By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18)
Her experience in advertising and public relations means Saima Kazmi knows the power of a good story to change minds and hearts.听
Now, as she completes her doctoral studies at the University of Colorado 色吧亚洲, she鈥檚 trying to understand a story with the potential to shape the future of the planet.听
Kazmi (PhDStratComm鈥�24) studies green advertising campaigns that prompt people to make choices that support sustainability and environmental well-being鈥攅ffectively using the advertising playbook, which is so good at urging people to buy things, to encourage less consumption.听
Specifically, her research examines why consumers tend to reject such prompts.听
鈥淧eople see an environmental message, and they immediately shut down,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is always pushback when you鈥檙e asking people to change their behavior, but I really want to understand what it is about sustainability that causes those cognitive barriers to raise.鈥澨�
She鈥檚 studying different messaging strategies that can overcome that resistance to change鈥攚ork that will continue now that she鈥檚 accepted a role as an assistant professor at the University of Oregon for the fall.听
鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful, happy and honored to work at a place where they have so many sustainability initiatives,鈥� Kazmi said. 鈥淭hey have a whole communication department working on climate science, which is exactly the type of people I want to work with to move my research forward.鈥�
You have three minutes
Academic research sometimes gets a reputation for being too theoretical or esoteric to effect meaningful change. Kazmi said she knows that isn鈥檛 an option for her work, which is part of why she competed in CU 色吧亚洲鈥檚 Three-Minute Thesis鈥攁 competition in which graduate students are challenged to describe their research to a general audience in no more than three minutes. She was one of two students from the College of Media, Communication and Information to advance to the final round of the competition, which concluded in February.听
鈥淚 thought it would be a lot like my job search, where you鈥檙e giving research presentations鈥攂ut I had all this jargon and messaging that was tailored for faculty and search committees,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to think鈥攊f my grandmother was in the audience, how would I be able to get her to understand this?鈥澨�
A voracious reader and seasoned advertising expert鈥攁s a consultant, she did work for brands like Unilever and Nestle鈥擪azmi found a way to make her pitch a relatable story, which helped her search for jobs and defend her dissertation.
鈥淚 was talking about this whole phenomenon of water being drained from the Colorado River for agriculture, and I shaped it almost like a dystopian novel, where we knew what was happening but people ignored all the messages,鈥� she said. 鈥淟earning how to get my point across to a general audience was so valuable to me.
鈥淥nly 1 to 2% of people get to be researchers and create knowledge. And if that knowledge is not accessible, we鈥檙e missing out on an opportunity to have an impact.鈥�
Saima Kazmi (PhDStratComm鈥�24)
Far-ranging research implications
Harsha Gangadharbatla, professor of advertising, public relations and media design and associate dean of faculty development at CMCI, said Kazmi will have no trouble creating impact at a place like Oregon. And he ought to know, having taught there for five years before coming to CU 色吧亚洲, where he eventually became one of the college鈥檚 founding chairs.
Gangadharbatla described Kazmi, whom he advised, as especially hardworking and dedicated, in addition to doing interesting research that has such wide-ranging implications for different industries.听
鈥淲hen she takes something up, she sees it to the very end, which is admirable in and of itself,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut she鈥檒l also do well on the tenure track because she鈥檒l have a sustained, focused body of work with very real implications鈥攏ot only to different areas, like advertising, public policy and sustainability in general, but for us all.鈥�
Kazmi called Gangadharbatla a powerful influence on her career鈥攑articularly his love of teaching鈥攁nd said faculty and peers helped smooth an academic journey that included the challenges of virtual work amid the pandemic and raising three small children while her husband worked overseas. Gangadharbatla said it was 鈥渁mazing, how she cared for her family by herself while taking courses, writing a dissertation and teaching,鈥� and joked that 鈥渕y partner and I have two children, and between the two of us we鈥檙e struggling to survive.鈥澨�
For Kazmi, success was about her willingness to work hard and the community of which she was a part.听
鈥淪o many people in CMCI guided me on publications and helped prepare me for the job market,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd my classmates, too鈥攖hey鈥檙e going through the same struggles that I did, and they鈥檝e become friends as we all go on to such different next steps in our careers.鈥澨