One of the more innovative courses at LMU during the spring 2023 semester honored the legacy of late rapper and entrepreneur, Nipsey Hussle. “The Marathon Continues: Building Brand Through Culture” focused on brand building strategies and tactics that are motivated and driven through cultural influence.
Co-taught by Mitch Hamilton, associate professor of marketing, and David Gross, businessman and investor, this upper-level marketing course in the A-LIST Pathway builds upon the original 2018 course, “Rethinking the Marketplace,” which was co-taught by Nipsey before his tragic death.
“This time around, we focused on how to build a culturally relevant brand by examining how real-life brands leverage authenticity and culture to achieve growth and success,” said Hamilton. “We filtered the course through a unique lens, using the life and business practices of Nipsey and the Marathon brand he created as a mini case study.”
Weekly guest lectures featuring some of the most influential people in music, entertainment and sports were open to the campus community. Each speaker had a direct connection with Nipsey and were inspired by his brand pillars when creating their own brands.
“Our speakers delivered a level of authenticity and candor that students probably don’t see in a lot of classes,” said Gross.
The lecture series kicked off with Sam Asghedom, Nipsey’s brother and business partner who oversees the Marathon brand, and the All$in team. Subsequent weeks featured Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, hosts of the financial investing podcast, “Earn Your Leisure,” hip hop artist Blxst and his management team, and NBA champs Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, hosts of the award-winning sports and culture podcast, “All the Smoke.”
“This course was unlike any classroom experience,” added Hamilton. “One of our goals was to disrupt the way people think of business education.”
Undergraduate marketing major Paulina Iezza ’23 agrees, “This is something I’ve never experienced in a class setting before. We learned marketing strategies, industry vocabulary and how to brand ourselves through the example of Nipsey Hussle.”
At the end of the semester, students presented their final projects. Undergraduate student teams, mentored by their MBA classmates, collaborated with industry partners Broadway Boxing Gym and Vector 90 to conceptualize and produce pitch decks that the companies can use when speaking with partners and sponsors in the community. Students were asked to develop partnership ideas and help articulate a pitch to partners. They gave the businesses valuable feedback and recommendations, some of which may get implemented in the near future.
The MBA student project was very different. They structured a case study around the Marathon brand that included identifying pain points and growth opportunities. In addition, graduate students were asked to think about the brand looking 5, 10 and 15 years into the future and make recommendations on what could propel the brand to the next level.
“They had deep engagement with Nipsey’s family and team, and worked hard to uncover opportunities for the Marathon brand that could be implemented,” said Gross. “There has never been a professional analysis of how the Marathon brand has been built so this project offered a roadmap to use going forward, if they so choose.”
Hamilton and Gross agreed that the course was deeply meaningful to every stakeholder involved – students, project clients, and themselves. Jye Citizen, MBA ’23, stated, “University courses are typically geared toward the majority. It’s been really refreshing to see and be taught by people who look like me and hear that people like me can get into high places and what that process looks like.”
“I genuinely think that the Marathon philosophy, mindset and brand that Nipsey Hussle created is one of the strongest to come out of music and pop culture,” said Gross. “It’s important to understand why things work. There were students in the class who weren’t familiar with the brand so part of education is real world engagement. It’s dynamic. It’s jumping right in the heart of something and trying to figure it out.”
There are plans to teach a variation of this course in spring 2024 which will include VIP guest lecturers and focus on sports and entertainment.