Neil Borden
| Neil H. Borden | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Pete Borden |
| Born |
December 7, 1895 Boulder, Colorado |
| Died | October 1, 1980 (aged 84) Topsfield, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Years active | 1922-1962 |
| Board member of | Harvard Business Review |
| Spouse(s) | Esther Page |
| Academic background | |
| Education | MBA (Harvard, 1922) |
| Alma mater | University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard Business School |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Marketing |
| Sub discipline | Advertising |
| Institutions | Harvard Business School |
| Notable works | The Economic Effects of Advertising (1942) |
| Notable ideas | Marketing mix |
Neil Hopper Borden (1895–1980) was an American academic, who served as a professor of advertising at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He coined the term "marketing mix".
Neil H. Borden, nicknamed Pete, was born in Boulder, Colorado, in 1895. He was one of the seven children of Edmund and Irene Borden. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1919, with a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree. On advice of his economics professor, he decided to focus on a teaching career in the emerging field of business administration. In order to finance his higher studies, he worked as a principal at the Lafayette High School during 1919–1920. His economics professor helped him get a scholarship at Columbia University. His friend Wilford White suggested he go to Harvard instead, an idea supported by the University's dean.
Borden studied business administration at Harvard during 1920–1922. During this time, he earned money through an assistantship and as the bookkeeper of The Harvard Crimson. An exceptional student, he was made an assistant dean when he obtained his MBA degree in 1922. He did not hold a doctorate. He started teaching marketing under Melvin T. Copeland, and succeeded Daniel Starch as the teacher of advertising in 1925. He served as an assistant professor during 1925–1928. During this period, Arch Wilkinson Shaw helped him raise $60,000 for research. The research was published in form of Problems in Advertising, a book of advertising case studies, in 1927. The case study method was the basis of Borden's teaching style.
Borden next served as an associate professor during 1928–1938, before becoming a professor in 1938. During the Great Depression of 1929, the advertisers, such as Louis H. Weld of McCann Erickson, requested Harvard academics for an objective analysis of advertising's economic impact. Borden was selected to write a book on the topic, supported by a grant of $30,000 from the wife of Alfred W. Erickson. To accomplish this objective, Borden worked with an advisory committee of academic fellows and the Advertising Research Foundation. Several businesses and advertising agencies contributed material to his research. He took a leave of six months to focus on the book, when his teaching began to suffer. The 970-page book, The Economic Effects of Advertising, was published in January 1942.
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