The University of Sydney Business School has announced the appointment of Andrew Baxter as an adjunct Professor of Marketing.

Baxter is currently a senior adviser for KPMG’s entrepreneurial Customer, Brand and Marketing Advisory (CBMA), and previously headed agencies Ogilvy and Publicis here in Australia.

In his new role, Baxter will work to establish a dialogue between the business school and the marketing industry.

Professor Vince Mitchell, head of USyd Business School’s marketing discipline, said: “Technology has transformed the industry in recent years with a shift in focus away from traditional media and towards highly-targeted digital platforms.

“It is essential that we engage the best talent available if our students are to be job-ready when they graduate and join the workforce.”

Mitchell also believes that Baxter will be able to lift the profile of the Business School and encourage the marketing sector to take greater advantage of its research capabilities.

“Industry has been successfully utilising the university’s significant research capabilities in the likes of medicine and science for many years, but the business school’s research skills haven’t been tapped into at the same level by the marketing industry,” he said.

“This appointment will help us to future-proof out students by blending the very best of what the industry and academia have to offer. Our aim is to give our students the best possible chance of capitalising on an ever-changing world.”

Baxter said the teaching of marketing-related subjects at a tertiary level could become irrelevant unless Australian universities engage with the sector as it goes through a period of rapid technology driven change.

“Marketing has changed enormously over the past 10 years and now more than ever, universities need to understand industry best practice in order to remain relevant,” he said.

“Students need to learn the latest techniques from the sector itself.”