The Department of Marketing prepares students for fulfilling careers by developing specialized skills in the management of customer relationships through the creation, communication and delivery of value to customers. Our well-regarded faculty engages in a wide variety of professional development and scholarly activities to assure that the JMU marketing student receives the finest business educational experience. We take great pride in a tradition of vibrant instruction within an innovative and experiential curriculum. Marketing remains a degree held in high regard by potential employers. Marketing is people oriented, both client facing and internal. If you are personable and enjoy working with data and in teams to solve challenging problems, then marketing might be for you.

Our Mission

The Department of Marketing prepares students by developing specialized skills in the management of customer relationships through the creation, communication and delivery of value to customers. Students majoring in marketing are introduced to the marketing management process, which is a systematic review of the principal activities required to understand:

  • The context in which products and services must be marketed.
  • Customer needs.
  • Strategic options.
  • Marketing program development.
  • Evaluation of marketing effectiveness.

The marketing curriculum focuses on traditional and online marketing skills needed in various business settings and industries. The curriculum seeks to develop competence in five areas: factual and conceptual knowledge, problem solving skills, communication skills, experiential learning, and use of information technology.

Students will be prepared to enter corporate, small business or not-for-profit environments with highly valued skills and an understanding of the need for continuous learning.

Goals
  • Deliver a solid foundation of the concepts and theories within the marketing discipline, such as target marketing, integrated marketing communications, buyer behavior, professional selling, marketing analytics, and strategic market planning, implementation, and evaluation. 
  • Engage students in critical thinking processes requiring attention to detail, problem-solving, and in-depth qualitative and quantitative market data analysis. These processes enable students to evaluate marketing alternatives and commit to a course of action, using financial, organizational, environmental, and ethical criteria as bases for decision-making.
  • Foster students’ ongoing growth in soft skill success, including active listening, writing, and oral communication, while nurturing essential professional qualities such as time management, initiative, adaptability, curiosity, resilience, accountability, flexibility, coachability, collaboration, and positivity.
  • Integrate classroom instruction with real-world industry practices across the marketing curriculum, facilitating marketing students’ access to hands-on experiential learning opportunities relevant to various marketing career paths.
  • Equip students with a diverse array of innovative information technology tools and techniques, empowering them to improve marketing performance and deliver greater value to customers. 

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