I would be greatly surprised if not all of us have experienced at least some symptoms of the difficulties addressed by this program. The symptoms include cutbacks in applied projects and jobs, reduction of required quantitative courses and related faculty positions in universities, bright students not entering the field and much more.

The fundamental problem seems to be that many prospective clients for our applied work haven't accepted the idea that expertise in advanced analytical methods and related knowledge is sufficiently valuable to warrant seeking the services of qualified professionals. Or, if they do accept the idea, they don't know (á la the Ghost Busters) "who to call." Members of the profession would, of course, gain greatly if we could overcome this problem, as would prospective clients, who are missing opportunities every day to enhance performance. (See Robinson [1] for a more complete summary of difficulties that confront the profession.)

An Appropriate Action


This challenge, with us more or less for decades, has not shown signs of self-correction. Collective action to improve the external standing of our profession therefore appears desirable.

The corresponding action taken by INFORMS was to begin a marketing-the-profession (MTP) initiative. Its stated goal is increasing the demand for O.R. services or "unlocking the latent demand for O.R. solutions" (Cook [2]). A natural result of program success would be to substantially increase the total of all benefits realized from successful O.R. practice projects by client organizations — in business, government, the military, health care and non-profits. Members of the profession would expect the results to entail improvement in jobs, pay, research funding, university courses offered and reputations.

The added value from real MTP success would be quite large. The benefit to just one client organization from a project of the kind seen in our Edelman competition could swamp any cumulative expenditures on MTP [3]. The added value of only a few professional careers made possible could also swamp the cost.

While we can point to notable accomplishments already, it's fair to say that the MTP program is long-term and the best is yet to come. Meanwhile, the general idea of MTP has won significant support. Current examples of support are found in position statements of the two candidates for president-elect of INFORMS.

Cynthia Barnhart writes: "I commend and support these efforts to unveil our discipline and enhance its visibility. It is this challenge that has motivated me to accept the nomination to run as a candidate for president-elect" [4].

Don Kleinmuntz writes: "Recently, we have expended considerable time, effort and money on marketing our profession, with the important goal of encouraging greater use of O.R. and employment of O.R. professionals. As president, I would work to move such marketing efforts from a one-off special project into a routine part of what we do" [4].

Other examples include letters of enthusiastic endorsement from the INFORMS Roundtable and from CPMS-The Practice Section of INFORMS, to the board of directors for consideration at the most recent board meeting.

History of the Marketing Campaign


The MTP program of INFORMS began formally as a presidential initiative of 2003 President Tom Cook. From the outset, the OR Society (ORS) of the United Kingdom was a close partner. The EURO unit of The International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS) subsequently joined the combined effort. INFORMS established an MTP committee, chaired by Tom Cook, and retained award-winning outside marketing advisors.

Early outputs included a slogan (the "Science of Better"), an ultra-short definition for popular consumption ("applying advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions"), a popular wall poster to rally members of the profession [5], an easy-to-read "Executive Guide" booklet to explain our professional services and benefits to prospective clients and others outside the profession [6], a Web site with resources for members of the profession (www.orchampions.org), and a Web site for prospective clients, the media and others in our target external audiences (www.scienceofbetter.org).

The OR Society's leadership admired the INFORMS material well enough to adapt it to their audiences. For example, the ORS set up a Web site similar to the Science of Better site of INFORMS (www.theorsociety.com, click on "Operational Research: Science of Better"). The EURO unit of IFORS then provided a link to the ORS site (www.EURO-online.org, click on "OR Science of Better") and created a section to promote branding the profession (www.EURO-online.org, click on "Branding OR").

The uses of these materials have proven to be even broader than we originally envisioned. In a recent communication, the OR Society tells us: "We have an O.R.-in-Schools initiative underway which involves members volunteering to go into schools to talk to youngsters about career choices. The first thing many of these volunteers ask for is copies of the Science of Better [Executive] Guide and poster. Indeed, we recently sent 220 of our precious booklets [Executive Guides] to one school! Universities are finding the guides helpful in helping would-be students to appreciate the value of studying O.R., a successful software company is inserting the booklet into their product packaging for new customers, and so on."[7]

A Rose by What Name?


Marketing experts (we consulted several) unanimously advised the MTP committee to focus the program on a single brand name for the profession [8]. The naming matter then was investigated thoroughly and debated. The board selected the brand name "operations research" (or "operational research"), agreeing with a choice made independently by the OR Society.

