Samuels appointed senior vice president
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Deby Samuels, a veteran Nashville marketing executive and vice president of Lipscomb University’s University Communication and Marketing office, was recently named senior vice president for university communication and marketing by university president L. Randolph Lowry.
As a senior vice president, Samuels is part of the executive leadership team, which provides vision, strategy and direction for the university at an institutional level. In addition to this role, she oversees the university’s strategic communication, media relations, public relations, social media, web, marketing, advertising, branding, publications and creative services functions of the university. In her new role, Samuels will expand her work to coordinate several new university-wide marketing initiatives.
“Deby has brought expert leadership to the very visible areas of marketing and communication for the university that has not only helped elevate the institution’s reputation locally, but also created a greater awareness for the great things that are happening at Lipscomb on a national level as well,” said Lowry. “In this new role, Deby will have an important voice in the overall management of the university.”
A university focus on marketing is more important now than ever, Samuels said.
“The higher education landscape is much more competitive than it was even a decade ago,” she said. “There are a lot of choices in the marketplace. Universities have to get their messages out there in a way that is relevant, memorable and impactful.”
Many universities now have chief marketing officers as part of their administrative team, said Samuels, even if they don’t always have a large marketing budget.
“Having someone at a university who is constantly thinking about how to get the message out about that institution to key audiences is essential. Even for schools without large marketing budgets, it’s even more crucial to have someone in place who can make wise decisions and use every dollar allocated to marketing in the most effective way.”
Samuels said that it is important for every university to recognize that each one is a brand and to know how to use and protect that brand.
“Everything has a brand,” she said. “We may not always call it a brand, but everything does. When someone says an individual’s name, there is an image that comes to mind when you hear that name. It’s the same thing for universities. When someone sees or hears a university’s name, there is an image that comes to mind based on the messaging that is in the marketplace and media as well as that person’s experience with that institution. So it’s important for universities to have someone in place who can help shape and promote that brand to have a positive impact on brand image and awareness.”
A 1972 Lipscomb University graduate, Samuels was vice president of marketing communications for Nashville’s AmSurg Corp. prior to joining the Lipscomb administration in September 2009.
Samuels graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She has more than 40 years’ communication and marketing experience. Since coming to the Nashville market in 1980, she has served as director of marketing for Comdata as well as in creative and executive positions with The Buntin Group advertising and Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence (DVL) public relations, each among the area’s leading communications agencies in their respective areas.
Samuels’ professional and civic involvement includes past and present board positions with the CABLE women’s networking organization, the Nashville chapter of the American Marketing Association, the YWCA, Room in the Inn and the Wayne Reed Christian Childcare Center.