Julian Rawel

Julian Rawel has had a long and varied career, spanning entrepreneurial tour operating, national museum development, management consultancy and academia. Today he is Director of MBA Programmes at the University of Edinburgh, where he teaches Marketing Communications and Branding.

"At my age, you probably wouldn't expect me to be teaching Gen Y and Gen Z about marketing communications," he laughs. "I don't have the time or inclination to watch fifty TikTok videos a day!" Yet his course is consistently popular and highly rated.

Julian believes that is because the fundamentals of good marketing have not changed. "The channels and technology move fast, but the core principles of persuasive - and hopefully honest - communication stay largely the same. They still require human understanding and judgement."

One exercise on the course is designed to make that point very clearly. Working in groups, students use AI tools - in this case Microsoft Copilot - to create a single marketing visual for a new service. The briefs are deliberately simple: for example, a weight-loss service for children aged eight to fourteen, or an all-female home repairs business.

"They don't do research," Julian explains. "They identify the audience, decide what the service is and agree the big idea." Using AI and carefully structured prompts, they have one hour to develop a visual that communicates and sells that idea. Students must show how their prompts evolve and whether they are genuinely happy with the final result.

The learning comes from seeing the limits of AI. "Early visuals often look odd," Julian says. "That's important. It forces students to apply judgement." He contrasts this with text-based AI exercises, where fluent copy appears quickly but often feels generic. "It all sounds professional, but it's rarely personal or sincere."

For Julian, that is the real lesson. "AI is powerful, but it doesn't replace judgement. Experience helps you question what the tool produces, rather than accepting it because it looks polished."