NIU students continued to pour into the Carl Sandburg Auditorium Thursday as the grand finale for Marketing Week began.

More than 900 students went to hear Robert Kerrigan speak on “Power, Purpose and Promotion: The Dynamics of Achievement.”

American Marketing Association President Sal LoSchiavo introduced Kerrigan, chief operating officer of Northwestern Mutual Insurance. Kerrigan, who received a standing ovation, spoke about success, life after college and positive thinking.

The business world is “all about delivering excellence and making commitments,” he said. “People who have something to offer make a difference.”

Kerrigan said a person’s success depends more on experience than intellect. Basic tools to success, such as honor, respect and reliability, are learned in kindergarten but later taken for granted, he said.

One of Kerrigan’s keys to success is “you can’t sell something you don’t believe in,” said McCabe’s Lounge Owner Glenn Goering, who attended the presentation. “I live by everything he spoke of and wish the entire university could’ve heard his lecture.”

Success also is a result of choosing the right career, Kerrigan said. He advised students to “listen intuitively to your gut” when making life decisions.

Kerrigan said he chose to work with the life insurance company after graduating from Notre Dame University in 1979 rather than continuing his education at Northwestern University “because it felt right.”

“I like my business because I have to bring out the best in people,” he said.

Kerrigan also gave students advice for being interviewed. “Interview the person and then interview the company,” he said. Knowing about the company and its training beforehand is a plus, he said.

Everyone has anxiety when it comes to interviews, but what makes the difference is “deciding if the anxiety, which is energy, will work for you or against you,” Kerrigan said.

“When things don’t go right, make it an opportunity to shine, not an obstacle,” he said.

“Look for a way to leave somebody feeling better than they are feeling,” Kerrigan said. He quoted his father who said, “The strong are kind and the weak are cruel.”

AMA Chapter Adviser Nessim Hanna said, “We owe this high standard of living we have today to marketers.”

anna talked about the 4,000-year-old trade and marketing industry and the definition of marketing—”the creation and delivery of a standard of living”—to explain the idea of Marketing Week to the crowd.

All students could relate to his presentation, said AMA Promotions Coordinator Ken Deja. “His talk wasn’t geared towards marketing students in particular,” he said.