The Brierley Institute 

The Art & Science of Engagement

The Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement at SMU Cox is the first academic institute of its kind. A community of students, academics and corporate leaders, the institute examines and explores why customers engage with brands, and how that engagement drives loyalty and value. The institute introduces proven strategies for establishing and sustaining profitable customer relationships, engineering behavior change, and understanding the role consumer psychology plays. It addresses a critical and growing business need: capturing customer attention in what Hal has described as “a time-starved, social media-obsessed environment.”

Launched in 2016 with a gift from customer engagement pioneer Hal Brierley, we offer an MBA specialization, corporate projects, and annual events that host faculty from top business schools that advance knowledge and improve business practice globally.

I'm enthusiastic to have Dallas and SMU viewed as a center of excellence in customer engagement. SMU Cox stepped up to create effective curricula to teach tomorrow’s marketers the techniques essential to design and manage successful customer engagement programs.

Hal Brierley

Founder and Executive in Residence

Teaching Tomorrow's Marketers

SMU students consistently bring insightful and relevant recommendations to the AAdvantage team. Their MBA coursework combined with their perspectives as traveling consumers are a great combination to provide us with insights for capturing loyalty that reflect their preferences as a primary demographic.

Meghan Jordan

Director of Customer Insights,American Airlines

Marci Armstrong
Marci Armstrong is a seven-time teaching award honoree, former associate dean and a sought-after customer engagement consultant to the business community. Her clients have included AMC, American Airlines and AT&T Performing Arts Center — and that's just the A’s.

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Hal Brierley, inventive visionary of customer loyalty programs, has proven his ability to transform customer relationships.. An extraordinarily accomplished entrepreneur in the space, he's launched multiple successful companies including Epsilon, Brierley+Partners, Research Now and the Brierley Group.

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Synchrony Financial, formerly part of General Electric and boasting over 85 years of history, is a premier consumer financial services company that works with students and researchers at the Brierley Institute to explore profitable customer engagement programs that advance their mission to create financial and technology solutions to move their customers and partnership forward.

Synchrony Financial is a Brierley Institute Corporate Member
Arcis Golf, recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States, values the ability to collaborate with student-led teams from the Brierley Institute. Arcis proudly supports providing real-world opportunities to these SMU Cox students, and gained insights they could leverage to grow their business. This partnership was a true win-win.

Arcis Golf is a Brierley Institute Corporate Member

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