From Food to Sports...Alum Stan Lippelman Knows Marketing
By Carissa Hodson

How does one start out looking for a career in a rock band and end up the Vice President of Marketing for Bass Pro Shops? Stan Lippelman, ’91 SMS marketing graduate, could certainly give some insight into the process.

Stan Lippelman’s future took a decided turn when he went from a music major involved in a rock band to a marketing major involved in the marketing club and the Mac Ad Team. The Kickapoo high school graduate first attended SMS on a music scholarship. He even took a semester off to devote time to his rock band. However, a beginning marketing class “instantly hooked” Lippelman, as he discovered his strengths in the area. “I found marketing to be a great outlet for my creativity and I realized that I had a strong intuitive sense for marketing.” He had strong relationships with several of his marketing professors at SMS. Of Dr. Melissa Burnett he says, “It was her passion for advertising that inspired my love of marketing.”

Following graduation, Lippelman took time to develop his talents and gain experience at Noble and Associates in Springfield, Missouri. After getting his feet wet, Lippelman decided to pursue a Master’s of Business Administration at Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. 

Lippelman then went on to work for General Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota – and was promoted faster than anyone in the history of the company. He moved his way through the company, from an Assistant Marketing Manager to a Senior Marketing Manager. One project under his charge was the Lucky Charms brand at General Mills. Through analysis and setting of appropriate targets, Lippelman led Lucky Charms to reach its goal of displacing Fruit Loops as the number one children’s cereal for several consecutive months.

Leaving General Mills led Lippelman to the next step in his career, as Vice President of Marketing and Research and Development at Rawlings Sporting Goods. He was able to participate in the “unique opportunity” of helping Rawlings turn around a “115 year old brand that was on the verge of bankruptcy.” The company was returned to “top line growth” with a “revamped” marketing department. Loss per share was reversed and the stock price increased more than 700%.

The shock of his brother Carl’s death due to a heart problem caused Lippelman to reevaluate the things of importance in his life. He says, “…I realized that we were working so hard for the future that we were missing the present. Our family decided that it was time to stop preparing and to start living.” Lippelman encourages recent graduates to learn to balance their professional and personal lives, and to live each day to the fullest. “We can never know when our time on this planet will pass and I believe we have to try and live every day as if it were our last.”

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With this focus in mind, Lippelman accepted a position at Bass Pro Shops, where he has been Vice President of Marketing for the past six months. “Bass Pro Shops gave us the opportunity to move back home, to spend more time with our families and yet still be a part of an amazing brand.” Lippelman says he enjoys being a part of the retail side of business, as well as learning more about data mining and the possibilities of one-to-one marketing.

What has Lippelman learned since he graduated from SMS? He offers three things he has gained from the jobs he has held. The first is, “…the importance of determining the drivers of your business/brand.” When Lippelman took over the Lucky Charms brand at General Mills, he had to determine what was necessary to meet the goal of being number one. The goal had existed for some time, but clear steps to attain it had never been set down. Second, Lippelman has learned “…the importance of building and inspiring a strong team.” He gives transfer of ownership and the power of potential as key elements of this. He says, “For any group, brand or idea to be successful, every member on the team has to believe that it is their idea, their objective and that they personally can affect the success or failure of the brand.” About the power of potential he adds, “You have to put people in a position to be successful, inspire them to take ownership of the brand, and empower them to lead their area.” The last lesson of importance he has learned is, “…the importance of having a passion for what you do.” He warns, “We spend too much of our time working to not love what you do. Life is too short to work for a paycheck.”  

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