Marketing is all about understanding what consumers value, developing products that provide that value and creatively communicating to consumers how products and services will meet their needs. This major can prepare you for a variety of interesting job opportunities and also helps you to become a more informed consumer yourself. In the process of learning the details of the marketing process, you will also develop your communications skills (both written and oral) which will help you in whatever career direction you pursue.
Successful marketing is both a science and an art. As practiced today, the field is heavily data-driven, focused on understanding consumer preferences and why consumers behave as they do. But there is also a very creative side to the marketing process where you make decisions about strategy and the most effective way to communicate what your product has to offer. The courses in the major are designed to help you develop in both of these areas. Classes involve learning a new language—the language of marketing—which includes terms and processes. There is also a strong experiential aspect to your training where you learn to build your “marketing intuition”, making decisions about the best course of action. In some classes, this takes the form of special projects, often done with a team of classmates.
After learning the basics in Principles of Marketing, all marketing majors take a deeper dive into four key areas. In Consumer Behavior, you examine research focused on how consumers respond to various marketing messages, applying principles learned from psychology, anthropology, and sociology. International Marketing examines the special challenges of taking your product and marketing messages around the globe. To learn processes for asking consumers what they want, you study Marketing Research. The course Fundamentals of Professional Selling will help you develop this important enabling skill set that can prepare you for a career in sales or help you to understand the importance of this key promotional tool in your marketing strategy.
Marketing majors also choose 3 other courses to customize their program. Some of the options include MKT courses such as Brand Management, Advanced Professional Sales, and Principles of Advertising as well as courses offered by the School of Communications such as Public Relations and Social Media Marketing. As a Dayton School of Business major, you will also take an array of standard business courses in Accounting, Finance, Economics and Management.
Marketing majors have the option of doing an internship during the Fall, Spring or Summer that provides an opportunity to apply what you are leaning in class in a real world situation. The Asbury Marketplace Summit is an annual event jointly sponsored by the Dayton School of Business and Asbury Theological Seminary. This event provides a forum for the promotion of social entrepreneurship, particularly, through the Student Business Competition in which students compete for cash prizes. The Asbury University Sales team travels to national collegiate competitions, allowing students to win prizes for their sales role play performance as well as the opportunity to interview with companies sponsoring the event. Other local and regional business competitions are available in which students compete as a member of a team pitching their product and service ideas to business people playing the role of potential investors.
A marketing major can help prepare you for a variety of roles, including: