UW alumna Alpert to talk about advertising career

Teresa Alpert’s career took her on a path from student at UW–Madison to special education teacher and engineer before leading her to a career in advertising.

Alpert, director of Crimea River Ltd., a London-based global brand consultancy that works with entrepreneurial businesses of all sizes, will bring that experience back to UW–Madison for a talk about her life in the advertising world.

Her lecture, “Empathy Rules: Opening Hearts, Minds and Markets,” is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, in the Parliamentary Room, 4070 Vilas Communication Hall, 821 University Ave.

“My plan is to share some experiences on turning empathy into insight, which is the key to any successful communications strategy — no matter if you’re plotting a political campaign, marketing a global brand or angling for your next promotion,” Alpert says.

After starting her career as a special education teacher working with mentally and emotionally challenged teens and adults, Alpert spent a decade as an engineer and strategic marketer for ATT/NYNEX, specializing in future technologies.

Apert then spent two decades leading campaign strategy at McCann Erickson, DDB, Ogilvy, and Lowe and Partners Worldwide, directing campaigns for such global brands as IBM, Unilever, Nokia, Compaq, Mobil Oil, L’Oreal and iVillage.com, and helping to launch smaller, emerging brands.

Alpert’s visit is supported by the Robert and Judith Taylor Journalism Fund and is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Each year, the Taylor fund invites a communications professional to UW–Madison to deliver a free, public lecture honoring Robert Taylor, a journalism professor and university official who passed away in 2002.

During her time on campus, Alpert will also meet with students and faculty, who she says “are busy rewriting the rules real time.”