Laura Lang, J77, inspires next generation of entrepreneurs at Lyon & Bendheim Alumni Lecture

Laura Lang, J77, CEO of Digitas

November 7, 2007--“Take risks and be intellectually curious.”

That was the message from Laura Lang, J77, CEO of Digitas, who spoke to the Tufts community as part of the Lyon & Bendheim Alumni Lecture on October 17. A member of the advisory board of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, Lang aimed to inspire students -- the next generation of entrepreneurs -- to take charge of their lives and seek new opportunities in a world that is constantly looking for smart, new leaders.

Lang said at Tufts she was involved with many organizations and pursued different fields to find her niche in the business world. Her intellectual curiosity allowed her to keep an open mind, and as she said, “there was no script about what I would do after college.”

After graduating summa cum laude, she earned an MBA from Wharton. She began her career working in product management at Bristol Myers and the Quaker Oats. Her early challenges included being one of the leaders of a “weak” marketing campaign for Captain Crunch; it was an experience that taught her critical lessons about marketing and managing multiple parts of a company, she said.  

After working for Pfizer’s strategic planning team, she led the consulting practice at Yankelovich Clancy Shulman. Her next job took her to Marketing Corporation of America, where she provided strategic consulting to clients in the pharmaceutical, technology, entertainment, and financial services industry.

Eight years later, in 1999, she began working for Digitas, the first global interactive agency network, and a pioneer in creative marketing. Its clients include American Express, General Motors, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Miller Brewing, and Nestle.

During the question and answer period, Lang described some of her daily challenges as a CEO of a large company and how companies can split their employees into groups to achieve maximum performance. (At one point, the company grew very rapidly, hiring close to 750 employees in a span of 10 months.) She added that marketing tools must constantly be restructured to keep pace with rapid changes in technology.

She also shared how being a woman affects her job. When she was coming up the ranks, she faced discrimination, she said, for just being a woman. She would often get to a board meeting and though she was the leader, many would look at the men on her team for guidance. While that no longer happens, she did say that she had to struggle to succeed.

“People respect success, not what type of person [you are],” she said.

-- Joel Alcon, A09

The Lyon & Bendheim Alumni Lecture Series, established by JB Lyon, A85, and Tom Bendheim, A85, brings to campus alumni lecturers who are leaders in their respective fields. Find out more.