BBA Marketing and New Media

Program Features

Marketing is a core strategic function of any enterprise, and its central focus is to understand the customer in order to satisfy needs and build long-term relationships. The impact of the Internet on the marketing disciplines has dramatically changed the field. The melding of basic marketing principles with customer-centric management, strategic accountability, and Web-based strategies is central to our marketing curriculum.

Our faculty use case studies, project–based learning, and other application teaching methods that promote real-world decision making. Students will apply common business practices through online and on-campus courses, working individually and in group projects in both settings. Course work emphasizes good critical thinking skills and the development of ethical leadership. Class discussions revolve around both classical issues and current trends that the business enterprise might face. The Senior Project courses require the students to incorporate learning outcomes into a customized application project.

Career Benefits

Marketing is actually many business activities that interact in order to promote goods or services to achieve customer satisfaction and to build relationships with customers. As a field, marketing involves planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of a product, whether that product is a service, good, or corporate image. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment outlook for marketing professionals is expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through 2014, spurred by intense domestic and global competition in products and services offered to consumers. Coupled with the right work experience, graduates from this program may qualify for the following career opportunities:

  • Account Coordinator
  • Client Services Manager
  • New Business Development Specialist
  • Brand Manager
  • Direct Marketing Manager
  • Email Marketing Manager
  • Event Marketing Specialist
  • Marketing Communications Manager

Certification

Cleary University’s BBA in Marketing prepares students for the certification exam, Professional Certified Marketer (PCM), which is administered by the American Marketing Association. Course work in the major, along with a practice test that Cleary has developed, prepares students to sit for the PCM exam. To be certified, one must pass the PCM and either have a bachelor’s degree and four years of professional work experience, or a master’s degree and two years of professional work experience.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this degree, the graduate will be able to:

  • Understand the appropriate regulations, laws, and guidelines affecting marketing and adhere to applicable ethical codes
  • Conduct environmental analyses by identifying industry trends, analyzing competitors, assessing the organization, and researching the customer in order to evaluate a marketing situation and guide strategy development/selection
  • Conduct market research to collect data related to environmental scans, demand forecasts, market segmentation, new product testing, etc. to guide/support marketing strategy development/selection
  • Develop a market-product focus by setting marketing and e-Marketing objectives (based on market and product), segmenting the market, identifying target segment(s), and positioning the product, good, or service
  • Develop marketing strategies to introduce a new product to a market based on product characteristics, pricing strategies, e-Marketing components, market information and channel objectives
  • Identify appropriate direct marketing promotional strategies (e-Marketing, personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, publicity, etc.) to achieve marketing goals
  • Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of marketing processes, programs and outcomes
  • Apply new technology such as social media and Web 3.0 for market development, customer retention, and customer relationship building

Required Courses

  • ORN 099 - Undergraduation Orientation

    This online course includes an on-campus student component. ORN 099 prepares the student to be successful in Cleary University's undergraduate academic program. Students learn how to use Cleary’s course management software, receive an introduction to Cleary's electronic research tools and library services, and review the writing process. Academic policies are reviewed and student skills are measured. Time management resources, along with learning and study aids, are identified. Successful completion of this course is required.

  • BAC 300 - Business Research and Communication

    This course introduces the transfer student to academic resources: distance technology; project-based learning; working in teams; academic policies, processes and expectations; and the accelerated learning environment. Cleary’s online environment is introduced and explained. Students learn how to use electronic resources to conduct research, analyze findings, and report results in written and oral form. The research and writing processes are introduced and used to create academic papers and business reports. Plagiarism and academic ethics are discussed and students learn how to properly acknowledge research sources using APA format. Students learn to make effective formal presentations for local and remote audiences.

  • LAW 320 - Business Ethics and Legal Issues

    This course provides an understanding of the body of legal principles that govern the structure and conduct of business organizations. This survey course covers such topics as the legal environment of business, regulatory environments affecting business, business-to-business relationships, and business ethics and social responsibility.

  • QTY 432 - Quality Management

    This course will explore the interaction of quality theory and classic management theory. Students will learn how organizations use quality practices and policies in normal operations. Participants will familiarize themselves with the history and philosophy of quality and its practical application in business, industry, education, health care, and government. Different approaches to performance improvement, including models and standards, will be explored. Students will demonstrate the ability to apply these theories to improve organizational performance. The content of this course is drawn largely from materials for individuals preparing to take the ASQ Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Certification Examination.

