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Melissa Cochrane
Mr. Piatak
English III Honors A
February 27, 2014
Proven Way to get YOU on the Path to Marketing Now
As one of the most difficult-to-define areas of study, marketing challenges scholars to
articulate its meaning. The American Marketing Association, AMA, 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.
(AMA). The AMA altered this definition in the last decade because marketing has changed
dramatically, especially with the proliferation of online marketing platforms. Even marketing
professionals have trouble keeping up with the changing landscape. Marketing techniques must
evolve as rapidly as the technology options available. Originally, the AMA defined marketing as
a process, whereas now they categorize it as a philosophy. In layman's terms, marketing
encompasses all types of advertising and the ability to sell a product, service or brand; a
successful business cannot function without an exemplary marketing approach. Marketing has
grown greatly since its origin in the 15th century; today, a marketing campaign can make or break
a business, product or public figure, so as a result, a majority of universities offer courses and
majors in marketing and successful. Given its importance to the success of basically any business
endeavor and the fact that effective marketing techniques change constantly, positioning oneself
as a marketing expert presents a formidable challenge.

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Marketing dates back to the invention of moveable type made by Gutenberg in
1450 (Davis). Printed marketing expanded to magazines in 1741, the first poster in 1839, and the
first billboard in 1867 (Davis). Technology expanded extensively allowing marketing on radios,
commercials on TVs and telephone marker calls in the early 1900s. The digital age of marketing
began with the first hand held phone in 1973 (BBC) and the personal computer in 1974 (History
Channel). The dot-com bubble, which started between 1995 and 1998, along with the start of a
small company, Google, changed the way marketing functioned for good. Up until this point,
outbound marketing, talking at ones consumers rather than with them, dominated all forms of
marketing. The dot-com bubble burst on March 10, 2000 when the NASDAQ Composite
Index reached 5,048.62 (CNN Money). This sparked the start of a new form of marketing called
inbound marketing, a more effective form of marketing that creates value for customers
(Marketing Schools). As of 2011, inbound advertisements cost 60% less to produce and cost
60% less per lead compared to outbound marketing (Davis).
A person considering a career in marketing, a fast-changing but surprisingly old
profession, may want to get a bachelor's degree in marketing. In that case, this person should
start with researching undergraduate programs in marketing. To position oneself for the best
chance of success, one should apply to schools nationally ranked in the top ten for marketing and
business. U.S. News & World Report ranks colleges in many different aspects every year.
Schools in the top ten for both marketing and undergraduate business programs include
University of Pennsylvania, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan,
University of Indiana, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, New York University and
University of Virginia (U.S. News). Individuals considering the business aspect of marketing

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should look into these among other nationally ranked schools. First, one should consider the
program itself. What courses comprise the core curriculum? How many credits must one
complete within their declared major? Does the program offer a wide variety of electives? Does
the school attract the highest caliber professors in marketing with current practical experience,
not just research expertise? Other factors to consider include cost, location and size of the school.
An individual's preference regarding small schools vs. large universities, city or rural
environments, public or private education and intangibles such as the cultural vibe of the
university warrants consideration in conjunction with program fundamentals.
Marketing programs have many courses in common. For example, people who
major in marketing take courses such as Principles of Marketing, Advertising, Marketing
Strategy, and International Marketing along with multiple other electives. The Indiana
Universitys course selection includes electives such as Legal Aspects of Marketing, Brand
Management, Digital Marketing and Consumer Behavior (Indiana Univ.). The breadth of
subject matter covered in the electives offered within marketing programs evidences the breadth
in the marketing discipline itself. Consumer Behavior, for example, teaches students how
marketers use campaigns to create value for customers, figure out what motivates shoppers to
buy different products and how consumers process information to make decisions. They also
learn the impact of sustainable business practices on their perspective consumers choices
(Indiana Univ.). This subject matter, though taught in this instance in a marketing context,
relates to fundamentals of psychology. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the course,
Analysis of Marketing Data, covers highly technical data coding, statistical analysis and database
mining, skills that one would find within an engineering or math program. (Indiana Univ.).

