Sandra Moriarty and Tom Duncan (Phot by Drew Johnson)

By Luke Graham

Retiring Professors Sandra Moriarty and Tom Duncan joke that they have a textbook marriage. In the mid-1980s they met at an academic conference where Moriarty asked Duncan to help her on a book. Finding they were still speaking after completing the book, the colleagues became companions. They were married in 1988 and took their innovative philosophies on advertising education and founded the integrated marketing communications, or IMC, graduate program at CU in 1993.

Moriarty and Duncan both saw a need to integrate the many different areas of marketing communication to better prepare students for work in brand communication. Duncan said traditional advertising focuses primarily on customer acquisitions and transactions, while IMC focuses both on acquisitions and building relationships.

Duncan, who started out in education as a high school teacher in Indiana, said he has always been interested in curriculum development as evidenced by a national curriculum commission that he put together in 1965 to help improve journalism instruction in secondary schools.

In the meantime, Moriarty's research in advertising and public relations also led her to the idea of IMC. She had her own PR and advertising agency before beginning her academic career. She has authored or co-authored 10 books.

"The cutting edge of advertising is IMC," Moriarty said.

Duncan said his concept of IMC was heavily influenced by an Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication national advertising and PR task force that he co-chaired in the early 1990s.

The IMC program soon became a popular program at the University, receiving 120 applications from around the world during the last year of the program. In 2002, after 10 years, a faculty committee recommended that the School drop the IMC program.

"I was very disappointed," Duncan said. "The IMC program, because it was cutting edge, helped give the School international recognition."

When asked what they would miss about the School, Moriarty said she has enjoyed talking about the media with many of her colleagues.

"I'll definitely miss the collegiality with faculty of like minds," she said.
Both said they formed some great relationships with many of the IMC students and remain in contact with them.

"They (IMC students) were a very close group," Moriarty said. "They had camaraderie from being through this tremendous experience."

Although both will take away good memories, there are certain aspects they said they will not miss. Throughout the years, Moriarty has been on several accrediting trips to other schools around the nation and said the CU School is at a disadvantage because of its building.

"I'm not going to miss the Armory," she said. "This building is an embarrassment."

Duncan agreed, saying that the University as a whole doesn't seem to understand the value of a mass and marketing communication program, especially with all the changes in the media.

Although both are retiring in June from CU, in most ways it's only a technicality. Duncan has moved the IMC program to the University of Denver's Daniel College of Business, where the nation's first MBA in IMC is being offered and said he will remain busy there. Moriarty plans to continue to work on her books, and both will keep making presentations around the world on IMC and branding.

One major project they will work on is consulting for Dentsu, the fifth-largest advertising agency in the world. Duncan and Moriarty will be the Tokyo-based company's primary consultants regarding IMC. They have been retained by Dentsu to help make it the leading IMC agency in the world and will help Dentsu define its methodologies about IMC.

"If Dentsu invests in the necessary training, it will achieve this objective," Duncan said.

While both said they are excited to be working with Dentsu, they admit that working with big agencies can be difficult.

"It's like turning the Titanic," Moriarty said.

Fortunately, Duncan and Moriarty said, the organizational system at Dentsu is solid and that unlike many big advertising agencies, it has commitment from the highest corporate levels. Duncan and Moriarty have a two-year contract with Dentsu and said they are both excited to see where they can take the company.

Both believe that they would not have accomplished everything they have without each other. Duncan described Moriarty as "fabulous" and said she has been the main reason that they have been successful in IMC curriculum development, publishing and consulting.

"Conceptually and analytically, she has helped me present my ideas," he said.
Moriarty expressed similar sentiments about Duncan. She said he has always been creative, which is important in the IMC field because there is a lot of problem solving involved. She cites many of the books that they have done together in which Duncan has come up with new concepts and models.

"He is the most creative guy I've ever worked with," she said.

They said students in marketing communication face the challenge of rebuilding media trust in brands, which includes the media. Duncan said he believes that will be an essential part of the future for the mass media. Moriarty agreed, saying it's important for students to come away with a sense of ethical standards when working in the media, whether on the advertising or editorial side.

Both said that because the lines between marketing communication and editorial content are being blurred, journalism schools must take the lead in driving the debate and finding answers that restore media credibility. Nonetheless, Duncan doesn't see a better field to get into than the media.

"Throughout the whole area of mass communication, I can't think of an area that's going to be more exciting than mass media," he said.

Moriarty came to the School in 1984 after teaching advertising at the University of Kansas and Michigan State University. She received a Ph.D. in education from Kansas State University in 1975. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri and a master's degree from Kansas State University, both in journalism.

Duncan has been at the School since 1989. Before that, he worked for Leo Burnett as a research analyst and account executive, was director of marketing communications for Peter Eckrich & Sons and then was director of marketing for Jeno's Inc. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1968. Duncan's bachelor's and master's degrees in advertising are from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where this month he was inducted into Medill's Hall of Achievement. The Hall of Achievement was established in 1997 and honors Medill alumni whose careers have had positive impacts on their fields. Five alumni are selected for the hall annually.