College to Host Advertising Executive-in-Residence

03/28/2017 

Maybe she was born with it. Maybe it’s Maybeline.

A quarter century ago, the advertising firm run by Sheri Baron '77 used that phrase to transform a company once known for bargain makeup into the top mass-market cosmetics firm in the world. The advertising phrase is still used by Maybeline today.

The insight for that and other high-profile campaigns for products ranging from Lindt chocolates to Essie nail polish, was cultivated during Baron’s time at SUNY Cortland.

She majored in psychology and was passionate about her psychology classes. Baron wanted to know why people behave as they do, which turned out to be a perfect frame of foundation for her long and successful career in advertising.

Baron, who retired a little more than two years ago as president and Chief Executive Officer of Gotham, Inc., the boutique marketing firm she helped found, will return to campus as an executive-in-residence on Wednesday, March 29.

Baron will speak to students in professor Lan Ye’s communications classes about working in the advertising field. She’ll also visit professor Katherine Bonafide’s psychology class and professor Kathy Lawrence’s communications class to share highlights from her career.

At 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House, Baron will hold a fireside chat to discuss Gotham’s advertising campaign for Lindt chocolates. The fireside chat is open to students interested in a career in advertising and members of the SUNY Cortland community.

After working on campaigns for Wonder Bread at the Ted Bates agency following graduation, Baron’s big break came in 1981 when she started working on a campaign for Cover Girl cosmetics. Her focus on images and emotion in advertising helped vault the brand to the top of the sales chart by the end of the decade.

A corporate acquisition saw Cover Girl move to another agency, but the firm at which Baron worked, Lintas, quickly gained Maybelline as a client. By the mid-1990s, Baron was part of a group that formed Gotham, Inc., and secured Maybelline as a client. Gotham created the “Maybe She’s Born With It. Maybe It’s Maybelline” tagline that helped the brand take the top position in the cosmetics market, unseating Cover Girl.

Baron was part of the inaugural class of the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement and has been an advocate for women in leadership throughout her career.

The Executive-in-Residence program is supported by the Cortland College Foundation, Alumni Engagement and Career Services. For more information, contact Rich Coyne, Alumni and Advancement Officer, at 607-753-5516.