  • MGT 400 - Management Skills Seminar

    This course provides students with the tools to successfully inspire, empower, and develop people. Students will learn advanced skills in planning, organizing, leading, and controlling individuals and teams. Skill development topics such as meeting facilitation, communication, conflict management, and stress and time management will be studied. Current trends will be featured.

  • ENT 405 - Creativity and Innovation

    Creativity, innovation, and risk taking are essential to the success of the entrepreneur. This class will aid students in unlocking their inner potential and focus on “thinking outside the box”. Students will also learn strategies for dealing with rejection and negativity.

  • CAS 111 - Microsoft PowerPoint

    This course is designed for students who have not used PowerPoint and want to know the basics to be able to develop class or business presentations. Topics include planning a presentation, using different presentation templates, creating slides, and technical aspects of making a presentation.

    NOTE: For the ABA degrees, the requirement is CAS 107 and CAS 111 or CIS 150. See the course catalog or your advisor for more details.

  • CAS 107 - Microsoft Excel

    This course is designed for the student who has not used Excel. Topics include basic spreadsheet applications, worksheet creation, formulas, formatting, printing, and charting.

    NOTE: For the ABA degrees, the requirement is CAS 107 and CAS 111 or CIS 150. See the course catalog or your advisor for more details.

  • ECO 250 - Macroeconomics

    National and international economic policies have powerful and direct effects on business operations. Business fluctuations, inflation, unemployment, monetary and fiscal policies, and international trade are discussed in the course.

  • PJT 495-9 - Senior Project I-V

    Students complete the required directed study BBA Senior Project course sequence at the end of their undergraduate degree program. Each two-credit course serves as a prerequisite for the successive course (that is, PJT 495 is a prerequisite for PJT 496, and PJT 496 is a prerequisite course for PJT 497, etc.) During this thirty-week, five-course sequence, students select project topics and complete their projects guided individually by senior faculty mentors. Preference is given to selecting topics that solve problems or make contributions for the students’ employers by applying business concepts students learned in their majors. Project types may include: primary research, a business or new product plan, marketing audit, implementation plan, a process or product improvement, or an analysis of a significant workplace problem. Successful completion of PJT 495-499 requires a grade of C or better in each class.

  • NAT 340 - Environmental Science for Managers

    Ecosystems, ecological concepts, and environmental economics will be explored. Students receive a sound theoretical framework of environmental principles which can be applied to current issues. Participants will practice performing environmental audits of selected business operations and develop strategies that can eliminate or mitigate harmful practices.

  • MTH 344 - Quantitative Business Analysis

    This course provides a comprehensive coverage of the critical thinking skills used in statistical analysis. Areas of study include probability, random variables, discrete and continuous distributions, hypothesis testing, confidence interval, correlation, and regression.

  • MTH 180 - Introduction to Business Statistics

    The ability of students to enhance their capacity to gather and analyze meaningful data using a variety of statistical techniques, is essential to business success. Topics include graphical and numerical descriptive methods for describing data, such as frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and dispersion.

  • MKT 480 - Consumer Behavior

    This course examines psychological theory and its application to marketing. This theory focuses on consumer perceptions, attitudes, intentions, and behavior, and the effect on the marketing effort. Emphasis is placed on theoretical and practical implications, including professional selling.

  • MKT 440 - Marketing Metrics

    This course will introduce the student to useful and meaningful metrics that help marketers track how well their marketing objectives are being met. Metrics include customer retention, promotional and public relations, awareness levels, purchase-decision drivers, cost of customer acquisition, market share, return on investment of marketing programs, etc. Students will learn how to precisely define the kinds of results that they need to measure, how to assess the dollar value of a result, how to track actual results, and how to utilize this information to the firm’s benefit.

  • MKT 435 - New Media Theory and Practice

    This course will examine new media channels such as Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, it will cover interactive marketing opportunities beyond Web sites, including blogs, vlogs (video blogs), forums, e-mail campaigns, social networking, communities, podcasts, mobile media, game theory, and virtual reality. The implications of social media marketing on customer loyalty and engagement will be explored.

