“Marketing should be both an art and a science”

Andreas Munzel joins Vlerick as Professor of Marketing

“As a researcher, I’ve always been interested in relationships and social interactions - how individuals engage with each other, how consumers interact, and the dynamics between companies and their customers”, says Andreas Munzel. “And I’ve combined this focus with a fascination for the transformative impact of online environments. In particular, I’m intrigued by how these digital spaces affect not so much the fundamental nature of relationships, but their dynamics: how they are built, how they come together, and how they evolve.” Recently appointed Professor of Marketing, Andreas talks about his passions.

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  • Associate Professor of Marketing
  • Formerly Full Professor of Marketing at Toulouse School of Management
  • Specialised in digital marketing and online social interactions via social media
  • Passionate photographer with a penchant for street photography featuring strong light-dark contrasts

Relational lens on digital environments

His research is divided into three main strands, the first of which is online reviews and deceptive communication. “My first love, if I can call it that, was electronic word-of-mouth. I studied both the concept and the practice of online reviews, looking at consumer-to-consumer interactions and how companies can actually deal with them.” From there it was a small step to studying deceptive online practices, such as fake online reviews submitted by business owners themselves or by online reputation companies. “These deceptive practices can exist because when there is no real, offline, face-to-face interaction, people can hide behind fake profiles and pretend to be regular customers. I’m now also researching fake news because, like fake reviews, it is increasingly affecting brands and businesses.”

A second strand focuses on social media interactions, where he studies social capital and well-being. “I’m looking at what actually makes us, as individuals, participate and be on Facebook, for example. Does it make us happy, and if so, why? Is it more like connecting with my real offline friends or is it like connecting with other people I don't know?”

Social interactions generate data – big data, which explains his third strand of research. “I study big data analytics and its potential to improve business performance, particularly in managing customer relationships – there’s the social interaction angle again”, he smiles. Andreas is also exploring machine learning applications, such as chatbots, and he is currently working on a paper about trust issues in the context of highly autonomous cars. Finally, when it comes to personalised marketing, he is interested in the topic of data privacy and how companies collect and use data, which is a growing concern for consumers, individuals, and internet users.

Rising to the data challenge

Often considered an art, the science of marketing is gaining ground. As data plays an increasingly important role in marketing, companies are looking for candidates with both solid marketing knowledge and data-savvy skills, such as data analytics. “Digital marketing is particularly interesting because it allows us to collect data throughout the customer journey, providing insights into different touchpoints and helping companies understand what’s going on”, Andreas explains. “In offline marketing, many of these steps are behind closed doors, making it difficult for companies to track and understand what's happening. Online, we can collect data and generate insights”, he says, adding with a wink: “Provided we analyse the data properly.”

Marketing is an outward-facing function of the company, similar to customer service or communications. For Andreas it is essential for marketing to be on the same page as customers. As more customers become digitally transformed, marketing needs to adapt to this change and, like customers, blend digital and analogue approaches. He believes that marketing’s role in this data-driven digital era is to take the lead in bringing this whole digital idea into the business. “After all, it’s often marketing that has the most potential or is under the most pressure to go digital. Marketing should be both an art and a science.”

Like data analytics, marketing automation is a popular topic nowadays, with many companies relying on big data to gain insights. But Andreas stresses that it is important to remember that understanding the consumer is just as crucial: “I always encourage participants in my executive marketing training programs to sit down with an actual customer and have a conversation. This way, they can gather small data or qualitative data, which can help them gain a better understanding of and empathy for the customer.”

Personal connection

Andreas will teach digital marketing and analytics, data-driven marketing, and customer centricity on our Masters programmes as well as leading our Digital Marketing programme for executives. He got to know Vlerick through Fred Lemke, who is also a marketing professor: “I’ve known Fred for more than 13 years now”, Andreas recalls. “I actually met him at my very first academic conference as a PhD student, and somehow we connected and stayed in touch.” In late 2022, Andreas joined us as a research fellow, not only eager to deepen his collaboration with Fred but also keen to become part of the Vlerick research community. During the research days in March and September, the spark ignited. “I really liked the dynamic conversation between students and faculty. And I knew then and there that I wanted to get involved as more than a research fellow.” When a position in digital marketing became available, Andreas applied and the rest is history.

