By Ben Cooper
Mario Gonzalez-Fuentes, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Marketing at Trinity’s Michael Neidorff School of Business. He teaches a variety of courses in marketing, including an award-winning course: Marketing Brand Storytelling & Identity.
This unique class deals with how important storytelling is within marketing and shaping a company’s brand perception. This course discusses advertisements, short stories, movies, and even company logos. Additionally, students in this course get the opportunity to make their own videos about themselves, the school of business, and a local company in San Antonio, each with a novel story based on a given prompt.
“It’s a really good learning experience,” said junior marketing major Jules Nunn. “Story writing and video making are useful skills in marketing for sure.” Junior communication major Amanda Henry, another student in this class, said it is “amazing in the way it allows students to show not only their creativity but their vulnerability.”
Known among his students as Dr. G, Gonzalez-Fuentes first offered the course in 2020, and has continued to build on it ever since. The class had been in the works for years before it was offered, including Gonzalez-Fuentes attending workshops on how to use storytelling as a pedagogical tool, he said. In its early stages, he wasn’t sure that students would appreciate the topic as much as he did. But the response from students has been positive, with a high demand for the class each semester it is offered.
The course went on to win the 2024 Innovations that Inspire Award from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Gonzalez-Fuentes received this award in February in Barcelona, Spain. He described this trip as “quite an experience, not only because of the recognition, but because I had the opportunity to interact with other deans in other schools of business.” Bob Scherer, dean of Trinity’s school of business, also attended the award ceremony.
This month, Gonzalez-Fuentes presented about this class at a conference in Galveston organized by the Federation of Business Disciplines, on a panel about the presence of storytelling in academia.
Even before he created this course, Gonzalez-Fuentes has always had a keen interest in storytelling. When he was a child, he dreamt of becoming a “movie director or a writer,” he said. Teaching at Trinity allowed him to integrate this passion into his teaching.
Charlene Davis, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Marketing, said Gonzalez-Fuentes’ course on marketing storytelling is “truly innovative and cutting-edge.” She has worked alongside Gonzalez-Fuentes since he joined Trinity in 2011. “He is an extraordinarily gifted teacher. He takes that part of his professional life very seriously and yet joyfully,” said Davis.
Many of his students would agree. Henry, the junior communication major said, “Dr. G is such an incredible teacher and role model. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to have had several classes with him.”
Gonzalez-Fuentes hopes that this class changes the way that people see not only marketing but business. “We need business leaders and executives that are able to engage their audience, engage their employees, in the pursuit of a goal or an objective,” he said. He believes that storytelling is a way to do this. He also believes that one day, there may be a dedicated ‘Storytelling Department’ within large businesses and corporations, so this class remains a step ahead of the curve.
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