January 09, 2025
Cartier. Lamborghini. The Four Seasons. These are names known around the world for quality, heritage, exclusivity and luxury.
“When you’re selling luxury, you’re selling the dream,” says Joanna Pishko, assistant professor of management & marketing in Susquehanna University’s Sigmund Weis School of Business. “People aren’t paying $10,000 for a bag because it is made of nice leather and nice hardware; they’re paying $10,000 to buy into the dream, and the dream is conveyed through the story of the brand.”
Susquehanna offers the only undergraduate luxury brand marketing & management program in the United States. It is now in its 10th year teaching students how to tell the story of luxury brands, and faculty explain how the major got its start and where it is headed in the future.
“Most undergraduate students who want to go into luxury marketing will major in fashion and textiles or other creative fields, but they rarely have a business background,” says Emma Fleck, professor of entrepreneurship & marketing and department head of management & marketing. “We created our major to fill that gap.”
Students majoring in luxury brand marketing & management at Susquehanna take foundational business courses, as well as advanced courses in global business ethics, accounting, economics and data analytics.
Jessica Bruin ’23 credits the major’s diverse curriculum with laying the foundation that gave her a complete understanding of all business facets in the luxury industry and beyond, preparing her to be successful in her current position with Christian Louboutin, famous for its eponymous designer’s red-bottom shoes.
“During my college search, I discovered the luxury brand marketing & management major at Susquehanna’s Sigmund Weis School of Business, and I instantly knew this would be the perfect fit for me to explore all aspects of luxury,” Bruin says. “This unique degree proved to be an invaluable asset in my job search, securing me a job at Christian Louboutin immediately following my graduation.”
As the boutique coordinator for Christian Louboutin’s only New Jersey storefront, Bruin has gained comprehensive luxury experience with a thorough understanding of all business operations. She oversees all visual merchandising efforts daily, prioritizing the client’s experience. Bruin also manages exclusive, invite-only seasonal events for the boutique’s top clients.
“Our most memorable event took place last year when we welcomed designer Christian Louboutin himself for a shoe-signing event,” Bruin remembers.
More recently, Bruin successfully led the boutique’s relocation to a larger retail space, overseeing the transfer of $7 million worth of merchandise.
INTERNSHIPS & SITE VISITS PROVE VALUABLE
Alanis Castro-Pacheco ’25, a double major in luxury brand marketing & management and graphic design from Enola, Pennsylvania, has two high-end internships under her designer belt.
Following an internship with Michael Kors, Castro-Pacheco spent the summer before her senior year as the global media intern for internationally recognized Tiffany & Co., owned by the luxury French conglomerate LVMH.
“I wanted to intern at Tiffany & Co. because it’s a globally renowned American luxury brand with a rich history and commitment to craftsmanship,” Castro-Pacheco says. “Being part of Tiffany & Co. and LVMH, I was exposed to innovative business strategies and a robust international presence.”
At Tiffany, Castro-Pacheco developed her skills in data, technology and creative strategy, collaborated on media planning and attended sessions with publishers and tech platforms.
“Given the nature of a liberal arts education, Susquehanna offers an abundance of leadership opportunities across campus,” Castro-Pacheco says. “With my majors, I can confidently say that both the Sigmund Weis School of Business and the School of the Arts have given me a solid foundation to perform in the corporate environment.”
Despite the relative youth of the luxury brand marketing & management major, Susquehanna’s strong network of alumni have been quick to lend their expertise and open the doors to their places of work — from elite private clubs to luxury car dealerships.
“Site visits and internships offer our students invaluable hands-on experience, industry insights and the opportunity to build their professional network,” Pishko says. “These experiences bridge the gap between academic learning and real-
world application, preparing students to navigate and excel in the competitive landscape of luxury brands.”
Perhaps the most prestigious site visit yet for Susquehanna’s luxury brand marketing & management students was to Cartier, the French luxury jeweler with a long history of sales to royalty.
It was arranged by a 1982 alumnus who has asked that his name be withheld due to the nature of his work with Cartier. His 26 years with Cartier give him a unique understanding of how the market operates — so much so that he helped to lay the groundwork when the luxury brand marketing & management major was first established.
He facilitated the spring 2024 site visit of 26 students to Cartier’s New York City maison, or mansion, on Fifth Avenue. While there, they toured exclusive spaces within the building and met with the company’s corporate recruiters.
“I’ve always wanted to give back to Susquehanna and I’m thrilled that we were able to arrange this,” he says. “With this visit, my goal is to establish a pipeline between Susquehanna and Cartier.”
