Choosing a Marketing Major

Marketing touches upon almost every aspect of our daily lives. Careers include marketing products and services to consumers and businesses (B2B marketing) and advocating for social or political causes. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as, "' the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

Here are just a few of the areas that can lead to exciting careers in marketing.

Advertising and Promotions— Would you like to be the creative force behind the Super Bowl TV commercials? How about managing the public and media's perception of a company or its products and services? Or, does creating a national campaign to roll out a new product interest you? Whether it's a John Deer tractor or Gap blue jeans, the job of an advertising professional is to get people excited about a product or service and purchase it. With social media, advertising and promotions includes exciting new channels beyond print and broadcast media.

Product Management — Would developing and launching a new product or improving existing products excite you? Product managers are responsible for the development, distribution, and pricing of products which include assessing the competition and researching future trends. They also develop promotional campaigns and track sales and profits for major product categories. Since product management professionals manage and strengthen brands, they are vital to a company's success. Think how much fun the iPhone launch was for the product development team!

Public Relations — Would helping an individual or organization by creating an image and message and then effectively communicating it to the desired audience interest you? All types of organizations, both profit and non-profit, employ public relations specialists. These specialists can advise organizations as diverse as the CEO of Toyota on how to effectively respond to product complaints to marketing the value and image of the American Red Cross for their efforts to help disaster victims.

Sales — Would you like to earn a salary that is based on your efforts and success? Many sales salaries have a base salary and a commission which can be limitless. Sales involve providing information, locating potential customers, presenting the value of your product and service to that potential client to solve their problems or achieve their goals and closing the sale. Sales and marketing techniques are used by professionals in non-profit organizations to raise funds for universities, charities and political and religious groups.

Research — Are you curious about what spurs someone to buy a product, use a service or notice a marketing promotion? Market research professionals are experts in consumer and business buyer behavior, using research tools such as statistical analysis packages, surveys, focus groups, and product testing. With ever-improving data coming from sources such as retail scanners and the internet, this field is booming with career opportunities.

Retailing — Do you want to influence one of the most dynamic sectors of the world's economy? Store management, buying, merchandising, and integrated marketing through the web and social media channels are just some of the sectors that need highly qualified marketing professionals. If you are people-oriented and enjoy an exciting, service-oriented, entrepreneurial profession, then check out a career in retailing.

Other Marketing Career Opportunities

Pricing — Marketing professionals are also responsible for pricing products and services. This includes profit and margin analysis, customer perceptions, and buying behaviors associated with price.

Distribution and Supply Chain Management — Marketing is also responsible for distributing the company's products through wholesalers, retailers, catalogs, social media networks, and through E-commerce. Distribution also includes how products are inventoried, packaged, transported, warehoused and presented on retailers' shelves or on the web. New services to customers and even entirely new companies such as Amazon.com can be created by with innovative ways to distribute products and improve service and support to customers.

Marketing and Information Technology — Marketing professionals must develop and use data from their consumer, business or government customers to identify their highest potential customers as well as prove the value of the products and services they sell. They must also prove the return on the costs of marketing campaigns and other investments to management and company owners. Understanding how to collect, manage and apply this information is a critical component of many marketing jobs. In addition, new delivery technologies such as smart phones, new social media channels and web tools, plus global positioning systems (GPS) are changing the way marketing professionals collect information and reach their customers.

Entertainment, Sports, Health Care, Education, Manufacturing, Government — Marketing jobs are available in virtually every sector of the global economy. One of the biggest U.S. sectors is the entertainment sector (movies, music, theme parks, travel and leisure). For example the Disney Corporation frequently recruits for interns through Wright State's Career Service.

Colleges, universities, charter schools all vie for undergraduate and graduate students and depend on marketers to achieve their enrollment goals. And hospitals reach consumers and potential employees through marketing their unique services and value.

Marketers are involved with intercollegiate and professional sports organizations. Many of our marketing students have completed internships with the Dayton Dragons and the Wright State Athletics Department. The Olympic Games, NFL, NBA all rely on marketers to obtain sponsors, increase ticket sales, and promote their events.

The Potential is Unlimited — This overview is just a small sampling of the career paths available to marketing majors. Additional resources such as the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook and the American Marketing Association Job Board and the AMA's on line "Ask the Expert" for professionals and students are excellent resources for exploring opportunities and regional salary data for careers in marketing.

