teaching: marketing Q & A

What is marketing?

Marketing is the engine that drives our economy: it helps create products and services, communicates between companies and their customers, and stands at the cutting edge of how we use media, the Internet, and social networking in business.

As a marketing professional, you can play a key role, including:

Anticipating the wants and needs of customers through surveys, research, focus groups, and other approaches.
Helping to define goods and services to meet these customer wants and needs.
Creating and delivering the value message and brand identity of these products, including promotional and pricing strategies.
Building and maintaining long-term customer relationships, and serving as a link between customers and your organization.

More than almost any other area of business, marketing touches every area of an organization, including finance, production, personnel, sales, and distribution channels. Business cases have repeatedly shown that without effective marketing strategies, a product or service ultimately fails in the marketplace, no matter how good it is. A marketing career represents an opportunity to develop interpersonal skills, leadership, and visibility that can take you anywhere within your industry.

Can you give me a brief overview of the Elmira College marketing program?

The marketing curriculum at Elmira College is a flexible program designed to provide the necessary depth for graduates who are seeking a career in marketing, with courses ranging from marketing and consumer fundamentals to specialty areas such as sports marketing and entrepreneurship. These courses will teach you behavioral concepts and quantitative methods from a marketing and management point of view, and provide opportunities for applying this knowledge in a wide range of profit and nonprofit situations.

Your learning experience in the marketing program at Elmira College can go far beyond your course work. Marketing is a dynamic discipline at the forefront of social and business research, and Elmira College’s marketing faculty are part of this dialogue through their own nationally-known research and publications. As a Business Administration major with a Marketing specialization at Elmira College, you will do more than just sit in a classroom. Your educational experience may include field trips, team projects, guest speakers from industry, participation in research surveys, and real world consulting projects for marketing organizations.

What kinds of career opportunities are there in marketing?

The Marketing program at Elmira College is designed to prepare you for a wide range of careers, in settings ranging from business to non-profit organizations. Here are just a few of the possible career paths for marketing graduates:

Advertising
Brand Management
Consumer Research
Direct Marketing
E-marketing
Entrepreneurship
Franchising
Interactive Marketing
International Marketing
Market Channel Coordination
Marketing Communications
Marketing Management
Marketing Research
Merchandising
Promotions
Product Management
Professional Sales
Public Relations
Purchasing
Retail Management
Sales Force Management
Services Marketing

What kinds of skills will I learn as a Business Administration major with a specialization in marketing?

A marketing specialization at Elmira College will help you develop the kinds of quantitative tools, communications skills, creativity, and critical thinking required to succeed in both marketing and many other walks of life. Some of the transferable skills you will learn in this program include:

Writing
Listening
Public speaking
Creative thinking
Problem solving
Business analysis

Our curriculum is accredited by AACSB International, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, to prepare you to meet the expectations marketing professionals face today through coursework in both marketing and other areas of business. In addition to your courses, you have the opportunity to pursue career-related internships to help hone your marketing skills and prepare for your professional career.

What courses do marketing students take at Elmira College?

Required Courses:

Consumer Behavior
Marketing Planning
Marketing Research
Principles of Marketing

Electives:

Advertising
Business-to-Business Marketing
Entrepreneurship
International Marketing
Sales Management
Service Marketing
Sports Marketing
Strategic Retailing Management

Where can I find more information about marketing?

If you are interested in learning more about what marketing professionals do, and what kinds of opportunities a marketing major/specialization can provide, talk with us! Or contact people you know who are currently in the workforce, and ask them about the role of marketing in their organizations.

There is also a wealth of information on-line about the marketing profession and careers in marketing. Some of the professional organizations with information on this field include:

American Advertising Federation
American Association of Advertising Agencies
American Marketing Association
Council of Sales Promotion Agencies
Direct Marketing Association
Federal Acquisition Institute
Manufacturer’s Agency National Association
Marketing Research Association
Management Marketing Association
National Association of Purchasing Management
National Institute of Government Purchasing
National Retail Federation
Promotion Marketing Association of America
Public Relations Society of America
Sales & Marketing Executives International
Securities Industry Association
Students in Free Enterprise

What are the course requirements for a specialization in marketing?

The BS in Business Administration with a Specialization in Marketing is a 120 hour program that requires the Marketing Principles course, upper level courses in Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, and Marketing Planning, and six credits of MKT field code courses at the 2000 level or higher. The total credits required for a Marketing Specialization is 15 credits.

Does Elmira College offer a marketing club on campus?

Yes, the college offers the Marketing Management (‘M&M’) Club. The mission of the organization is as follows:

“The Elmira College Marketing Management (M&M) Club provides students with educational tools, discussions, mentorship, and academic resources that will allow them to successfully explore and obtain pivotal marketing/management careers. Specifically, E.C. M&M Club promotes the field of marketing/management, expands student learning beyond the classroom and offers fun and active discussions and social events.”

Does Elmira College have a national honor society in business administration?

Yes, the membership in the Elmira College Chapter of Sigma Beta Delta is the highest national recognition a business student can receive. According to their web site, “The purposes of Sigma Beta Delta are to encourage and recognize scholarship and achievement among students of business, management and administration, and to encourage and promote personal and professional improvement and a life distinguished by honorable service to humankind.” (Source: http://www.sigmabetadelta.org/sbdpurpose.htm)

Officers and advisors are as follows:

Chapter President: Prof. Alison M. Wolfe
Chapter Vice-President: Prof. Jim Mullen
Treasurer and Advisor: Prof. John Savash

Where are some of Elmira College’s marketing alumni today?

Below is a list of a few of the job positions where our alumni have found success.

Co-Founder & CEO RoadLoK Security
Category Management Manager – Target Team – Unilever USA
Account Executive, INtegrated Marketing Services
Vice-President of Marketing
President, BechWorks

To contact the E.C. Alumni Office for up-to-date alum information, please email alumnirelations@elmira.edu, call 607-735-1855, fax them at 607-735-1745, or see http://www.elmira.edu/alumni.

Whom should I contact if I have further questions on the marketing specialization at Elmira College?

Contact Associate Professor Philip Hurdle (phurdle@elmira.edu) or Assistant Professor Alison M. Wolfe (awolfe@elmira.edu) for more information about this program.