Passion for integrated education and excellence

But it wasn’t just the dynamic atmosphere that won him over. “So far, I’ve worked with bachelor, master and doctoral students at the university. Executive education was a separate venture for which I set up my own company. What I see at Vlerick is stimulating, because executive education is not something separate, it’s integrated.” He was also impressed by our approach to blended learning. “When Covid hit, I explored possibilities beyond Zoom lectures. I redesigned all my courses and developed my own online learning platform. Now that we’re back to face-to-face teaching, I’ve kept the idea of blended learning, which means combining highly interactive workshops and face-to-face sessions with self-paced online modules. Of course, I’d like to bring my experience to the table, but I also think I can learn a lot from Vlerick’s more structured initiatives.”

Andreas is eager to dive in. “Just last week we had the New Year's reception and several colleagues were congratulated for their excellent publications. Vlerick is a community that strives for excellence, which is very inspiring and stimulating. This is why I also want to step up my research and publication efforts in the coming years.” As for the shorter term: he can’t wait to start teaching in the upcoming Masters programmes, and he is looking forward to the spring, when the open Digital Marketing programme, which he has designed together with Philippe Baecke and Koen Tackx, will be launched.

Black cat in a dark room

Andreas is a marketing professor, but ever since his first child was born, photography has become an important part of his life. “While my family triggered my passion for photography, I’m now really into street photography. I love going out with my camera, observing, and looking at what’s going on. I’m fascinated by strong, harsh contrasts, such as dark shadows and pockets of light, which I look for when I’m out in the streets.”

“Photography is painting with light, but we need shadows to give shape to this light. A few years ago, I compiled a book of my photography and sat down to look at my photos to understand what I was actually doing. I realised that with my photography, I’m trying to embrace my own shadows. Now this gets very personal and philosophical, but we all have some kind of darkness in us. Let’s say that I consider photography to be not only an outward-looking journey but also an inward-looking one.”

Is there a link between his professional life and his passion for photography? Andreas believes there is. He recalls how he was inspired by the book ‘Ignorance: How it drives science’, which dispels the myth of science as a structured, stepwise process to provide certainty. It starts with the intriguing metaphor: ‘It is very difficult to find a black cat in a dark room, especially when there is no cat.’ For the author, this describes how science really works. The book argues that science is about embracing uncertainty, like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and there may not be a cat in the room. “As researchers, we need to embrace uncertainty and find pleasure in not knowing”, Andreas says. “Embracing the shadows in my photographic journey to better tell stories with light has taught me some things about what really motivates me scientifically.”

Ever since reading the book, he keeps this metaphor in mind when starting a new research project: “All right, those are the pockets of light that exist, but there’s quite a domain that is not in the light, and there’s no light shed on it right now. So let’s have a look if there is a black cat. Let’s enter the dark room, shall we?”

Profile

  • Associate Professor of Marketing at Vlerick Business School
  • Full Professor of Marketing at Toulouse School of Management (Toulouse Capitole University), France
  • Full Professor at Montpellier Management (University of Montpellier), France
  • Associate Professor of Marketing at Toulouse School of Management (Toulouse Capitole University), France
  • Visiting scholar at the LMU Center for Advanced Management Studies (University of Munich), Germany, the University of Pavia, Italy, Bucharest University, Romania
  • External lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
  • PhD in Marketing at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
  • Master in Business Administration and Management at the EM Strasbourg Business School (University of Strasbourg), France and the University of Tübingen, Germany

Get in touch!

Andreas Munzel

Andreas Munzel

Associate Professor of Marketing