MARKETING ability has become increasingly vital to the financial success of a business. As Phil Knight, the chief executive officer of Nike, said: “Now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. We’ve come around to saying that Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool.”
Marketing impacts directly on profitability by generating demand for the company’s products and services. Marketers research the marketplace and their customer’s needs and buying behaviour.
They then make decisions concerning the features of the products and services that will be offered, the prices to charge customers, where to sell the product, how to communicate the benefits of the product, the customers to target and how to position the product so that it is perceived to be distinct in the minds of the target audience.
In this way, marketers deliver the products and services that will satisfy customer needs while making a profit.
Marketing is both a state of mind and a professional practice. In an increasingly competitive environment, marketing should be fully integrated into organisations selling products to consumers and to other businesses.
Sometimes, business people say that their products or services do not sell because they have been misunderstood. Misunderstanding arises from a failure to communicate and the company has either not listened to the needs of its customers or it has not put its message across in a way that means customers can fully appreciate the benefits.
Products or services are not misunderstood; they are only badly marketed.
Aberdeen Business School (ABS) at The Robert Gordon University offers a Graduate Certificate Marketing course which gives a grounding in the core principles of marketing and sales and explores new media and online marketing.
The course is designed to meet the needs of employers and build the marketing skills among their staff to improve performance. Students will gain marketing expertise to help the business in which they work and boost their career prospects at the same time.
The Graduate Certificate Marketing is ideal for those who are already working in marketing, for example in PR, market research, branding or advertising, who do not have a first degree, and enables them to gain a university undergraduate qualification. It is also suitable for those who have an undergraduate degree and are looking to enter the marketing profession.
The course is studied online for seven months and there is no need to attend the university. This enables those who are working full time (or part time) to study at times convenient to them and they can maintain much of their normal work and lifestyle.
Robert Gordon University’s leading-edge online environment allows students from all over the world to interact with fellow-students and tutors.
The modules in the course focus on marketing to consumers and organisations, management of personal selling and sales and marketing communications. Students will learn how to apply marketing principles in practice and gain the academic skills of graduate-level study.
The marketing certificate is also a stepping stone on to ABS’s postgraduate masters programmes in marketing and corporate communications.
There are no formal entry requirements, but appropriate work experience, preferably for two years, is required. The course starts in February, 2010.
Carolyn McNicholas is course leader for Graduate Certificate Marketing at Aberdeen Business School. She can be contacted
on c.mcnicholas@rgu.ac.uk, phone 01224 263937.