Ava Greene ’24 was the first Susquehanna student to intern with Cartier. In 2023, she worked in the retail partnerships division, which manages sales of Cartier watches, to conduct market research, gather data on sales projections and visit partner locations to evaluate their performance. She also interned with Loro Piana, a luxury Italian company specializing in clothing and textile products, particularly cashmere.
“Through these experiences, I discovered a strong interest in wholesale operations, particularly in understanding the dynamics between product distribution and brand management,” she says. “My education also provided me with valuable skills in data management and analysis, preparing me for tasks that require attention to detail and strategic decision-making.”
Greene is pursuing a master’s degree in fashion merchandising & retail management while working as a sales assistant for Centric Brands, a global apparel and accessories company whose brands include Hervé Léger and Kate Spade.
One of the program’s first site visits was to Lamborghini Paramus and McLaren Bergen County in New Jersey. There, they learned about what goes into selling luxury items. The experience was spearheaded by Susquehanna alumnus and member of the Board of Trustees Martin Pinter ’98.
A more recent site visit to Philadelphia exposed luxury brand marketing & management students to the exclusive world of private clubs. Facilitated by alumnus Jeff Morgan ’82, president and CEO of the Club Management Association of America, students toured the Union League of Philadelphia. Founded in 1863, Union League clubs have boasted prestigious members over the years, including 15 presidents, as well as senators, congressmen, diplomats, cabinet members and a few Rockefellers and Morgans.
SU’s students were given the VIP treatment. On their tour, they had direct access to all the club’s member amenities before experiencing a luxury meal at the club’s “Chef’s Table” and a lecture from the League’s CEO on the private club experience. Students then visited the League’s Liberty Hill campus, which acts as a retreat-style facility for members, and then teed off on the golf range with TopTracer enhancement.
“I wanted the students to understand how all of the concepts they are learning about luxury that apply to items also apply to experiences,” Morgan says. “Regardless of the luxury career a student may choose, there are many intersections with private clubs, so increasing the students’ understanding is valuable.”
STUDENT & ALUMNI INVESTMENTS
“Right before I went to college, I took courses in fashion photography. The luxury brand major caught my attention; imagine working for Chanel or Dior or LVMH — all the fashion magazines I looked at when I was in photography,” Ashley Spoto ’17 says. “It was a chance to connect my artistic side to business.”
Spoto launched her career as an account specialist first at L’Oréal and then at Estée Lauder, before returning to L’Oréal where she grew into the manager position she currently holds. She also has returned to Susquehanna as an adjunct faculty member in management.
“Joanna Pishko, Emma Fleck and I connected, and I guest lectured once or twice. During a meeting, they started talking to me about teaching the Retail & Visual Merchandising course,” Spoto remembers. “At the time, I was getting my master’s in education, and they knew I’d been wanting to teach.”
Spoto took her students to L’Oréal’s company headquarters in New York City, adding, “It’s important that students have someone who is working in the industry right now.”
In another show of support for LBMM students, Isabella Fallon ’26, a double major in luxury brand and finance from Carbondale, Pennsylvania, founded the Luxury Brand Marketing & Management Club.
“The club was established to raise awareness and appreciation for the intricacies of luxury beyond the conventional associations with fashion and clothing,” Fallon says.
The club aims to create learning experiences that go beyond the classroom, offering a variety of activities and events each semester, including a speaker series to bring in professionals from the luxury industry to share their stories, insights and career paths. Members will be invited to join small, intimate dinners with these speakers, fostering deeper conversations and personalized advice.
“My vision is not only to educate those within the major but also to engage with the entire student body, regardless of their academic focus,” she explains. “Through this club, I aim to inspire and encourage students from diverse fields to engage with the luxury industry, expanding their perspectives and enhancing their educational journey by gaining valuable insights and new skills, and building connections that may shape their future careers.”
FUTURE GROWTH
Looking ahead to the future, Pishko says she would like to formalize an internship process that would require students to have a “solid” luxury brand marketing & management internship before their junior year.
“This would help us to build critical connections with employers in the field and hopefully we’ll see our students automatically put into the career pipeline,” she says.
She would also like to establish a cooperative program in which students would complete three years of study in luxury brand marketing & management at Susquehanna and then go on to finish their degree at a metropolitan university.
“I believe our students would be ready for that kind of challenge in their fourth year,” Pishko says. “Our rural location is a challenge for luxury brand marketing & management, so a cooperative program would help to alleviate that and be a huge added value for our students.”