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One of the courses a student can take at The University of California at Berkeley,
Consumer Behavior, teaches one about how consumers make decisions and process information
about products or services. Any company that wants to create a consumer focus of any kind
needs to think critically about what the consumers think and how they behave (Univ. of
California at Berkeley). This course shows students that although people are fundamentally
diverse, the humans mind works in a similar fashion. Consumer Behavior at Berkeley goes into
basic psychology principal like how a consumer perceives information. Understanding
perception can tell a marketer how consumers organize information and then interpret it by its
properties. People in this course must understand how consumers encode the information in
memory, integrate it with other previous knowledge, retrieve it from their memory, and then
utilize it to make decisions (APA). One who enjoys these aspects of the Consumer Behavior
course may consider going into a career as a market researcher. A market researcher's job entails
collecting and analyzing data and any information their clients view as valuable (Prospects). A
typical day for a marketing researcher consists of conducting a meeting with their clients to
discuss the goal of the research project and then using statistical software to manage and
organize information in support of those goals. The typical marketing researcher makes on
average $60,300 per year. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that the number of market
researcher jobs will grow by 32% in a decade (U.S. Dept. of Labor). The marketing researcher
profession grows much faster than the average career. Market researchers work normal hours but
often have tight schedules and deadlines. (U.S Dept. of Labor).
One of the courses a student at The University of Virginia can take, Business Analytics,
teaches students to extract information from marketing data that they deem useful for creating

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marketing strategies. The course focuses on different methods of business analytics, including
techniques for predictive and descriptive analytics. Students in this course also learn how to
practically apply these analytic techniques to real-world business decisions (Univ. of Virginia).
Predictive analytics uses data to help predict the outcome of a particular situation. In marketing,
predictive analytics would include analyzing data to predict buying behavior, brand loyalty and
other discipline-specific issues. Descriptive analytic techniques entail analyzing past events to
come up with a plan on how to approach the future. In marketing, this would pertain to studying
the effectiveness of a previous campaign so that businesses can replicate effectiveness in the
future. The concepts taught in the course rely on disciplines outside the area of marketing, such
as statistics and data mining. An individual who particularly enjoys this marketing subdiscipline may pursue a career as a marketing analyst. Marketing analyst jobs include data
analysis, questionnaire analysis, and trend analysis used to enhance and refine marketing
strategies within a firm (Univ. of Virginia).
Most universities offer marketing classes that place more focus on the creative aspects of
marketing due to its fundamental importance to a successful business campaign. Specifically,
New York University has many courses that teach students to use right-brain thinking to create
the media used in marketing. Once students complete the fundamental core classes their
freshman year, they move on to take creative classes such as Entertainment and Media
Industries, Business of Broadway, Movie Marketing and Managing Creative Content
Development their sophomore year (NYU). New York University, located in the heart of New
York City, provides an excellent location for those interested in the arts. NYU offers courses
specifically entertainment-based to help demonstrate the connections between marketing and the

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arts, like Broadway in their Business of Broadway class. In NYUs Entertainment and Media
Industries class, students examine licensing, promotion, and new technologies throughout the
major entertainment industries including television, film, theater, and sports. A student who finds
their niche in the more creative side of marketing can become a graphic designer or plan and
create the campaign for a movie or Broadway show. Graphic designers use computer software
including programs in the Adobe Suite like Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere to create media
that will captivate their intended audience. Graphic designers make on average $44,150 per year
(U.S Dept. of Labor).
In addition, marketing involves a large digital aspect particularly since the dot com
bubble burst fifteen years ago. Most business and marketing schools require or highly
recommend Digital Media. At the University of Michigan, Digital Marketing does not just act as
a class, but also as a major. In the Digital Marketing Major, students get hands on experience
with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a huge factor in getting web traffic to a companys
website. A student at Michigan will also learn about social network marketing, why videos go
viral, and web analytics (UM). With a degree in Digital Marketing, one can become a social
media marketing manager. A social media marketing manager runs the social media accounts of
a business. One in this career should develop plans to effectively use social media networks to
grab the attention and business of an everyday consumer. Social media marketing managers
make an average of $103,462 per year (Salary).
Wharton, the business school at the University of Pennsylvania, sees a lot of value in
Marketing Management. They offer Marketing Management not only as a course but as an entire
major. Students in this major must take Marketing Management, Marketing Research and either