Marketing Titles and Job Descriptions
from the American Marketing Association Employment Kit 2010
produced in conjunction with AQUENT

BRAND MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

Assistant/Associate Brand Manager (ABM). Has responsibility for assisting the brand manager/marketing manager in determining objectives, strategies, and execution of a brand's annual plan.
Brand/Product Director. Responsible for preparing and managing budget forecasts; branding and positioning input into commercial assessments; preparing annual marketing budgets; and planning and implementation of marketing activities, including sales force communication plans, advisory boards, and multiple educational venues.
Brand/Product Manager. Plans, develops, and implements brand strategies and marketing programs for a particular business or product.
Director, Marketing Strategy, Internet. Develops and executes strategies for the Internet channel and maximizes the effectiveness of this channel to generate prospects and sales; also serves existing customers who choose to do business online.
Marketing Strategy Analyst. Leads and participates in projects of a strategic nature, such as market research, new business development, and internal management consulting.
New Product Brand Manager. Initiates new product ideas and/or recommends improvements to enhance or maintain assigned brands' market position, including concept, package development, testing plans, advertising, and promotion.
Project Manager. Manages project plans to ensure streamlined execution of campaigns and manages the complexity of multiple parallel campaigns. Develops templates, processes, and methods for campaign planning, design specifications, and reporting.
Senior Associate Brand Manager. Identifies and applies consumer research and insights (e.g., Nielsen, competitive analyses, focus groups) to develop national and local marketing programs that will drive volume and profit growth and determine trends.
Senior Brand/Product Manager. Develops and oversees the successful execution of effective and efficient promotion programs, including overall marketing plans, strategies,
Senior Manager, Brand and Marketing Strategy. Responsible for defining and communicating the core brand strategy upon which all product development and marketing communications will be based.
Senior Manager, Marketing Strategy. Handles a customer insight-driven approach to develop world-class integrated marketing programs. This includes developing and refining current marketing road maps.

ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Account Director/Supervisor. Manages client relationships within an agency and may be involved in delivering presentations and pitches to potential clients.
Account Executive. Has responsibility for building and maintaining deep partnerships with high-value clients and agencies. Serves as day-to-day liaison with clients to ensure successful and timely completion of projects ranging from product launches to print, radio, television, and Web advertisements.
Account Manager/Senior Account Executive. Plans, coordinates, directs, and implements advertising campaigns. Confers with management to assess advertising needs, determine goals, and establish annual budgets.
Assistant Marketing Manager. Duties include conducting market research and coordinating with creative and production teams to produce promotional materials. Requires strong communication and organizational skills. Advertising or marketing education a plus.
Copy Editor. Prepares written material for publication by reviewing copy to detect errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and syntax, and verifying facts.
Copywriter. Develops concepts and writes copy for advertising and marketing campaigns within an agency.
Corporate Communications Specialist. Primarily produces communication vehicles that promote understanding of and good PR for the corporation.
Director of Communications. Has responsibility for keeping employees informed by designing, preparing, and disseminating information, and establishing and enforcing communications standards. Acts as a liaison with company departments, providing corporate communications.
Director of Event Planning. Has responsibility for making sure that employees and contractors stay on schedule and on budget so that an outstanding professional event is delivered to clients.
Director of Public Relations. Identifies and coordinates pitches and dialogue with key reporters/editors/others to secure placement in targeted print and online publications (including editorial calendar opportunities, push within key verticals, etc.).
Director of Retail Development. Focuses on the development and execution of integrated cross-category licensed and branded product strategies that maximize company and retailer profitability, market share, and sales growth through successful business partnerships with licensees, internal departments, and external retail customers.
Events Planner/Manager. Participates in the planning and establishment of goals and objectives for meetings, conferences and/or events, with respect to budgets, speakers, facilities, technology, equipment, logistical requirements, and other related issues.
Junior Account Executive. Duties may include researching new business opportunities, tracking projects, and assisting managers with day-to-day tasks. Strong communication skills required; advertising or marketing background preferred.
MarCom Specialist. Contributes to the overall branding effort by assisting with the execution, timing, and follow-up of marketing and communications strategies and tracking of campaign results.
Marketing Communications Manager. Provides marketing and promotional communications strategy for a company or product.
Marketing Director. Duties include all those listed for a marketing manager, but with stronger work experience within each function. Requires strong communication, organizational, analytical, and managerial skills. MBA degree preferred.
Marketing Interactive Media Manager. Has responsibility for directing all aspects of external marketing execution and operations. Actively monitors campaign activity, reviews results, and optimizes media.
Marketing Manager. Duties include creating and overseeing implementation of a marketing plan designed to increase market share, including compiling and analyzing market research and working with creative and production teams to develop effective promotional materials. Requires marketing or advertising background as well as strong communication and analytical skills. MBA degree a plus.
Media Buyer. Duties include researching target audiences, coordinating events, and writing promotional materials.
Media Director. Develops, presents, and implements media plans based on strategic research and demographic analysis.
Media Planner. Works with client and account teams to develop objectives and strategies for media buys, and determines mix of advertising types used for campaigns.
Meetings Planner/Manager. Works with key contacts to coordinate all aspects of meetings, including managing the registration database and handling site selection, invitations, food/beverage requests, audio visual requirements, transportation, hotel accommodations, special amenities, gifts, decorations, entertainment, and shuttle arrangements.
Merchandising Analyst. Has responsibility for using strong business and analytical skills to perform analysis on company promotions and product- and merchandising-related decisions, including issues of product life cycle, optimal product assortment, and work with large enterprise databases.
Merchandising Director. Makes presentations of product to all major retailers and creates assortment plan, demonstrating understanding of rack and floor space management. Directs design team in all areas of design, development. And sales sampling, from concept to delivery.
Merchandising Manager. Has responsibility for the day-to-day activities that will drive revenue. This includes merchandising, promotions, input for site features, and working with the other groups that support customer care and public relations.
Project Manager. Responsibilities include project scoping and planning from strategic briefings, conducting weekly status meetings, and providing conference reports to developing and distributing project plans and tasks to teams.
Proofreader. Edits copy to ensure proper grammar, spelling, syntax, and style. Requires eye for detail, ability to use standard proofreaders' marks, and excellent knowledge of grammar and style.
Public Relations Specialist/Manager. Assists with press release writing and placement, as well as building and maintaining relationships with key trade press.
Senior Copywriter. Generally prepares advanced materials, such as scripts for broadcast, print, or Web projects; annual reports; executive speeches; and copy for high-end collateral. Midlevel copywriters tend to write copy for projects such as direct mailers, mail-order catalogs, print ads, and sectional inserts.
Trade Show Manager. Responsible for the research, planning, and execution of trade shows and conferences, and other various marketing events programs.
Vice President, Online Advertising and Media Buying. Responsible for online advertising initiatives, inclusive of creative development, tracking and analysis, and working with key publishers.

