Beyond the above descriptions, it merits note that the marketing major is well prepared for general management possibilities. First, working with employees and others throughout the organization represents marketing activities internal to the organization. Second, the marketing courses build knowledge of management concepts by broadly focusing on “managing ” promotion, sales, distribution, etc. Third, marketing positions are highly visible to executives at higher levels in the organization and serve as primary stepping stones to advancement.

As a final point, marketing activities can be found in every organization including private, governmental, and not-for-profit. As examples, consider opportunities for marketing positions with museums, hospitals, sports arenas, fine arts groups, chambers of commerce, charitable organizations, universities, political office holders, and others. All provide you the chance to apply your skills in providing customer (buyer, donor, attendee, patient, voter, etc.) satisfaction.

Why don’t you discuss your interests and unique skills with your marketing advisor. He or she can help you develop a curriculum that best prepares you for an exciting and rewarding career. Then, your advisor can assist you in the job search process. For all of the career options, it is important that you develop leadership skills and gain business experience. Begin immediately to become involved in campus organizations and volunteer for both service and leadership roles. Also, search for summer jobs, internships, and summer abroad opportunities to broaden your perspective.

PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING

To many, the term marketing is synonymous with advertising and promotion since that is what is most often seen by the consumer. There are approximately 3000 advertising establishments in the United States employing about than 100,000 people. Many more peopoe are involved in advertising as part of their jobs as product managers, retail manager, or account managers. What are the kinds of professional careers you might find in an advertising corporation? Although the degree of specialization varies, there are four major types of advertising jobs. They are: 1. Planning and coordination by client service people 2. Creative development and execution of individual advertisements by writers and artists 3. Choosing of the channels of communication or media that will carry or distribute the advertising messages 4. Research to supply the data to help carry out the functions in other areas With the exception of creative work, most jobs in advertising can be filled by marketing majors. Many large companies have advertising departments with advertising managers who prepare strategy, advertising campaigns, or work with their advertising agency. In many small companies advertising campaigns are developed and implemented by marketing managers who have this knowledge in addition to their other primary responsiblities. You may also want to note the possiblity of taking electives in the Journalism Broadcast school. The opportunities for a career in the advertising field are certainly there. Perseverance and dedication on your part are all that are required to be successful in this area.

MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services. Such research may be undertaken by agencies, by business firms for their agents, or by the business organizations for their own needs. Marketing research is becoming increasingly demanded by companies today. As the requirements for timeliness and precision increase due to competition, the need for quality marketing research to provide that timeliness and precision grows. Various areas of marketing research include: 1. Market analysis, which is the study of the size, location, nature and characteristics of markets 2. Site location, which is the analysis of potential places for retail outlets 3. Consumer research, which is concerned with the discovery and analysis of consumer attitudes, reactions and preferences 4. Advertising research, which is carried on as an aid to management of advertising 5. Operations research, which develops decision models for the marketing manager 6. Sales analysis and forecasting for industrial firms Marketing research is an excellent way to be trained for a marketing career in other phases of marketing. Exposure to the problems of the sales, advertising, sales promotion, product and brand management as well as direct contact with top marketing and other management people in the organization gives you as a researcher insight into the types of work involved in the specialized fields of marketing. Entry into the marketing research field usually requires stronger statistical and research methodology background than normally obtained as an undergraduate marketing major. However, if you are interested in this area, special interest option classes can be taken to better prepare you for a career in marketing research. The growth in information systems and small business computers is causing more opportunities in this area.

RETAILING

Retailing is an exciting and dynamic field, offering a variety of positions in retail stores. The very number and diversity of retail establishments throughout the country allow for more opportunities for entry into this field than many other career fields. Careers can follow either an operations (store management) track or buying track. In today's retailing industry, new products are constantly entering the market and consumers are more discriminating in their choices. Quality retailers who can provide the appropriate products are in great demand. They must be sensitive to the changes that are currently evolving and quick to modify their assortments of products to match the current changes in the living and thinking habits of consumers. In the small retail outlets, the individual can quickly become the manager of a profit center (department) with sales in the millions. One advantage for many retail executives is the opportunity to travel. As a buyer in your retail department, you often take periodic trips to the major market centers such as New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, or other fashion and product outlets. The excitement, the sense of accomplishment, and the closeness to the consumer make the retailer feel in touch with the very pulse of America.