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Dynamic Marketing Strategy or Strategic Marketing Simulation (Univ. of Pennsylvania). After a
University of Pennsylvania student completes his or her required core courses, they can pick
from many electives to create a unique program of study that matches their interests and career
goals. These electives range anywhere from full semester courses to half semester mini-courses.
Marketing management majors usually go into the career of a marketing manager. People
looking to enter marketing management usually take many business courses or major in Business
Administration with a marketing minor. Marketing managers lead and help carry out the
marketing strategies created by the company. This may include figuring out who comprises the
companys main consumer market, determining the demand for the companys products, and
developing pricing strategies. Consistent with the national average, marketing managers should
see an 8% per year increase in the number of jobs available. Marketing managers top the list for
annual marketing career salaries, making on average $119,480 annually (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Lots of obscure courses exist within marketing, like Legal Aspects of Marketing at
Indiana University. Legal Aspects of Marketing serves as a 15-week course for undergraduates at
IU. Students taking this course will learn how to analyze the legal doctrines and statutes that
apply to marketing practices. By the completion of the course, each student should have the
ability to examine legal issues that marketers often encounter when they deal with consumers,
competitors, and other marketplace participants (Univ. of Indiana). Though many highly
specialized legal issues exist in the field of marketing, as in any other business, a legal course in
marketing does not sufficiently prepare one for a career as a lawyer at a marketing firm or as a
legal consultant on marketing practices. Anyone planning a career in marketing may benefit
from developing a basic understanding of the legal issues facing the industry but, to obtain a

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position opining on legal issues, preventing and responding to lawsuits, or otherwise act as a
lawyer for a marketing firm, one must obtain a post-graduate law degree and pass the bar exam.
One will likely succeed within the field of marketing if they finish undergraduate or
graduate school with a degree in marketing. Although those with a marketing degree have a high
rate of success, many people who enter the field of marketing do not actually major in that field.
In an interview with The Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs (GIFTE), Marketing
Associate Emily Matras explained how her English degree from Davidson College did not
prepare her directly to go into marketing per se. She said, [Davidson] prepared me to use critical
thinking and analysis skills in whatever field I went into. Liberal arts puts an emphasis on
making connections and teasing them out, which is definitely something you need to succeed in
marketing. Brendon Burchard, the number-one New York Times bestselling author teaches
others what he knows about marketing through the novels he writes and the speeches he gives.
A world renowned marketing guru, Burchard graduated from The University of Montana with a
BA in Political Science and a MA in Organizational Communication (Amazon). Anderson
Cooper calls him a top marketing trainer in the world (Burchard). The high level of success
enjoyed by Buschard, Matras and many others in the marketing industry provide evidence to the
fact that a multitude of majors effectively prepare one for future employment in marketing jobs.
Marketing encompasses technical applications, digital media, artistic elements, business
applications, and data research. Marketing is not an exact science; marketing firms build
campaigns through trial and error. Marketing firms predict the outcome of a marketing campaign
by studying the success of other campaigns. Businesses should not simply copy a campaign,
instead they should work in a fashion that builds upon the original idea. Both the 2008 Obama

