What is Marketing?

Marketing impacts everyone, every day. The activity not only helps organizations promote goods and services to potential customers but also helps nonprofits deliver life-changing messages.

The marketing curriculum merges marketing theory with real-world practice to prepare students for working with either for- profit or nonprofit organizations. Students may choose a general program of study or one of the specialized career paths including advertising and digital media marketing, retail and consumer services, and sports and entertainment marketing. A marketing major prepares students to pursue a rewarding career in advertising, retailing, marketing research, digital marketing, sports marketing, social media, among other areas.

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Admission Requirements

Students may initially declare an "-Interest" based major in this subject, but must still meet additional requirements to be formally accepted into the degree program.

Before a business major can be admitted to the Coles College Undergraduate Professional Program and enroll in any upper-division business courses (3000-4000 level), she or he must meet the Coles Sophomore GPA Requirement. This involves earning an Adjusted GPA of 3.00 or greater for the following seven courses:

  • ACCT 2101 Principles of Accounting I
  • ACCT 2102 Principles of Accounting II
  • ECON 2106 Principles of Microeconomics
  • ECON 2105 Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECON 2300 Business Statistics
  • IS 2200 Information Systems & Communications
  • BLAW 2200 Legal and Ethical Environment of Business

Students should also take BUSA 2150. Successful completion of this course is a requirement for admission to the Coles Undergraduate Professional Program. 

General Education Core IMPACTS Curriculum Recommendations for this Major

M: Students should take MATH 1111 or higher.

 

Related Minors or Certificates Available

  • Business Fundamentals Certificate
  • Advertising and Digital Media Minor
  • Marketing Minor
  • Music and Entertainment Business Minor
  • Professional Sales Minor
  • Retail and Consumer Services Minor
  • Sports and Entertainment Marketing Minor

Sample Classes

  • An introduction to the principles of marketing. This course examines the term, “marketing,” in a broad sense to include all those activities of individuals or organizations which encourage and facilitate exchanges of values. This includes many activities such as research, physical distribution, product planning, pricing and promotional activities. The concepts are examined as they apply to marketing of goods and services in profit and nonprofit sectors in both domestic and global markets.
  • An introduction to the marketing practices of the entertainment industry. Industry terms, marketing strategies and tactics, recent developments and trends will be examined for major sectors of the entertainment industry including movie, music, television, theater, publishing, gaming, hospitality, and sports sectors. The course will also focus on product placement, celebrity source usage, product tie-ins, cross promotion, licensing, and other current marketing practices in the entertainment industry.
  • The course focuses on how information technology has created the framework for the emergence of commerce on the Internet. Students will be exposed to the ways that firms are utilizing the Internet to reconstruct their value chains and create/sustain competitive advantage. The impact of this medium on key dimensions of global business operations such as purchasing, manufacturing and marketing will also be addressed.
  • Social Media Marketing explores the many realms of social media and includes case studies, discussions, interactive exercises as well as articles from the current literature. The course examines the changing role of social media in the promotional marketing mix, the role of the consumer in social media, online communities and how social media is impacting both marketing and consumer lifestyles, how to measure the ROI of social media, and the metrics of social media.