It’s been a while since alumnus Eric Sachse lived in Freddy or Hutchens House, but he has fond memories of his time at Missouri State. Between getting two degrees, an internship that turned into a career, and meeting his wife, MSU was definitely his “place.”
Eric graduated in 2002 with a degree in marketing with an emphasis in advertising and promotions and then again in 2008 with an MBA and a focus in management. Currently, he’s the director of marketing for Meek’s Building Center here in Springfield, MO, and he has a seat on the Marketing Department’s advisory board.
About once a semester, Eric talks to Sherry Cook’s students in Advanced Advertising about Meek’s unique marketing strategy, which, although it is a retail store, is more business-to-business than business-to-consumer. With the majority of sales going to building contractors, Meek’s has a smaller, very specific group to market to, which is accomplished by a high number of events instead of more traditional promotional strategies. With these presentations and advisory board, Eric stays involved on Missouri State’s campus long after he’s graduated. He’s been on advisory board three years now, and what he likes about it are both the networking opportunities and the student presentations. “I like the presentations at advisory board that show what the students are doing, because I guarantee whatever the students are doing is going to be on the cutting edge,” he says.
Missouri State and the Marketing Department have evolved over the many years Eric has been involved with them in various capacities. “I think the biggest difference from when I was there to now is they do a much better job marketing the department,” he says. With more digital promotion, Eric says the department and all its groups are more visible, and it seems like the network students can create among themselves and their professors is easier to maintain.
Eric feels the students that he supervises at Meek’s and talks to in Cook’s class are also different now than when he was a student. “I’m always impressed with the questions they ask and the insights they have,” he says. He thinks the competitiveness of the job market is a big component of that change, and a lot of the students have to know how to think critically in order to shine through the crowd.
Eric’s views on the marketing field have changed too. “You don’t realize when you’re a student—learning all these different theories and textbook processes—that the people that write the books and articles all use those things religiously.” He laughs and says he wishes he had retained more from school because the textbook theories have actually helped him in his professional career.
Eric’s career began when he found an internship at Meek’s the last year of his undergraduate degree. He hadn’t worked in an office before, but knew that’s where he wanted to end up. He applied and became the college relations assistant, putting together the monthly newsletter and keeping the student program organized. Soon after, though, the marketing director moved him to the part-time marketing position. When he graduated, he was the event coordinator, and when the previous marketing director retired in 2011, he stepped in to the position he’s in now.
“You get a different perspective [when you’re a professional] since you’ve done everything,” Eric says, talking about the differences between being a student and his Meek’s career. However, that doesn’t mean things are stagnant for Eric; with the ever-changing building materials industry and the continuing shift to social media marketing, he has more than enough challenges to keep him busy every day.