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Presidential campaign and Beyoncs campaign for her fifth album entitled Beyonc, stand out
as examples for very successful campaigns that students can examine and learn from.
The 2008 Barack Obama Presidential Campaign beat out many companies by having the
best marketing campaign. Advertising Age even named him marketer of the year in 2008
(Creamer). Having started his run for President as a basically unknown one-term senator, Obama
captured the hearts of his voters by using pathos in his speeches and slogans. Obama used
Hope and Change to grasp the emotional heart strings of the voters of America. He also
discovered that negative campaigns never work as well as positive ones. Instead of focusing on
his opponents, he focused on the voters by highlighting their problems in his ads and speeches.
He mastered the use of social media, specifically Twitter and Facebook. He recognized that the
general population had a critical voice in the election. When he held rallies, he allowed access to
the media section to small time YouTubers along with the large news networks (Scott). He also
announced his Vice President running mate through Twitter instead of a press release (Scott).
Through digital marketing, Obama not only reached more potential voters, but he also saved
money. Using digital media cost a fraction of the amount of buying T.V. spots. Obama started
out primarily running T.V. spots like the other candidates, but he recognized quickly the value of
online media and moved his campaign dollars there instead (Cooperstein). By the end of the
Presidential run, Obama had five times as many likes on his Facebook support page as McCain
and eleven times as many subscribers on YouTube (Pew Research).
Beyonc released her fifth album titled Beyonc on December 13th, 2013
(iTunes). It went viral within seconds. Albums by artists of Beyoncs caliber typically enjoy a
spike in sales upon release. The difference between the releases of albums by other top-selling

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performers and the release of Beyoncs newest album is that she did not market her album. In
all of the other cases, teams of marketers and public relations specialists set a date for the
albums release and set up interviews, billboards, and T.V. ads for the artist to promote the
album in advance of its release date. Beyonc did none of that. She announced her albums drop
with an Instagram video saying Surprise! Although she never truly marketed her album, that
does not mean she did not employ a marketing strategy. She made this secret release successful
because she marketed herself so consistently during her seventeen years in the publics eyes
leading up to the albums release. Over just the last year or so alone, she shutdown the Super
Bowl and sang at the Presidents Inaugural Ball. Her massive amount of Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram followers drove the record-breaking sales of her album, which sold 828,773 copies in
just three days (Huba). Her enormous amount of faithful followers made this marketing stunt
successful. Eighty million people across the globe follow Beyonc on Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram, giving her unparalleled marketing reach. She became a household name through
marketing herself over the years by appearing in movies, like Austin Powers, and in commercials
for products like Pepsi. She did not need to market her album, because she had already spent
over a decade marketing herself to the public.
Marketing, a vast career field, ranges from marketing managers, to researchers, to
social media specialists, to graphic designers and even lawyers. However, effective marketing
requires that they all work together cohesively to create successful marketing campaigns.
Whether one decides to major in marketing, complete graduate school, or just jump into the field
after college, the marketing industry offers many jobs to those interested. A person who wants to
enter the field of marketing must demonstrate skills such as agility and adaptability in order to

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keep pace with such a rapidly changing industry. At the rate technology has increased thus far, in
order to continue to produce relevant and effective marketing campaigns, one must stay at the
cutting edge of technology developments to stay competitive. Other important skills include
analytical skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills and, of course, creativity skills. A
potential marketer must equip him or herself with the ability to make changes on the fly, try out
new things, have a willingness to fail once in a while, and thrive in the face of uncertainty.
Given the range of job responsibilities within the marketing discipline, anyone with the desire,
drive and determination can become successful somewhere within the field of marketing.

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Works Cited
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<http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/businessmarketing>.
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IU. "Course Descriptions." Kelley Business School. Indiana University. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
<http://kelley.iu.edu/Marketing/Undergraduate/CourseDescriptions/page10607.cfm>.

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UC. "General Catalog." Undergraduate Business Administration Courses. Berkeley. Web. 06
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Web.

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