The semiotic paradigm in market research gives new meaning to the expression, "You are what you eat." The semiotic value of goods, from foodstuffs to cars, transcends their functional attributes, such as nutrition or transportation, and delivers intangible benefits to consumers in the form of brand symbols, icons, and stories. For instance, Coke offers happiness, Apple delivers "cool," and BMW strokes your ego.
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From time to time, we try to give you a glimpse into work in our offices around the globe, so we are excited to bring you an interview with Erin McAuliffe, a Product Marketing Coordinator for Oxford’s online products. We spoke to Erin about her life here at Oxford University Press — which includes marketing a range of digital resources including Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford Competition Law, and more.
What is the most important lesson you learned during your first year on the job?
To be flexible when relying on others. I am a little bit of a control freak so learning to go with the flow was a challenge.
When did you start working at OUP?
I was an intern on the Online Product Marketing team during the Summer of 2010 and then returned as a full-time employee on the same team one year later in June 2011.
Erin McAuliffe, Marketing Coordinator, at her desk in the New York office.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your day?
When all my meetings are over and I can sit down and check projects off my to-do list! Or when I finish a to-do list!
What’s the least enjoyable?
9:00 a.m. conference call meetings.
What is the strangest thing currently on or in your desk?
Four different pictures of Ryan Gosling and a cheeseburger mouse pad.
What was your first job in publishing?
This one!
What are you reading right now?
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd; it’s just okay.
What’s your favorite book?
This is impossible to answer but my favorite book that I have read recently was Columbine which is a non-fiction book written by journalist Dave Cullen who covered the Columbine shooting and its impact on the community and families over the next 12 years. It was the most honest, heartbreaking, and complex book I’ve read in a long time.
If you didn’t work in publishing, what would you be doing?
Probably working for a media or ad agency.
What’s the first thing you do when you get to work in the morning?
Put my lunch in the fridge and then scan Internet news while my email loads.
What will you be doing once you’ve completed this Q&A?
I will be coding the public page update of Oxford Bibliographies. I had to teach myself HTML when I started working here and now I love it. It’s cathartic and systematic and you get to be creative.
If you could trade places with any one person for a week, who would it be and why?
Probably Barack Obama. I think having that much responsibility and pressure would put a lot of things I worry about in perspective.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
A book, some sunscreen, and a regenerating frozen drink cooler.
What is the most exciting project you have been part of while working at OUP?
Probably the creation of an interactive author map for Oxford Bibliographies. It was a project that I thought of, got approved, and executed in a short amount of time and it was something completely new and different for OUP and for the online products.
What is your favorite word?
Rigmarole.
What is in your desk drawer?
Shoes, A Fondue Set, a stockpile of napkins, and a large amount of blank USBs.
Most obscure talent or hobby?
I can juggle, though not very well.
Longest book ever read?
IT by Stephen King, a little over 1100 pages. Close second is World Without End by Ken Follet which I think is just under 1100 pages.
Erin McAuliffe is Global Product Marketing Coordinator, Digital at Oxford University Press. She works across a range of online products including Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford Competition Law, and more.
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The post Getting to know Product Marketer Erin McAuliffe appeared first on OUPblog.
