Marketing Program

We prepare our Marketing majors to be knowledgeable and ethical members of a career path that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will see steady growth through the end of the decade,

Why the demand?

Students gathered around a computer screen

How many times a day do you do a Google search? What pops up when you do, and why?

Today's marketing professionals need to know not only how to craft an online message, but how to optimize the chance that it lands high on the list of results generated by an online search engine. Then there's Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other social media outlets; an industry of its own, with an audience — a customer base, if you will — in the millions.

Today's marketers are innovators and integrators who can communicate effectively across a broad media spectrum.

Other factors driving demand:

Competition: People are more cost-conscious and more selective today, so firms place a high priority on marketing their message. Even nonprofits, such as universities and hospitals, are competing for the attention of a more discerning consumer.
Policy change: Deregulation has brought competition to banking, transportation and other major industries. To stay competitive, they commit major resources to marketing initiatives.

It all came together

Marketing alumni Krystin Troyer Ryan and Patricia Nessle credit their St. Bonaventure education and training for making them feel comfortable and competent in their jobs "right off the bat."

Experiential learning with a solid business core

Majors begin with courses in the liberal arts and core business courses in marketing, organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, economics, finance, business law, and accounting.

Your junior and senior years will focus on higher-level required courses and electives, such as consumer behavior, marketing research and international marketing.

All students prepare a marketing plan for a client as a degree requirement, and they graduate with a range of projects demonstrating their skills and job readiness.

The program includes an advertising course called American Advertising Federation, in which students create a national advertising campaign for a real national advertiser, then present it at a national AAF competition in New York.

In addition to AAF, we have a host of additional nationally recognized student clubs and organizations.

Learn by doing through a required internship

All Marketing majors complete a 15-hour, 3-credit internship, which may be completed in an on- or off-campus setting. You will be guided through this process by the director of our own School of Business Internship Program.

Program Information

The School of Business offers a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Marketing.

Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing

Marketing majors develop a broad working knowledge of the theory and practice of marketing. Program flexibility and adaptability to special interests is provided by electives within and outside the major.

Degree requirements and a 4-year plan of study for the Marketing major

Upon successful completion of the Marketing program at St. Bonaventure University, graduates will:

define the term "marketing" and explain its role and importance in an individual firm and the overall economy;
develop insight about creative selection of target markets and business decisions related to product, price, promotion, and place (i.e., the marketing mix) to meet the needs of a target market;
identify the key theories and frameworks from behavioral sciences that help marketers understand consumer behavior;
understand the internal and external influences on consumer behavior;
understand the relationship between a marketing communications strategy and other levels of an institution’s strategy;
understand the various roles that exist, from the marketing department to advertising agencies;
understand how search engines work;
understand the mechanics of paid search ranking;
implement a primary data collection project designed specifically to solve specific managerial problems;
run basic analyses for the collected primary data;
assess the internal capabilities and external environments of businesses, including a business audit, market and competitive analysis, and strategic positioning;
identify pricing strategies that capture value for the firm.

Marketing minor

For non-majors, the 18-hour Marketing minor is one of nine School of Business minors offering students an opportunity to study a specific area of business in more detail.

Requirements for a minor in Marketing

Bynoe presents at conference, writes editorial in journal

Nov 23, 2024 | Dr. Tyrone Bynoe, associate professor of Education and director of the Educational Leadership program, gave an online presentation of his paper at the annual Organization of Educational Historians conference, held Sept. 28.

SBU’s Marketing 310 class brings students a de-stressing spa night with Reilly’s Retreat

Nov 08, 2024 | Students at St. Bonaventure will soon have the opportunity to unwind and de-stress before finals during Reilly’s Retreat, a specially curated spa night hosted by the Event and Sponsorship Marketing 310 class.

Case, King and Case publish study of students' online behavior

Oct 03, 2024 | Dr. Carl J. Case, professor of Business Information Systems, Darwin L. King, professor of Accounting (left and right photos, respectively), and Julie A. Case, Esq., adjunct instructor of Business Law, had their paper titled “Undergraduate Business Students Social Media and Online Trolling Behavior: Trends During and After COVID-19" published in the Book of Abstracts of the International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences International Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.