The basic reasons were that it is by far the best established of the general names worldwide and that the estimated cost of promoting an alternative sufficiently to be adopted by the profession and its clients seemed much too high to consider. Further, the fact that "operations research" is not self-explanatory is acceptable because a brand name does not have to be self-explanatory to be successful (e.g., Exxon) [9].

A key point is that the brand name is for marketing to outside target audiences, so the program does not call for renaming anything inside the profession or renaming INFORMS. Moreover, using the brand name is strictly voluntary for members of the profession.

With the infrastructure in place, the program turned next to reaching out to target audiences. This has taken place in the interval from 2005 to the present. The approach was to travel two paths to prospective clients and those who influence them: first, enlisting assistance from members of the profession, who reach out within their own work scenes; second, utilizing standard marketing methods such as advertising.

Enlisting assistance from those in the profession, aided by the poster and the O.R. Champions Web site, is important. In the separate marketing effort, conventional choices are advertising, public relations and mailing out materials such as magazines or letters. This list is not exhaustive. For instance, we might stage a special media-grabbing event (extreme example: arranging for the INFORMS president to parachute into the Rose Bowl).

We began with a trial six-month advertising campaign, through Technology Review, online and in print, toward the end of 2005. Although I thought our ads were imaginative, the resulting change in reader awareness was slightly positive but not conclusive. This was our warm-up program, and we knew that true success would require a sustained, multi-year effort.

Meanwhile, our marketing consultants, committee members and board members thought they saw a more cost-effective tactic: conduct a vigorous public-relations campaign, complemented ("leveraged") by publicizing the Edelman Award competition for achievement in operations-research practice and its success stories. The annual Edelman competition, through videos and Interfaces papers, documents O.R. triumphs from a broad range of applications. With crucial assistance from an outside PR agency, the envisioned PR campaign was launched in January of this year and continues.

Certainly the most visible results so far were the Edelman events at the 2006 INFORMS practice conference in Miami. Billed as the Edelman gala, and organized by an Edelman gala committee chaired by Irv Lustig, they featured a memorable dinner and award ceremony, the establishment of an Edelman Academy for finalist organizations, designating authors as Edelman Laureates, videos, speakers and a striking stage setup. This was the subject of a column, "Oh What a Night!" and a cover story, "An Affair to Remember," by Peter Horner, and a column, "A Great Night for the Profession," by INFORMS President Mark Daskin in OR/MS Today [10].

From the PR program — some of it keyed to the Edelman and some general — we have realized in the comparatively brief time of its activity this year several good published stories. And we have many more promising media stories in the pipeline. To mention one illustration, BusinessWeek reporter Stephen Baker wrote a cover story "Math Will Rock Your World"[11], much of it about O.R. but mentioning the profession and its brand name only fleetingly. He agreed to attend the Miami conference, then wrote a blog in BusinessWeek Online, visited a university O.R. department and is working on a book, "The Age of Numbers." If the blog piece [12] is an indication, he is now fully briefed on O.R.

It's instructive to look at the Baker blog and posted responses. Some of us are amazed that we can't make a couple of phone calls to reporters and end up with a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal. Ruminating about why more press people didn't show up at the conference, Baker writes, "People think it's ... boring. Trouble is, if we want to know where things are going, we have to understand how they work. And when the process is transformative, as it often is in O.R., there's nothing boring about it"[12]. The responses posted on the blog suggest different reasons for the phenomenon that Baker describes. One reporter writes: "I appreciate the heads up. It sounds exactly up my alley...I never heard of this organization [INFORMS] but I'm glad to learn of it" [13].

Other examples of early progress where references to the profession were incorporated include several Edelman-related and O.R.-related articles in the May issue of Optimize magazine [14], an online video interview on thwarting terrorist missile threats in the August issue of Homeland Defense Week [15] and a report on the Edelman finalist work of Travelocity and Sabre in the September issue of Baseline [16]. Various other excellent stories are in the works. Some of these prospective placements are with major media like the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek.

It's A Wonderful Profession


Our worthy profession is a really great place to make your career. The profession has established an impressive history, yet in this 21st century we are poised for contributing much more than ever before to the world. To remove roadblocks, we need to gain external visibility and appreciation for what O.R. can accomplish for a client. That's the mission of the MTP program. We hope you will support this endeavor and seriously consider participating one way or another.

