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Richard Honack
Richard Honack

MARKETING
Senior Lecturer of Marketing

Print Overview
Richard P. Honack is a Senior Lecturer of Marketing and teaches Services Marketing and Management (MKTG 459) in the fall and winter quarters. He also has developed a Sports Marketing and Management course (MKTG 951) taught in the winter quarter. His courses are open to both the Full-time and Part-time Kellogg MBA programs.

Honack’s research focuses on marketing and managing in the “Nanosecond Culture.” His lectures emphasize the need to understand the changing values and dynamics of the six-generations that makeup that culture in today’s marketplace—Great Generation, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen “X”, Gen “Y” and even Generation “Z”. He discusses the impact that these generational differences make in the marketing of services and products as well as the importance of the different expectations that each of these groups have on management within an organization.

He is an Academic Director for several Kellogg School non-degreed Executive Education programs, including the Kellogg Management Institute (KMI), Strategic Marketing Communications program and, starting in 2010, the Skills, Tools, and Competencies (STC) program for Brazilian managers with Fundacao dom Cabral (Belo Horizonte, Brazil.) He also teaches in the Executive Development Program (EDP) and several other programs, where his sessions focus on Leading and Marketing in the Nanosecond Culture and Services Marketing and Management.

Honack is a member of the Kellogg Center for Nonprofit Management’s Executive Education Program where he is an academic director and a faculty member for several programs focused on Strategic Leadership for Nonprofits and on Fundraising and Marketing for nonprofit organizations. He is a faculty member for the Center’s Custom Executive Education programs consulting organizations like Ronald McDonald House Charities, the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming and the Harris Bank’s non profit leadership program, to name a few.

Honack taught Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) for more than 12 years. He started teaching GIM in 1997, and the last seven years did so in the Kellogg Executive MBA Program focusing on “Doing Business in China.” In June 2005 he was voted by EMP 59 as the "Outstanding Professor for Electives" for 2003-2005. In his GIM courses and in-country experiential learning project trips, students studied and visited Argentina, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, Vietnam, Thailand and Uruguay. He also has taught executive education sessions on “Doing Business in China” and consults with companies on the same topic.

He consults companies, non-profit organizations and associations about developing sound strategic marketing plans and practices, as well as doing business within other countries and cultures. He regularly speaks at seminars and conferences, nationally and internationally, on the topics of the nanosecond culture, generational differences, strategic leadership, services marketing, customer service and management, branding, and creative thinking to make change happen.

Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member in July 2008, Honack was Assistant Dean and Chief Marketing Officer for the Kellogg School and an associate adjunct professor of marketing. He was responsible for all global marketing and communication functions for the various Kellogg School programs and centers; including print publications, electronic publishing, web management, media relations, marketing and branding initiatives.

While on staff, he was an advisory board member for both the GIM program and the Kellogg Corps volunteer program; a member of the Student Affairs and Activities Committee; faculty adviser for the Kellogg School's student newspaper, The Merger; a of member the Kellogg Centennial Steering Committee and the Oversight Committee for development of a new and totally redesigned Kellogg School Web site.

Honack was the editorial director of “Wide Awake in the Windy City” a book written by Matt Golosinski, “Celebrating a century of excellence at NU’s Kellogg School of Management,1908-2008.”

Honack has served on several Northwestern University committees, including: The Program Review Council, the 150 year Sesquicentennial Steering Committee and the Brand Identity Task Force.

Before joining NU and the Kellogg School staff in 1995, Honack had more than 20 years of award winning experience in the media business, holding positions in marketing, general management, strategic planning and editorial. His last media position was with the Chicago Tribune where he was responsible for all consumer marketing and advertising including creative development, media buying, public and media relations, special events, sports marketing and sponsorships, as well as the newspaper's charitable fundraising. He was with the Tribune from 1984 to 1995.

Honack was with the Chicago-Sun Times from 1977-1984 in a variety of positions. His first position was general manager and editor of Suburban Sun-Times; his final position was Director of Strategic Planning. He also was a member of the Sun-Times senior management committee and chairperson of its new product development group.

For more than 25 years Honack was a regular discussion leader at the American Press Institute (API) in Reston, Virginia. He is a past member of the NAA Presstime magazine advisory committee, the Headline Club of Chicago and the Publicity Club of Chicago. He also was long-time member of the International Newspaper Marketing Association, for which he was a director and executive committee member. He is a past member of the Junior Achievement of Chicago Area Board of Directors.

Honack is a former U.S. Army Captain and a former civilian advisory board member to the Chief of Public Affairs, USAR. He has a Kellogg MBA and B.S. Degree in Journalism Education from Indiana University.


Areas of Expertise
Media Management
Nonprofit Marketing
  • Recent Media Coverage

    Associated Press: Analysis: Failure 101: a class students could use - 11/5/2009

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    See all Kellogg in the Media
Print Vita
Education
BS, Journalism, Indiana University
MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Consulting
Ronald McDonald's House Charities (RMHC), Marketing and Strategic Leadership, ongoing
United States Olympic Committee (USOC), Marketing and Strategic Leadership, ongoing
American Press Institute, Making Radical Change Happen, ongoing
 
Print Research
Research Interests
Generational marketing and leadership
Nanosecond culture
Services Marketing
Sports Marketing and Management

Cases
Honack, Richard and Sachin Waikar. 2009. Growing Big While Staying Small: Starbucks Harvests International Growth. Case 5-309-503.

 
Print Teaching
Teaching Interests
Managing across generations
Services Marketing and Mangement
Sports Marketing and Management
Marketing for Nonprofit organizations
Strategic Leadership for Nonprofit organizations
Global Initiatives in Management
Marketing in the "Nanosecond Culture"
Executive MBA
Global Initiatives in Management (INTLX-473-0)
Global Initiatives in Management combines classroom study with a 12-day research trip abroad to observe overseas business operations firsthand and to meet with industry executives and political leaders.

Special Topics in Marketing (MKTGX-922-0)
Consumer Insight and Marketing Stratey addresses three key areas: the future of marketing, sales-force management and marketing services to “nanosecond customers.” The course focuses on customer-centricity, creating innovative frameworks, developing strategic perspectives toward the company’s sales force, and implementing effective marketing programs in service sectors.

Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Services Marketing and Management (MKTG-459-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Marketing, Marketing Management

This course examines the marketing and managerial implications of the differences between goods and services. A wide variety of services are examined, such as travel, professional services, hospitals, banks, hotels, churches, sports clubs and theme parks. The course discusses many service marketing concepts, including the relationship between the service provider and customer, the real-time process experience of services, customer satisfaction and service quality. Prerequisite: MKTG-430

Sports Marketing and Managemant (MKTG-951-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Marketing, Marketing Management

This course examines the problems of attracting sports fans in an increasingly competitive, fragmented, and global entertainment marketplace. It surveys the current state of sports marketing practices and discusses specific strategies and tactics of fan connection. Topics include sports branding, star power, globalization, event marketing, interactive media and technology, fantasy sports and the ways that marketers can implement change to engage fans. Students study the specific set of challenges and opportunities facing sports and entertainment properties and apply the class concepts to their own final project, in which they develop a brand transformation plan for an existing sports property. As a case study of marketing in the sports world, the course is designed to deliver insights and strategies for marketers not only interested in pursuing careers in the sports and entertainment industries but in other sectors as well.