  • MKT 434 - Marketing Research and Relationship Marketing

    Principles, approaches, and every-day utilization of marketing research in business to build customer loyalty and manage customer relationships are the foci of this course. Students will learn how to shape research questions around marketing issues, and to develop and implement a research design to address their research questions. The capstone assignment is a survey research project in customer satisfaction.

  • MKT 420 - Market Intelligence

    This course outlines the process of acquiring and analyzing information in order to understand markets for both existing and potential customers. In addition, students will be introduced to methodologies that determine the current and future needs and preferences, attitudes and behavior of the market, and assess changes in the business environment that may affect the size and nature of the market in the future. Market intelligence techniques examined include product testing, industry intelligence, Web-based product research, trade shows, channels, and qualitative methods (small focus groups and personal interviews).

  • MKT 415 - Interactive Marketing

    This course explores marketing principles combined with Web-based strategies in an effort to reach customers and build individual relationships. Tools such as electronic advertising, direct e-mail, and electronic commerce are studied. Value analysis will be used to determine the individual customer’s contribution to profit, Web metrics, and analysis of buyer behavior.

  • MGT 420 - International Business

    This course stresses the synergy/connection between environment and culture, and the strategy and functions of business management. It further provides an overview of the functions of business in an international context. Basic economic principles are studied in international markets including micro- and macroeconomics, fiscal and monetary policies, and banking. Factors affecting foreign trade and multinational business are explored, especially the various social, political, technical, and economic complexities of doing business in foreign countries.

  • FIN 400 - Financial Management

    Selected topics in both the financial and managerial aspects of financial management for business organizations are studied with the intention of providing a survey of important concepts, issues, tools, and vocabulary that administrators need to effectively manage a business organization. Students will learn how managers and investors use financial statements in order to meet their financial objectives. The goals of the financial manager, the trade-off between risk and return, and the time value of money will be explained. The application of these basic concepts to the valuation of bonds and stocks, capital budgeting problems, and the process for determining capital structure will also be emphasized.

  • FIN 200 - Introduction to Business Finance

    Students will understand financial terms, financial statements, financial ratios, and how they affect the operations of a business corporation. This course is meant to be an introduction to finance and accounting for all students who may have budget, profit and loss responsibilities, and intend to contribute to the financial success of their companies. This is a basic finance course for students aspiring to be entrepreneurs and non-financial professionals.

  • ENG 160 - Business Composition

    Students will acquire writing skills necessary to prepare for advanced business courses. Students start at a fundamental level, beginning with an introduction to writing, moving on to writing strategies, and concluding with methods of development. This course presents writing as a means of exploring, developing, confirming, and communicating ideas. Students will apply the basic principles of language structure and become more familiar with APA documentation.

  • ECO 320 - Economics of Business

    This course provides a managerial viewpoint of macro- and microeconomic concepts that shape business environments. Macroeconomic topics include national accounts and income determination; monetary and fiscal policy; Federal Reserve System; and employment, inflation, and growth. Microeconomic topics include market structure, price theory, and supply and demand. The emphasis in this course is the business manager’s viewpoint, building an understanding of the relationship of economic theory to management practice and decision making.

  • BCS 440 - Technology and the Organization

    Today's competitive business environment requires managers at all levels to understand the role technology plays in the organization. By challenging the paradigm of how students currently view the role of technology in the organization, the student is moved to view technology as a tool to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace.

  • ACC 402 - Managerial Accounting

    This course explores basic managerial accounting concepts used to support business decisions. Topics include basic cost concepts, product costing methods, activity-based costing, cost-volume-profit analysis, standard costing, budget preparation, and relevant cost analysis.

  • ACC 401 - Financial Accounting

    This course introduces fundamental concepts in financial accounting, which are used to create financial statements for external users. The focus is on the accounting cycle and financial statement preparation (primarily the income statement and balance sheet).

  • ACC 245 - Principles of Accounting I

    This introductory course examines the basic principles of accounting. Students work through the entire accounting cycle by analyzing and posting business transactions, recording adjusting journal entries, and preparing basic financial statements. Accounting systems and controls are also covered.