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Meet Jan KLEIN, Professor of Digital Marketing on the Paris – La Défense campus.

Each month, through our “Faculty in the Spotlight” series, we introduce you to one of IÉSEG‘s professors who talks about their teaching methods, their commitment and anecdotes from their time at the School so far.

Jan, can you tell us about your background?

I am from Germany but I’ve had an international academic journey. After completing an MBA in the United States, I pursued a PhD focusing on digital marketing and customer experience in Germany. Then, I moved to Finland for a postdoc. And after that, I spent six years in the Netherlands as an assistant professor in Tilburg and I joined IÉSEG a year and a half ago. The onboarding sessions helped me a lot for the integration at the School and I immediately felt welcome and comfortable in the department.

Why did you choose IÉSEG?

I wanted to teach in a dynamic environment with small class sizes that allow for interaction. In my previous experience, I taught in auditoriums with 400 students. Here, I can get to know my students, their names, and engage with them directly. I build a true relationship with my students, which makes all the difference.

What courses do you teach at IÉSEG?

I teach the fundamentals of digital marketing to students who have chosen the major in Marketing as part of the Grande École Program and to students in apprenticeship programs. I also teach a course on “Research Methods” in the MBA program.

Basically, I provide students with a toolkit for strategic marketing. They learn how to promote a company online, how to optimize a website, how to define a target group for social media, we also investigate how people find products online, and so on… The course on Digital Marketing Fundamentals is the basis for specialized courses later on (e.g. social media marketing). This course is the groundwork for them to figure out how digital marketing works overall.

What I’m really passionate about is understanding the customer: who is the customer I’m selling to? I like to put myself in the customer’s shoes, and I encourage my students to do the same, and to have a clear picture in mind of their customer: their age, area of interest, social status… In the end, we, as marketers, are also customers, and we know that the way of communicating with a 25-year-old isn’t the same than communicating with a 65-year-old person. Let’s say you want to sell a cruise to seniors… Instagram might not be the most appropriate channel for that!

How do you see the evolution of digital marketing?

Digital marketing tools change constantly. If you look at social media, we started with platforms like Facebook. Then came Instagram, followed by TikTok and Instagram with Reels. The available channels have evolved rapidly, and AI has significantly impacted content creation. Now, AI can write content for you, and this is a major evolution.

The interesting thing is that strategically, it hasn’t changed at all! I still teach the same core concepts; we just apply these concepts differently, with different tools. In my opinion, this is what keeps digital marketing so exciting.

For students, it’s fun to discuss how they use technology now vs how we used it 10 years ago. It also helps them gain perspective—right now, they might not realize how much has changed, but in 20 years, things will have changed a lot for them too.

How do you make your courses engaging?

I use a lot of business studies in my classes. Students work on these cases in groups, develop solutions, and then present them in class, where their ideas are challenged by their peers. These cases cover strategic marketing decisions from a range of industries. For example, cases of leading companies such as car manufacturer Porsche and headphone manufacturer Sennheiser.

All the cases I use are based on consulting projects I have worked on myself in the past—either before entering academia or as part of my ongoing collaborations with companies. I had to make decisions in these scenarios, and it’s really interesting to see how students approach them differently. I can challenge their reasoning and compare their solutions to what actually happened in the company. Sometimes their ideas align perfectly with what I did, and I’m surprised to see that they ended up getting to the exact same conclusion. Other times, they come up with perspectives I hadn’t considered at the time, and I think: “I wish I had thought of that back then!”

What do you focus on in class?

One of the key lessons I emphasize is dealing with uncertainty. In real business situations, you never have all the information, yet you must make decisions to the best of your knowledge. I want my students to experience this reality firsthand through these case studies. I guide them through a structured process so they can justify and defend their choices. Whether it’s in front of a client as a consultant or within their company, they need to be able to explain their reasoning clearly.

Communication is also a crucial aspect. Some students are naturally great analysts but struggle with presenting their ideas persuasively. That’s why I make sure they practice both analysis and communication—because, in the business world, getting your recommendation across convincingly is just as important as the analysis behind it!

I also focus on critical thinking. Sometimes, students repeat buzzwords without measuring their impact or really understanding their complexity. My goal is to encourage them to question, analyze, and make thoughtful statements.

E-sports is one of the interesting areas you explore with your students in class…

When we think about sports marketing, we usually think of traditional sports like football or basketball, which are massive industries. But what often gets overlooked is e-sports—where players compete in games like Fortnite and Counter-Strike. It has become a huge advertising market. Major brands like McDonald’s have already moved into the e-sports space, and many companies are following because e-sports allows them to reach young audiences with strong purchasing power. Unlike sponsoring major football clubs like PSG, advertising in e-sports is much more affordable while still offering high engagement.

However, it’s also a difficult market to enter because the gaming community is very specific. They have their own way of communicating, and brands need to approach them in a way that feels authentic. If a company just tries to sell something without understanding the culture, the audience will reject it. That’s something we discuss in class—how brands can position themselves in e-sports without feeling out of place.