INTERACTIVE MARKETING AND DESIGN

E-Commerce Marketing Manager. Primarily responsible for development of the e-commerce channel, and planning and implementing strategic Internet and e-mail marketing strategies to meet or exceed goals and retention targets.
E-Commerce Project Manager. Develops project plan defining the business and solution project team's structure, role, and responsibilities. Partners with development team to define application and integration architecture for projects.
Internet Marketing Project Manager. Drives online marketing promotions projects from inception through completion. Manages third-party vendors involved in the development and execution of projects.
SEO Manager. Manages a team of SEO operators performing basic SEO tasks such as keyword research, SEO copywriting, and link development for multiple properties.

DATA ANALYTICS AND RESEARCH

Business Intelligence Analyst. Coordinates access to and transformation of internal data resources for marketing use in tracking market and customer data in an effort to create metrics for measuring the effectiveness of sales and marketing decisions.
Channel Marketing Specialist. Initiates and manages marketing programs and promotions to drive sales and/or specific strategic initiatives.
Competitive Data Analyst. Researches and collects market and competitor information from internal and external sources, including competitor marketing materials, competitor Web sites and online resources, industry publications, analyst reports, public agencies, news services, and other published and non-published sources.
Consultant. Uses broad industry perspective to interpret competitive information, draw intelligent conclusions, provide assessments at the strategic and tactical level, and formulate recommendations on proactive and/or reactive actions.
Consumer Insight Manager (for CPG). Identifies information needs and provides input to deliver the strategies and goals of the brand plans. Is the primary knowledge base of the consumer and marketplace for the company's brands, identifying key consumer factors affecting its success and developing studies to determine the proper course of action. Proactively analyzes brand performance, opportunities, and threats. Challenges existing thinking and provides new alternatives, so must have the unique blend of talent, independence, integrity, and persuasion that inspires confidence in others.
Consumer Insights Analyst. Designs, plans, and executes internal sensory groups and external consumer research (concept and sensory); identifies and interprets trends; mines data to provide insight on new products, promotion enhancements, pricing optimization, and brand/product positioning; and manages the customer callback process to include callback plan, timeline, questionnaire development, and summary of results.
CRM Manager. Defines the business strategy, process, identification of requirements and analysis, and design of a CRM solution.
Data Analysis Associate. Responsible for data analysis on various platforms, including performing coding, documentation, and testing, as well as assisting in the management of projects from presales and initial scoping through final delivery and sign-off.
Data Analyst. Daily activities include data converts, data standardization, data mapping, trending, and profiling.
Data Warehousing Specialist. Coordinates and participates in the creation, testing, and implementation of the computer programs required to support the company's data warehousing application systems.
Database Administrator. Optimizes database performance through ongoing tuning of database memory demands, I/O utilization, and CPU consumption of all database instances, including both applications and servers.
Database Analyst. Responsible for database administration, design, and troubleshooting. Has in-depth knowledge of full systems development life cycle; performs integrity and quality checks following system incidents; generates ad hoc reports based on user requests; reviews change implementation plans; and performs impact analysis.
Database Developer/Manager. Designs, develops, tests, implements, and maintains new or enhanced databases.
Database Manager. Responsible for designing, programming, upgrading, and customizing databases and queries to meet various user needs.
Direct Database Management Supervisor. Leads team responsible for the generation and maintenance of scheduled, ongoing reporting. Other requirements include the ability to generate proper output to match business requests, interpret data correctly to provide appropriate information, and transact high-task volumes while maintaining standards of accuracy.
Director, Consumer Research. Provides key insights and recommendations to drive business for corporate retail, independent retailers, and key business groups. Innovates and stays on the leading edge of research and database technologies and approaches.
Financial Analyst. Creates financial models and analyzes business trends to support the growth of the business. Analyzes key performance indicators to identify underlying business issues and provide input for operational decisions.
Focus Group Moderator. Moderates roundtable discussions, focus groups, and other interactive events. Guides groups and individuals through strategy and technology-related planning processes. Assists in the creation of promotional content that communicates event characteristics to attract target attendee groups.
