Lotte Willems is the new director of Swocc

Dr. Lotte Willemsen is a lecturer in Communication in the Networked Society at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Previously she worked as a Lecturer in Crossmedia Business at Hogeschool Utrecht and as an Assistant Professor of Persuasive Communication at the Amsterdam School for Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam. For her PhD research, she investigated the role that electronic word of mouth (eWOM) plays in empowering consumers and how companies can respond to it. For this research, she was awarded a Top Talent grant from the Netherlands Scientific Research Organization (NWO).

Willemsen (photo): As of September 1, I will be succeeding Guda van Noort as director of Swocc. This is a special honor. Since Giep Franzen founded the foundation, Swocc has been a household name and known for his ability to build bridges and unite worlds.

According to the organization, the bridging function that Swocc fulfills is and continues to be of great importance in a digital-driven era where marketing and brand communication professionals must respond quickly and flexibly to developments in the marketplace and society. It is therefore important that we continue to take the time to ask questions and answer them with research. That’s why it’s important to ask the right questions, driven by the needs and experience of brand communication specialists and taking into account the complex reality in which they work, as always Jeep Franzen. Then we can really control the way the brand, people, and community relate to each other and interact through communication. I am convinced that knowledge and innovation arise when a bridge is built from research to practice, but also: vice versa.

Because of this belief, she has been in Swocc for 20 years. For me, Swocc is that space between the space where science and practice meet and where cross-pollination, co-creation and innovation occur. In my own research previously at the UvA and several HBO institutions, I have been inspired more than once by these encounters. I was allowed to share findings in numerous blogs, workshops, lectures, and Swocc publications, including “Brand als Mens” and “Successful Storytelling on Social Media”. Now I can succeed Guda van Noort and I’m really looking forward to it. My heart beats faster than searching for practice and practice and practice.

I will combine the position of Director of Swocc with my current position as Lecturer in the Networked Society Communication Research Group, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences – a research group that conducts practice-oriented research in a network of researchers, educators (future) professionals, organizations and knowledge institutions – at the interface of communication and technology (brand ). I am pleased to use this experience, along with the Board of Directors and other stakeholders, to extend the bridge function at Swocc and bring science and practice closer together.
(PvWK, Source: Swocc)

More information about Swocc find you here.