How You Can Help If you believe the MTP program is worthwhile, you can assist. Indeed, we earnestly ask for your assistance! One way is to promote the profession within your own job and within organizations where you work. To get started, you may consult the poster [5], the Executive Guide to O.R. [6] and the Web sites: www.orchampions.org and www.scienceofbetter.org. A second way to help is to refer story ideas to us. The press is looking for impressive stories of O.R. projects that were implemented and produced significant benefits to which management (or equivalent) will testify. These stories may be in any type of organization — business, government, military, health care or non-profit. Have a good lead for us? Correspond with Barry List, INFORMS director of marketing and public relations, at barry.list@informs.org (or phone 443-757-3560). Yet a third way is to get a hold of us in the event you are contacted by the press. We can help you obtain the best coverage and also at the same time promote the profession. Again, contact Barry List. This year the MTP committee was merged with the Public Information Committee (PIC). While we are fortunate to have serving on PIC and its several subcommittees more than 20 volunteers and staff, this overall effort could be much better if we had more volunteers. An example is volunteering to help find and screen outstanding application stories. One of the various approaches of the PR program is to establish themes ("verticals") and solicit suitable stories. The current verticals (more verticals will come later) being pursued in parallel are: aviation, homeland security, health care, supply chain, financial applications and services applications. You can read more about such volunteer roles in this issue of OR/MS Today in the "Was It Something I Said?" column by PIC PR committee member Vijay Mehrotra (see page 12). If you are interested in becoming a prime mover to help with any one of the verticals, please let Vijay know (vjm@sfsu.edu). You will be warmly welcomed. Another example is helping improve our two Web sites. We have a subcommittee of PIC to address the topic. If you would be interested in serving on that committee, please notify me (randyrobi@cs.com, phone 410-472-0148). PIC has other subcommittees including a PR committee, an Edelman-gala committee, a results-measurement committee and a partnering-with-other societies committee. If your interests take you to any of them, I would be grateful to hear from you. — Randy Robinson

Acknowledgments This article reports on the substantial collective work of many dedicated volunteers and staff members. Space does not permit describing in depth the components of the overall effort. I thank everyone who contributed to and supported the MTP program.

References

1. R. S. Robinson, 2006, "The Operations Research Profession: Westward, Look, The Land is Bright," chapter in F. B. Alt, M.C. Fu, and B. L Golden (editors), "Perspectives in Operations Research: Papers in Honor of Saul Gass' 80th Birthday," Springer, 2006.
2. T. M. Cook, 2003, "The Branding Dilemma," OR/MS Today, p. 6, October 2003.
3. Jeff Alden recently calculated the total documented monetary impacts declared by the 86 Edelman finalists since 1993 to approach $70 billion. J. M. Alden, "Seeing is Believing," Program book: The Franz Edelman Award, 2006, p. 7, INFORMS, 2006.
4. Position statements posted on the voting Web site and also published in OR/MS Today, pp. 60-61, August 2006.
5. "Promote Operations Research: The Science of Better" (poster), 2004, INFORMS. Copies available from barry.list@informs.org.
6. "Seat-of-the-Pants-Less: Executive Guide to Operations Research, 2004, INFORMS. Copies available from barry.list@informs.org.
7. Private communication from Graham Sharp, marketing consultant, The OR Society, August 2006.
8. The need to adopt a brand name was discussed by Tom Cook in "The Branding Dilemma," OR/MS Today, p. 6, October 2003.
9. The brand-name choices of INFORMS and the ORS were explained by Ralph Oliva from the United States and Graham Sharp from the United Kingdom. Both are marketing professionals with close knowledge of the O.R. situation. R. A. Oliva, "Time to Move Forward" (p. 24) and G. Sharp, "What's in a Name? (p. 25), OR/MS Today, April 2004.
10. P.R. Horner, 2006, "Oh What a Night!" (p. 4) and "An Affair to Remember" (pp. 20-24), M. S. Daskin, 2006, "A Great Night for the Profession" (p. 6), OR/MS Today, June 2006.
11. S. Baker, 2006, "Math Will Rock Your World, BusinessWeek, pp. 54-62, January 23, 2006.
12. Baker blog, posting of May 4, 2006: www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2006/05/why_journalists.html
13. K. Fasanella, response on Baker blog, May 5, 2006 (same link as reference 12).
14. I. Lustig and P. Klein, 2006, "Q&A: OR Keeps Proving Its Value" (p. 31), P. Klein, 2006, "Best of Operations Research" (pp. 36-38), M. Trick, 2006, "The CIO As Business Predictor" (pp. 35-38), all in Optimize, May 2006.
15. "Terrorist Missle Threat Could Be Costly," Homeland Defense Week; online: www.homelanddefenseweek.com/Dailies/channels/LP/manpadthreat080206.htm
16. D. F. Carr, 2006, "Web Site Optimization: Travelocity Changes Course," Baseline, September 2006. Also online: www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,2012311,00.asp.

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