BRAND MANAGEMENT

The brand manager has at times been described as a "general manager" with the broad responsibility for the marketing success of the brand or brands assigned to him or her. While this might seem a bit exaggerated, the brand manager, nevertheless, fulfills a critical middle management function in the marketing structure of the company. Consumer product manufacturers have been the most common adopters of the brand management system. Their need to give each of their wide variety of products individual marketing attention has led many of them to adopt this philosophy of management. As a brand manager, you, in effect, serve as the marketing specialist for one or more brands. Overall, it is your task to see that these brands are profitable. Specifically, you have to carefully plan all activities influencing the success of your brands, including advertising, sales promotion, packaging, development of new products, and distribution. In doing this, you must compete with other brand managers in the company for the budget dollars controlled by the functional area specialists in advertising, retailing, distribution, etc. There is no single road to brand management. Some brand managers come from the sales department ranks, others have previous advertising or marketing research experience. Experience in any of the marketing areas, however, helps and this is where the MBA student is well qualified. The brand manager career for an undergraduate student should be viewed as a long run objective rather than as an entry-level position.

PROFESSIONAL SELLING AND SALES MANAGEMENT

The majority of personal selling positions are conducted on a business to business basis, require a mastery of marketing skills, demand very little overnight travel and necessitate the highest in business and professional standards. Many career opportunities with many companies begin in a sales position. Such firms have discovered that sales positions are the best place for future executives to learn the company's products, applications, customers and competitors. Therefore, many students find that accepting a management position with many companies means taking a sales position, regardless of undergraduate training. Because of this fact, marketing students often excel in these entry-level positions and are rapidly advanced into sales management and then into corporate management. In addition to being required to start in sales by management, many others reasons exist to decide on a sales career. First, salaries for sales positions are very high. Starting salaries are generally comparable to many other functional areas of business and raises come very rapidly after training. While performance driven (commission) salaries often terrify the novice, many seasoned salespeople strongly prefer salaries with an incentive factor. The primary reason is that compensation tends to be unlimited with such pay plans. Second, sales is an important job. The old adage "nothing happens until the sale is made" is true. The livelihood of many people depends directly on the performance of the salesperson. In a sales position you will have more responsibility, authority and importance than most other individuals at your level in your organization. Third, sales people generally have a great deal of freedom and discretion in how they conduct their jobs. Industrial salespeople, in particular, are often given a geographical territory for which they have total profit responsibility. How the company's products are promoted, distributed, and sold are the direct responsibility of the salesperson. In fact, most sales positions are actually marketing positions, as a salesperson's job requires far more skill than the ability to sell. Fourth, salespeople generally have a great deal more mobility than individuals in other professions. Well-trained, experienced salespeople are in tremendous demand, allowing many sales people to be very selective where they work. Many companies actively recruit sales and management personnel from inside another firm's sales force. Also because a salesperson interacts with representatives from many companies, many career opportunities are made available to salespeople than would be to individuals who stay inside the organization. Turnover rates in sales forces are high, not because sales is a lousy job (as if often thought), but because the individuals are often in high demand, both inside and outside the organization. Sales is such an important topic to marketing students that two courses are offered. A professional selling course provides students with "hands on" training in the process of selling. A sales management course addresses the control and development of sales forces.

PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION

Jobs in physical distribution require somewhat more of an emphasis on detail operations of the firms than other marketing areas. As a traffic manager in physical distribution, your responsibility includes insuring that the right products are at the right place at the right time while maintaining good control over costs. This means balancing costs and goals in such areas as warehousing, transportation, inventory management, and customer service. The need for people in this area is increasing rapidly as companies try to minimize cost while at the same time maintain objectives of customer service. Many recruiters have mentioned that they have had difficulty finding qualified people for this career area. This is an area where the computer revolution is making significant contributions. Many of the functions of physical distribution are particularly amenable to computerization, but it requires qualified people to oversee the operations. Marketing majors with emphasis in Management Science or Computer Systems should be particularly attractive to recruiters in this area.