Market savvy: Instructor sees branding through larger lens

As a veteran marketer, Christopher Foster has no doubts about why he chose his profession.

 
Instructor Profile: Christopher Foster, Product Management, Branding and Positioning

“By nature, I’m very curious and marketing is a profession for the curious,” said Foster, who has taught marketing-related courses at UC San Diego Extension for five years. “So it’s a natural career for my interests.”

Foster seeks to ignite a similar spark in his students.

“I’m always looking for folks who are really interested in learning, who want to be exposed to new brands, new ideas, new ways of marketing,” he said. “I love students who really want to apply those lessons to their own career path.”

Last year, he began his second stint as a top-level marketer with Modern Postcard, a Carlsbad-based firm that develops direct-mail and print campaigns for companies of all sizes.

Print is alive and thriving at privately-held Modern Postcard, which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary, and continuously launching new products and services. This year, they are introducing a new relationship card that users can personally write and mail from their iPhones and desktops.

“I like to apply the concepts of product management, branding and positioning to my daily life,” said Foster. “If we’re paying attention, branding is a big part of our lives.”

A Pittsburgh native who earned a fine arts degree at Washington University in St. Louis, Foster has become a devoted ocean swimmer and surfer since moving to San Diego some 20 years ago. He swims several mornings a week in La Jolla Cove, year-round, no matter what the water temperature.

“It’s a great way to start the day,” said Foster, a former president of the San Diego Direct Marketing Association. “And not a bad way to end it.”