David Canaan, the CEO of the Laurel Group, Inc visited BYU-Idaho today and gave a lecture on ”If I knew what I know now” in regards to finding a career. David Canaan has had over 37 years experience in global marketing and branding, with an impressive clientelle including;

- Brick oven
- Sundance
- Chevron
- Adison design
- GSM
- Mitsukoshi dept store
- Pacific bell
- Scotch tape
- Universal studios
- Denny’s
- United way  (invited him to be marketing advisor.)
- Storage USA – 160 different logos for different sizes and different backgrounds.

He gave some insight regarding branding. With a picture of two identical spoons he asked what the difference was between them. Obviously it was nothing, but then he noted that the only difference could be price, the only advantage a company could have over the other was a lower price. This he added would decrease profits to a valueless point.

He then added a logo to one of the spoons, this he claimed allowed the manufacturer to charge more money, this alone added an advantage whereby the manufacturer could charge more money for his product, increasing profits. It is this branding process that collectively adds to the economy.

He then went on to give some undergraduate advice.

“Don’t worry about your major… when in the field you will gravitate toward a certain career.”

Graduate school
- teaches you how to think strategically
- classmates
- recruiting market
- alumni network
- do not be afraid to invest in yourself

Picking a job
- view immediate decisions in light of your end goal.
- no right and wrong in getting a job
- avoid resumes – if your doing your job you don’t have a resume!
- use your head and solve a problem
- the ones who stand out are the ones who come being able to solve a problem
- know the current industry issues, the company, the interviewers
- SRDS (standards rates & data service)
- about.com
- find the schools where the receiiterd recruit
- no substitute for first hand experience
- ALWAYS send thank-you notes

Always own your own problem
- do not let someone else define success for you
- keep your role models perspective (the saviour)
- if you don’t own the solution, don’t expect success
- keeping looking atvthe big picture
- fear is immobalising

Go to graduate school!

Challenges in the future
- fragmentation of media
- time more valuable than money

David Canaan ended with the quote, “do what you love and the rest will follow” Faux Pas