Institute for Research in Marketing
The Institute for Research in Marketing brings together the expertise of the Carlson School’s marketing faculty with top marketers and market research professionals from global brands, creating thought-provoking dialogue and driving the science and practice of marketing forward. This two-way conversation provides greater context for faculty research and encourages real-world adoption of that research, leading to better business strategies and more effective public policies.
Advisory Board
The Institute’s Board of Advisors consists of industry leaders from major firms and provides guidance, facilitates partnerships, and assists with national outreach and advocacy.
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Save the Date - Ignite 2025!
Striking the Balance I Business, Brands & Beliefs
Friday, November 14, 2025
About Ignite
With over 300 in-person attendees, as well as a national online audience, the Ignite Conference sparks creative ideas around current industry topics to help marketing practitioners keep pace with today's dynamic trends. Ignite fuses the distinct marketing perspective of some of the country’s leading business scholars with those of corporate leaders from premier global companies.
IRM Spotlight
Learn more about an Institute for Research in Marketing Advisory Industry Board Member:
Holly Semerad
Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President 3M Safety and Industrial Business Group
Holly is a strong leader with the ability to turn strategy into execution. Holly has extensive team influencer and customer-focus leadership experience.
She has built a very successful career at 3M, spanning over 17 years in various roles from sales, operations, human resources, and digital and is currently the Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of 3M's Safety and Industrial Business Group.
Learn more about Holly on LinkedIn
Learn more about an Institute for Research in Marketing Advisory Faculty Board Member:
Linli Xu
Linli Xu joined the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota in 2012 after receiving a PhD from the University of Southern California. Her research interests focus on the advertising and digital platforms and specialize in the automotive markets. Her work has been published in Marketing Science, Management Science, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, and Journal of Marketing.
Xu was named a Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) in 2019, a biennial award given to the most promising scholars in marketing and closely related fields whose work suggests they are potential leaders of the next generation of marketing academics. Her research was funded by an MSI grant and Carlson School Dean's Small Research Grant. While at USC, she was awarded the 2010 James S. Ford/Commerce Associate PhD Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding scholastic achievement and research. Linli Xu holds a BA in Economics from Jilin University (China) and an MA in Economics from the University of British Columbia (Canada).
Learn more about Linli on the Carlson School of Management website
Fall 2024 IRM Campaign Competition
Thank you NMDP for sponsoring!
Congratulations to The Change Makers, this year's winning team in the Fall 2024 IRM Campaign Competition. University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management students Alyssa Kleiman-Lee, Lindsay Strecker, Rylie Rude, Rachel Wessel, and Olivia Schneider created the winning Strategic Marketing Plan for NMDP as part of their capstone experience in Michelle Champlin Bergner, MBA Marketing Strategy course. Your hard work will truly save lives!
Many thanks to Ryan Peña for working closely with students throughout the semester and to additional NMDP judges, Tom Rysavy and Courtney Hanson. Thank you for making this experience possible for students and for an amazing semester!