A marketing degree can prepare you to make some of the most critical judgment calls in business. Whether you're in food or fashion marketing, business-to-business or international marketing, a marketing degree will show you that it all comes down to a core matrix of principles:
Concept
What product or service will you offer? What's your value proposition? Who are your potential customers? How much do people want what you plan to offer? How does it compare to your competition?Price
What will people pay for what you're offering? What's your best pricing strategy: do you go for maximum sales (minimum price) or maximum profit (highest salable price)?Promotion
How will people know about what you have to offer? How will you position it in their eyes? How will your communicate your offerings and benefits? Will you segment and customize your message for different kinds of customers? How will you persuade them to buy what you're offering? What can you do to increase sales?Distribution
How will you get your product or service to your customers? Retail? Direct? Franchise? Alliances?Challenges Everyday
You can see why marketing management executives are busy people. Companies grow or die based on decisions made in marketing operations. It's incredibly difficult to predict and plan for people's wants, needs and purchasing behavior. But a marketing degree will expose you to best practices and business tools that have shown themselves to be useful over time. Get trained in statistical analysis and product life cycle management. Learn key lessons in international marketing, advertising, promotion and packaging.Then, from day one onwards at your new marketing job, you'll find yourself asking "what do people want?"
