B.S. in Marketing

Marketing focuses on the creation and maintenance of relationships. This focus includes issues related to branding, research, advertising, selling and developing products. Individuals who excel in marketing are creative types who sharpen their skills related to speaking, listening, writing and critical thinking.

The Otterbein Marketing major remains one of the most unique majors in the country. The major provides a student-directed, student-led experience through all of its courses. Students hone their analytical, design, presentation and writing skills. The major prepares students for careers in advertising, sales, brand management, retail management, digital marketing, marketing research and analytics, marketing generalist positions, and graduate study.

Course selections within the major include Principles of Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communication, Research in Behavioral Theories, Retail Management, and a variety of electives directed at meeting your personal goals. The curriculum remains flexible enough for you to minor or major in another business discipline such as marketing analytics, sales, and business administration & management, or minor or major in a non-business discipline such as psychology, communication, graphic design, and sport management.

Otterbein’s location in Westerville and its proximity to the Central Ohio business community serves the marketing students well. Representatives from area fast food organizations, apparel retailers, and digital agencies can easily drive to campus for events, be involved in courses and serve as guest speakers. Department faculty host an annual sales career panel and an annual analytics career panel. At these events, students learn about finding internships and jobs, workplace expectations, and a variety of career paths available to marketing majors.  Additionally, the Retail Management course involves an area retailer where students develop and present a location analysis as part of a proposed expansion. In the Sales course, sales representatives and other representatives from digital agencies and departments listen to and critique students’ presentations.

Another benefit of Otterbein’s location is the availability of networking opportunities and internships. The Columbus chapter of the American Marketing Association hosts monthly luncheons, after-work social gatherings and professional development workshops.

Otterbein Marketing graduates have a 90% and above placement rate. Recent graduates have accepted positions at national and regional companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Mettler-Toledo, Nationwide, OhioHealth, Sherwin-Williams, and Express, Inc.

Experiential Education

The marketing major at Otterbein University remains one of the most unique marketing majors in the country. The major provides a student-directed, student-led experience through all of its courses where students hone their analytical, design, presentation, and writing skills, and all courses involve a project.

Course projects include:

• Sales (MKTG 2650) – Selling an actual product for a client to area businesses
• Principles of Marketing (MKTG 3100) – Simulated market competition (MarketShare, PharmaSim) and decisions, marketing engineering and analytics cases (Enginius package)
• Research in Behavioral Theories (MKTG 3650) – Marketing research project
• Marketing Analytics (MKTG 3850) – Cases and projects with datasets exacted from Craigslist, Boeing, eBay, Kroger, etc.
• Retail Management (MKTG 4100) – Location analysis project for a client
• Integrated Marketing Communications (MKTG 4300) – Digital marketing national competition
• Digital Marketing (MKTG 3800) – Digital marketing campaign designs and web analytics (Mimic Pro)

Visit the Otterbein course catalog for complete course requirements and descriptions

The Principles of Marketing course remains our signature course. Here students are exposed to a variety of topics, including:

• Understanding the relationship between marketing activities and financial performance by calculating and interpreting a variety of metrics such as return on sales, return on investment, and net marketing contribution
• Analyzing dataset and interpreting the results through the use of case studies in the Marketing Engineering analytics package
• Performing the role of a brand manager by participating in the MarketShare simulation (PharmaSim simulation), which focuses on the pharmaceutical industry.