What it’s about

Marketing is concerned with the process of developing customer relationships, uncovering business opportunities, and delivering products and services to buyers. Marketing majors learn to analyze customers and their needs, and to make decision about product design and quality, pricing, advertising, selling, and distribution.

What the study of this major is like:

Marketing focuses on important business measures that have a central role in company performance and success, such as customer satisfaction, sales revenue, and market share. As a major in marketing, you will explore the role of marketing in business performance and examine the functions of marketing professionals.

Questions you will ask include these: How does marketing affect society, and how does society affect marketing? In which ways is research important to marketing? On what basis do consumers and industrial buyers make purchasing decisions? How are products developed, priced, and distributed? How do organizations communicate with prospective customers through advertising, personal selling, social networking websites, and publicity? What are the steps involved in developing, conducting, and evaluating marketing strategies? What impact do international environments have on marketing?

Marketing is an intellectually stimulating and demanding subject. Analytical, creative, and communication skills are important to success in the profession. Consequently, marketing majors spend about half their time taking courses in the liberal arts. You must also take a number of business courses, including economics, statistics, accounting, finance, computer information systems, and management.

These courses may challenge you, but they are fundamental for exploring the field. For instance, you’ll familiarize yourself with the two primary types of marketing. In business-to-business (B2B) marketing, products such as computer copying machines, steel, and chemicals are sold to other businesses. In business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, in contrast, individuals buy products (called, appropriately, “consumer products”) such as appliances, cars, packaged goods (food, soap), and services such as insurance and banking. Courses in marketing principles and marketing management teach you to develop and implement plan to market products and services.

Other courses specialize in a single aspect of marketing management. Market research-usually required of all majors-teaches you to use surveys, experiments, test markets, and other techniques to obtain the information you need in making effective marketing decisions. In advertising management, you study the development, testing, execution, and monitoring of advertising campaigns. (Marketing majors are usually not involved in the creative aspects of advertising-design and production.) Courses in sales management focus on the psychology of effective selling and the recruiting, selecting, organizing, training, and motivating of salespeople. In marketing channels courses, you learn about the institutions (retailers, wholesalers, industrial distributors) that work as intermediaries between manufacturers and buyers.

Most marketing courses combine lecture with discussion. Majors usually complete a number of team and individual projects that involve research, analysis, critical thinking, creativity, information technology, writing skills, and oral presentations.

Strong marketing programs focus on ideas and theorises while providing you with experiences and teaching you skills that can be easily applied in the workplace. Differences in programs may involve the relative emphasis on project-oriented, hands-on courses; the availability and use of the technology; the availability of internships and student competitions; and the degree to which quantitative (math-related) skills are woven into the curriculum. Location, potential employers, and faculty members may add unique aspects to a program.

Career options and trends:

Sales representative*; sales manager; advertising and integrated marketing communications manager*; retail manager*; entrepreneur/business owner; product manager; marketing researcher; marketing consultant; customer service manager.

The broad nature of marketing leads to a positive job outlook. Since marketing is used in business, nonprofits, and government agencies, jobopportunities can be found even during economic down-turns. Marketers are generally paid well, and the field is especially lucrative for those who earn commissions or bonuses based on performance.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors