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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
I. Introduction to Integrated
Marketing
Communications
2. The Role of IMC in the
Marketing Process
CAREER PROFILE
Fiona Morrisson
Director, Corporate Communications JetBlue Airways
My career-path, especially the first ten years of it, has
been one that text books never recommend, guidance
counselors are paid to discourage, and parents fear the
most.
I grew up in a small country town in Australia where
it wasn’t a given that everyone would graduate from
high school and go on to university. I left school after
grade ten and spent the next eight years of my working
life in jobs that provided me
with an extremely useful work skill:
a typing speed of 120 words per
minute. I held positions in everything
from dental clinics to multinational
computing companies,
with a myriad of temporary jobs in
between.
In my early twenties, I headed to
Japan. My first real job in Tokyo was
with a science publishing company
where I worked “polishing” English
language research papers submitted
by Japanese scientists before
the reports were sent for publication
in Europe.
After leaving then returning to
Tokyo, I was fortunate to find work
in two industries that have since
become the foundation for my
career: media and travel.
“A friend’s recommendation
and
successful interviews
landed me
the JetBlue job.”
Every morning I was employed by
a travel tour consolidator to write
English language marketing plans
and proposals aimed at their U.S.,
Australian, and South East Asian
airline and tour partners. Every
afternoon, I worked in the International
Relations department of
Nihon Television (NTV), Japan’s oldest
network station.
At NTV, my job was to “culturally translate” scripts
for programs that the station was hoping to sell
overseas.
While I loved living in Japan, I began to feel that
there was something that school could offer me. I felt
that a university degree would give me a theoretical
base from which to understand and utilize the experiences
and skills I’d gained.
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
I returned to Australia to earn a BA in Communications
from the University of Technology in Sydney.
After graduation, I was off to New York.
My first job in New York was with an Australian corporate
finance company. I soon realized that I was not
suited to the finance industry, so when the opportunity
to interview at a public relations agency came
along, I jumped at it.
Porter Novelli had just won the
Australian Tourist Commission (ATC)
account and was looking for an
account executive with a knowledge
of the country. Thanks to my nationality,
my writing skills and my experience
“translating” between two
cultures, I got the job. Along with the
ATC, I worked on the Princess Cruises,
Bermuda Tourism,and Southwest Airlines
accounts, learning media relations,co-ordinating
major events,and
organizing press trips.
I spent two happy years with
Porter Novelli before landing the
position of Manager of Corporate
Communications with JetBlue Airways.
The first day with JetBlue I
worked on the inauguration of new
service to Orlando, Florida, the
fourth city on the route network.
By the end of my first year, we’d
launched ten more destinations
around the country. Since then Jet-
Blue has gone from being an
“upstart” to a successful low-fare
competitor to being voted the Best
US Airline by Conde Nast Traveler
readers. Three of us handle all Jet-
Blue’s PR in-house—which means
that we do everything, from media pitching to event
planning to internal communications.
So while it might not have been as fast as the traditional
route, my career path, with its roundabout ways
and spontaneous detours, has brought me to a job and
a company that I love, and given me some unique experiences
along the way. I’m excited about where it could
take me next.
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