Martin R. Lautman

Martin R. Lautman
  • Adjunct Professor of Marketing

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    716 Jon Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

  • office Address:

    700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Overview

Dr. Martin Lautman is the former Chairman and CEO of GfK Custom Research North America (Nuremburg, Germany), the fourth largest information company in the world, with offices in over 60 countries. While at GfK, Dr. Lautman was responsible for the integration of one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the information industry, NOP Worldwide, into GfK North American Custom Research operations. Prior to joining GfK, Dr. Lautman was the Senior Managing Director of ARBOR in Media, Pennsylvania, where over a 25 year span he was the Engagement Director for 500+ branding, new products, marketing effectiveness assessment and strategy projects for numerous multi-national clients including AT&T, The Henkel Dial Corporation, Kraft, McDonald’s, Bristol-Myers, Campbell Soup, Nestlé, Marriott, General Motors, P&G Gillette, Dell, Brown-Forman, Avon and Merck.

Dr. Lautman also served as the President of Numex Corporation, a public company which marketed health care products through infomercials and helped found Stonemor (NASDAQ: STON), a public master limited partnership, where he currently serves on the board. Recently, Dr. Lautman has focused on venture capital and works as a Venture Partner in three early stage venture funds, Eastern Technologies Fund, First Round Capital and Mentor Tech (Wharton and Penn) where he helps evaluate new investments and provides marketing support for portfolio companies. He also serves on the boards of three large family-owned companies and as Chairman of the Board of FirstFlavor, a product sampling marketing company.

Dr. Lautman received his B.S. degree in Political Science from Brooklyn College and Ph.D. degree in 1975 in Mathematical Psychology (Behavioral Economics) from The Pennsylvania State University. He is a graduate of the Executive Education Program of The Harvard Business School and is a member of World President’s Organization (WPO), the successor organization to the Young President’s Organization (YPO) where he is chairman of the mentoring program for young entrepreneurs. Dr. Lautman has lectured on marketing strategy, marketing research, advertising and new products at the Cornell University Hotel School, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University Business School. He also is a consulting editor on several academic journals.

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Teaching

All Courses

  • MKTG2410 - Entrepreneurial Mktg

    This course focuses on the real life marketing challenges involved in launching an entrepreneurial venture. The primary goal of the course will to provide a roadmap for students seeking to actively engage as entrepreneurs, investors or managers in the startup culture. Many of the entrepreneurial marketing principles studied in this course will be equally applicable to mid-size and larger companies seeking new approaches to drive top-line growth. The course will address how start-ups, early growth stage and more mature companies have used entrepreneurial marketing as an essential competitive weapon to grow their businesses by gaining customers, driving revenue, acquiring funding and recruiting A-level employees, advisors and directors. Students will form teams and select an idea/concept for an entrepreneurial venture, and by the conclusion of the course will have developed a fully fleshed out and testable marketing plan. Preferably, the selected venture will be one that one or more members of the team would consider implementing, should their plan prove feasible.

  • MKTG7410 - Entrepreneurial Mktg

    This course focuses on the real life marketing challenges involved in launching an entrepreneurial venture. The primary goal of the course will to provide a roadmap for students seeking to actively engage as entrepreneurs, investors or managers in the startup culture. Many of the entrepreneurial marketing principles studied in this course will be equally applicable to mid-size and larger companies seeking new approaches to drive top-line growth. The course will address how start-ups, early growth stage and more mature companies have used entrepreneurial marketing as an essential competitive weapon to grow their businesses by gaining customers, driving revenue, acquiring funding and recruiting A-level employees, advisors and directors. Students will form teams and select an idea/concept for an entrepreneurial venture, and by the conclusion of the course will have developed a fully fleshed out and testable marketing plan. Preferably, the selected venture will be one that one or more members of the team would consider implementing, should their plan prove feasible.

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