global planning process. Her passion for uncovering what drives people has fueled award-winning research on human motivations and the evolving role of culture, media and brands in people’s lives.

With more than 25 years of experience, Einan has guided strategy for some of the world’s most iconic companies, including Kraft, Disney Parks, Luxottica and LEGO. Today, she continues to bring her cross-category expertise and perspective to Omnicom’s OMD, where she leads the agency’s strategic vision and product elevation agenda.

Q: As someone helping to shape the future of the MSDM program, what is one skill or mindset you believe will define the next generation of digital marketers and why?

Einan: Curiosity. In an industry where people change faster than playbooks, true leaders emerge as the ones who can master the tools of today and who are curious enough to explore what’s next.

Q: How do you envision marketing having a positive impact on society in the future?

Einan: My dream is that we can broker a more symbiotic relationship between people and brands. We must go beyond messaging at people to leveraging what we know about them to design more meaningful value exchanges.

 

Gene Foca

Foca sits on the company’s executive team and is responsible for global performance marketing, brand and communications, customer data science, sales, sales enablement, customer success, and customer care. He jointly oversees the e‑commerce group with Grant Farhall, Chief Product Officer.

He has a wealth of experience across e‑commerce, product and digital marketing, bringing over 20 years of experience as a strategic and data‑driven marketing leader and general manager, launching and growing some of the world’s biggest content and e‑commerce businesses. For almost two decades, he had been in marketing leadership roles with Time Incorporated and Time Warner, across brands such as Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.

Q: As someone helping to shape the future of the MSDM program, what’s one skill or mindset you believe will define the next generation of digital marketers and why?

Foca: The ability and willingness to be flexible and adaptable. If you cannot proactively see around corners, adapt and learn from everyone and every situation, you will become less valuable or irrelevant.

Q: What is the most underrated skill for marketing leaders today? 

Foca: The ability to analyze and understand business models and create the right marketing organization and approach for the business model in which you find yourself. This ability, combined with a solid understanding of data, will help you to build a strong value proposition, a tremendous customer journey and experience, and invaluable relationships with your CEO, CFO, CPO, CTO and general counsel. Without these things, you are a cost center focused on copy, communication, content and creative without being tied to the performance of the overall business.

Tiffany Tibbot

At 35, Tiffany Tibbot  is the youngest member of the MSDM Advisory Board, bringing a unique perspective shaped by experience across every facet of digital business. Before founding Spill The Tea Digital in 2024 — her second business venture— Tiffany spent a decade in New York City driving eCommerce growth for leading fashion and beauty brands, including Kate Spade, Maison Kitsuné, and KREWE.

Now based in New York’s Hudson Valley, where she also pursues her passion as an equestrian, Tiffany partners with small-to-mid-sized direct-to-consumer brands, offering a comprehensive perspective to help them scale in the digital space. Her work reflects a deep commitment to helping the next generation of marketers and business leaders thrive as the digital landscape continues to evolve.

Q: As someone helping to shape the future of the MSDM program, what’s one skill or mindset you believe will define the next generation of digital marketers and why?

Tibbot: I believe the defining skill for the next generation of digital marketers is agility. The landscape is evolving faster than ever, driven by rapid advances in technology and the changing ways consumers communicate. Marketers must be able to anticipate industry shifts and adapt quickly to harness those changes. Agility means pivoting strategies and embracing innovation while keeping customer needs at the center. Those who balance foresight with flexibility will make the most meaningful impact.

Q: How do you see digital marketing evolving in the era of AI, data ethics and personalization?

Tibbot: I see digital marketing evolving into a space where AI, data ethics and personalization all need to work in lockstep. If you’re not already using AI in your professional life, start learning how today. It has already become an essential tool to help me optimize client campaigns and generate creative ideas more efficiently, but the real challenge is using these tools responsibly. Consumers are more aware than ever of how their data is used and they expect both transparency and authenticity.

For me, the future is about using AI to scale personalization in a way that still feels human and strengthens the relationship between consumers and brands, while keeping trust at the center. 

Ken Dice

Dice is an accomplished business and marketing leader with deep experience in energizing brands, businesses and the teams that move them forward. His dedication to understanding consumers and his commitment to inspire them through innovation, story and disruption have been hallmarks throughout his career at such cultural brands as Nike, Sony, McDonald’s and the Discovery Channel. Wherever he’s been, Dice has been committed to leading with soul and creating open and authentic environments where teams can thrive.

Q: What is the most underrated skill for marketing leaders today?

Dice: Understanding the problem is just as important, if not more so, than solving the problem. As marketers, of course we need to be great at both.  But thoroughly understanding a consumer’s problem, their mindset and the cultural context in which they live are crucial elements in determining not just the right marketing approach, but the very product or service a brand needs to develop. This skill, when combined with a command of the data and the digital tools at our disposal, will create a powerful marketing force in which brands will want to invest.

Q: How do you envision marketing as having a positive impact on society in the future?

Dice: Of all the disciplines and specializations in the world of business today, only marketing can truly move people to a different way of thinking. Marketing owns the consumer and the conversations brands choose to have with them. And it’s these conversations that can motivate people to do new things in new ways, to truly change the way people think about the challenges and opportunities in front of us.