Tanuja Singh, associate professor of marketing, considers herself an international trash collector.

Singh travels to countries such as Germany, Egypt and Belgium to study how products are marketed to best target different consumer pools.

“I try to bring something as simple as a Coca-Cola can back from wherever I travel,” Singh said.

“The [diet soda] labels read ‘light’ because in Europe, in most countries, you cannot call it ‘diet’ unless it has a dietary property. Something as simple as that makes it much more interesting for the students, to see it for themselves.”

Upon entering Singh’s office in Barsema Hall, a collection of soda cans resides above her desk. Boasting foreign characters and phrases, the cans display how American companies market products to suit the tastes and laws of different nationalities.

Singh’s souvenir collection features no catchy magnets or T-shirts, but elements of a country tell stories of their origins. The foreign currency collection perched on her bookshelf is a prime example.

“When [the students] see stuff like this, they get experience,” Singh said. “I’ll show them currencies from countries they would probably have never been to, like Egypt or Zimbabwe or from Zambia or from Nepal.”

Singh’s professional life did not begin in marketing. The former experimental physicist grew tired of running experiments until three in the morning. She holds a doctorate in marketing and master’s degrees in physics and marketing.

“I was more of a people person,” Singh said. “I would run experiments at all hours of the day by myself. I said, ‘This isn’t who I am,’ and decided to do something else.”

Singh teaches MKTG 367, Principles of Global Marketing and MKTG 467, Global Marketing Management. She also teaches Global Strategy and Promotions Management at the graduate level. Senior marketing major Demond Walker said Singh’s MKTG 467 class gave him experience working for marketing companies.

“We presented our research and recommendations for the company president,” Walker said. “During the project, her expertise on international business practices and the guidance she provided for my group was invaluable.”

Singh’s experiences have pushed her away from textbook teaching and toward personal examples.

“I give them stories of what I have done or mistakes I may have made that I don’t want them to make when traveling,” Singh said. “I do enough research overseas to bring in how that works.”

Assistant marketing professor Madan Annavarjula shared Walker’s views. A colleague of Singh’s, Annavarjula values the experiences she brings to the department.

“Dr. Singh is a well-read and well-prepared professor,” Annavarjula said. “She expects the best from her students because she gives her best to them. She practices what she preaches.”

This past year, Singh traveled to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Germany, the latter of which hosted the marketing event she planned.

“I organized the World Marketing Congress which is organized every two years,” Singh said. “I was the program chair for it. We had over 52 papers presented in Germany over four days. We had people from, what I believe, 42 countries.”

Latin America is the only part of the world missing from Singh’s experiences. Singh considers herself a resource for students regarding the broader market spectrum.

“Markets outside the United States are becoming more important,” Singh said. “We don’t just need to sell our products, we need to understand how these people are different, what makes them and the markets unique. I teach from my personal experience, which I think is a lot more fun.”