skip the i-GuideIllinois State UniversityAdmissions at ISUAcademics at ISUEvents at ISUMap of ISUISU A to Z ListingISU AccessibilityISU 150th Anniversary

Marketing Major

 

Marketing Major

The Department of Marketing at Illinois State University offers one of the outstanding undergraduate marketing majors in the United States.

The curriculum is sensitive to, and compatible with, private sector and societal demands. The academic program is rigorous and challenging, and the marketing faculty utilize an active learning, or high-student-involvement approach in their classes.

Accordingly, the emphasis is on application of concepts and theory through such means as individual and group case analysis, computer simulation gaming, and client-based research projects. Throughout the program, students will benefit greatly from the classroom opportunities to develop their communication, listening, problem-solving, and critical decision-making skills.

Students are urged to join the American Marketing Association collegiate chapter and/or Pi Sigma Epsilon (campus chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives, International) and/or The Sports Marketing Student Association. Active participation provides leadership skills and professionally enriching perspectives. Majors are also encouraged to pursue summer internships.

Careers

Marketing is a broad field; it consists of a wide spectrum of activities that facilitate the movement of goods and services from producers to customers. Accordingly, career opportunities in marketing are numerous and diverse, including such areas as advertising/promotion, business/industrial marketing, direct marketing, international marketing, marketing research, retailing, professional selling, sales management, transportation, and logistics. The marketing program is designed to prepare students for entry-level and subsequent leadership positions in these and related career areas.

Curriculum

The basic marketing curriculum is designed to thoroughly acquaint marketing majors with the broad field of marketing and to allow focused study in narrower sub fields, depending upon the students’ interests and aptitudes. Students may choose marketing electives from one or more of the following six career-track concentrations: Advertising/Promotion, Business/Industrial marketing, Marketing research, Retailing/Distribution, Selling/Sales management, and Services marketing. Students can specialize further by choosing a formal sequence of study in Professional Sales or Integrated Marketing Communication.

  • The Professional Sales sequence exposes students to the latest theories and practice in sales education, research, and the profession. Students complete three required courses in marketing and two required and three elective courses in professional sales.
  • The Integrated Marketing Communication sequence allows students to focus on the coordination of all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing in an effort to provide a consistent message to consumers. Students complete three required courses in marketing and two required and three elective courses in integrated marketing communication.

Faculty emphasis on the application of concepts and theory enables students to sharpen skills essential to their professional success. Attesting to the commitment to and achievement of teaching excellence, several Marketing Department faculty have been award winners in the University and/or College outstanding teacher recognition programs.

Focus Group Room

The Focus Group Room in the College of Business Building provides observation and multimedia capabilities allowing the Marketing Department to pursue marketing research by training students to conduct group interactions with videotaping and presentation capability. This specialized facility represents one of the most advanced learning labs between Chicago and St. Louis.

Sales Excellence

Established in 2002, the Professional Sales Institute is an industry source for research and education. Industry professionals and university peers rank the Institute as one of the top five sales programs in the country and one of only 10 that is professionally accredited by the Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training.   The Institute advances the profession of personal selling and sales leadership by providing high-quality education, research and consulting programs for students and business professionals. The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation Professional Sales Learning Center in the College of Business Building provides opportunities for students to hone their individual presentation, negotiation, and relationship management skills.

Back to Selecting a Major "List"