Marketing Analyst. Mines and analyzes marketing data to uncover areas of opportunity. Recommends and implements data process improvement in order to increase efficiencies.
Marketing Researcher. Conducts research to determine the level of demand for products or services offered by an organization and to assess the need for new products or services. Analyzes a company's demographics and monitors its competitors. May conduct focus groups and issue findings in detailed reports. Requires strong analytical skills and marketing background. MBA degree a plus.
Marketing Scientist/Modeler. Identifies, evaluates, recommends, implements, and maintains scoring model software and data sets to be used in the development and ongoing performance evaluation of scoring models.
Pricing Strategy Analyst. Analyzes industry pricing trends through research via multiple sources. Gathers data and manipulates it into telling reports, tables, and graphs. Analysis includes, but is not limited to, various pricing and competitive areas of company interest.
Project Manager. Responsible for the day-to-day management of the entire implementation: support design, build, and test efforts; manage activities and deliverables; support conversion and deployment activities; direct change management activities; assist in managing the customer's expectations.
Qualitative/Quantitative Researcher. Handles projects as sole or lead researcher and collaborates on studies with VPs and other researchers/moderators. Analyzes and interprets findings by means of written reports and presentations.
Research Analyst/Associate. Responsibilities include retrieving, analyzing, and interpreting syndicated readership data and disseminating it to marketing, ad sales staff, and management in an understandable format. Provides information and direction to marketing in developing category and account specific presentations, direct mail pieces, and other sales tools.
Research and Segmentation Specialist. Reviews market trends and facilitates projects to provide analysis and business strategies to the marketing team and management. Works with marketing segmentation system to optimize marketing effectiveness. Provides overall knowledge management to increase operation effectiveness, build competitive marketing advantage, and grow the business.
Sales Analyst. Provides sales and marketing leadership with the analysis necessary to make informed business decisions. Analyses will address internal sales activity and performance data, as well as external market/competitive data.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Alliance Manager. Responsible for driving increased revenue and customer activity through partnerships with a select group of system integrators who offer sales, consulting, systems integration, and training around products to provide customers with complete business solutions.
Business Development Director. Responsible for establishing targeted prospects that would benefit from company products and services. Coordinates sales process with advertising, market research, and communication agencies.
Channel Manager. Channel marketing works with sales to ensure product sell-in and vertical marketing to identify pull-through opportunities for dealers. To do this, the channel manager must "walk in the shoes of the customer" and travel to multiple dealer sites.
Partnership Manager. Provides presales and sales demonstration services to retail client service teams. Provides management of strategic partnership relationships.
Segment Manager. Routinely interacts with segment thought leaders and influencers to ensure a penetrating understanding of the business environment and significant shifts in incentives, and develops and drives branded and non branded strategies.

AGENCY ROLES

Account Coordinator. Responsibilities include building and maintaining positive internal and external client relationships; accurately communicating clients' objectives and job requirements to appropriate departments and/or personnel; tracking job progress, reporting, and communication to clients; and verifying end-product quality and timely billing.
Account Director. Works with the sales executives from an overall account management perspective to generate sales and ensure customer satisfaction within key accounts.
Account Executive. Proactively develops new customer contacts, reviews leads, protects territory, and participates in increasing revenue stream within current accounts.
Account Supervisor. Participates in the development of plans and programs to meet clients' marketing needs. Supervises the implementation of those plans and programs to ensure that they are completed within agreed time frames and budgets.

photo of Kori O'Neill: Marketing
Kori O’Neill: Marketing
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photo of Dr. Pola Gupta, Professor of Marketing
Dr. Pola Gupta, Professor of Marketing
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group photo of Marketing Club
Marketing Club
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Wright State University

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Choosing a Marketing Major

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