Jeff Murray, professor in the Department of Marketing at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, joined the University of Arkansas in 1989. Murray, a Colorado-native turned long-term Arkansas resident, currently teaches in the Executive MBA and Full-time MBA programs at Walton College. When the university moved to remote instruction in March, Murray wanted a high-context medium to ease the lack of face-to-face interaction with his Executive MBA students. He kept coming back to the idea of a podcast. Season 1 of Hidden Signs is now available to students, alumni and the public.
Storytelling is an integral component of Murray’s teaching methodology. He says he “doesn’t want to just talk about theories and concepts.” Murray says he tries to “think of examples and illustrations from different cultures and different historical periods that would bring these ideas to life.”
“The podcast is just another way of talking about culture,” Murray says. “We’re all raised in cultural environments that seem normal and natural, so we don’t question them. The podcast tries to take what is natural and render it historical… I want listeners to say ‘Wait, why do I do that? I’ve been doing this my whole life, but why?’”
Murray challenges students to think about the “why” and “how” as the key to good marketing, “When you can be reflective and you can understand things a little deeper, you can use that information symbolically for branding and for marketing,” he says.
The first season of the Hidden Signs podcast contains 10, 20-minute episodes. The podcast starts by asking the question, “What is a hidden sign?” Murray uses engaging examples and vivid illustrations to identify the “hidden signs” of everyday life. As the podcast episodes unfold, Murray delves deep into the mechanics of semiotics, the study of how signs and symbols create meaning, and how to understand hidden signs, “If they’re signs then they’re symbolic. We can draw on semiotics and other fields to better understand them.” Drawing on theories of socialization and enculturation, Murray asks listeners to question the “complex interaction between signs systems and the physical environment, movement and bodies.” He asks, “If most signs are hidden, how do we pass them on? How do these signs become a part of us?” Through ethnography and other cultural and marketing research methods, hidden signs are revealed and understood, “turning the taken for granted into something we think and talk about.”
Rooted in “good social science,” Murray says he wanted to find ways for students and listeners to relate to the podcast while starting a conversation.
Hidden Signs – Available Now!
https://app.resonaterecordings.com/hosting/hidden-signs.
Also available on Apple and Google podcasts.
