Department of Digital and Strategic Marketing
The Department of Digital and Strategic Marketing offers several undergraduate and graduate programs led by industry veterans who equip students to become ethical experts who shape the business world for the cause of Christ.
MKTG 260, Principles of Marketing, 3 Units
Students in this course analyze the movement of goods from producers to consumers, which includes discussion of the channels of distribution, marketing functions, management considerations, and problems in marketing practice. Marketing trends in current economic systems are reviewed. Meets the General Education Requirement: Intercultural Competence.
MKTG 261, Visual Marketing, 3 Units
This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the principles and techniques behind visual marketing. Students explore various platforms available to help them effectively reach their target audience through visually engaging methods, and evaluate market trends, use of technology, target audience, and visual communication methods to create a visual marketing strategy. By the end of the course, students are able to identify which approaches are best suited for their projects and how they can use these tools to create compelling visual marketing campaigns.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 262, Consumer Behavior: An Applied Approach, 3 Units
This course involves a comprehensive examination of the nature of markets and the factors influencing market development and change. Students study individual consumer behavior in relation to the buying-selling process, with emphasis on understanding the consumer in order to facilitate the development of an effective marketing strategy. Meets the General Education Requirement: Civic Knowledge and Engagement.
MKTG 350, Marketing Internship, 3 Units
This course integrates marketing principles and theory into a working environment related to marketing. Includes research, setting objectives, general marketing decision making, and reflection. Meets the General Education Requirement: Integrative and Applied Learning.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260, completion of 60 units, and instructor consent.
MKTG 361, Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications, 3 Units
Students in this course explore how organizations promote ideas, products, or services through strategic connections with consumers on a variety of digital channels. Grounded in advertising, public relations, and communication, course material covers marketing campaigns and practices that have shaped our history, and how modern organizations build value by using branding, storytelling, publicity, medium utilization, and data analytics to create authentic messaging for specific target audiences.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 363, Marketing Research, 3 Units
This course is an overview and practical application of contemporary methods for gathering, analyzing, and preparing market research for use in management decision making. Research methodology includes specific topic areas as the research process, primary and secondary data, qualitative and quantitative research methods, statistical analysis, and utilization of technology.
MKTG 364, Sales and Sales Management, 3 Units
In this course, consideration is given to personal sales strategies and practices, including relationship management, negotiation, consultative selling, and key account management. The sales management function, including recruiting and selecting salespeople, motivation and training, compensation plans and quotas, supervising, sales forecasting and budgeting, salesforce evaluation, and the ethics in selling and sales management is covered.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260 or instructor consent
MKTG 368, Retail Management, 3 Units
Students explore the roles and scope of retailing business, characteristics of retailers and consumers, and strategies for managing operations. Course material emphasizes retailing characteristics and activities, multichannel opportunities, retail communication mix, consumer buying behavior, retail market strategy (including location and site strategy), product mix, store layout, merchandising, competition, pricing, and promotion. This course also introduces students to procurement and supply chain logistics, customer relationship management, operations, and employee management. Students in this course have the opportunity to earn a retail management microcredential.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 369, Global Industrial Marketing, 3 Units
Students learn the marketing of business goods by manufacturers to other businesses, government agencies, and social institutions. The course consists of market analysis, sales forecasting, product strategy, effective use of sales force, and industrial promotional planning and implementation. Extensive quantitative techniques are utilized.
MKTG 373, Global Marketing Management, 3 Units
This course is an overview of international marketing and considers the powerful economic, technological, industrial, political, and demographic forces that are converging to build the foundation of a global marketplace in a dynamic and ever-changing world. Students conduct projects involving international marketing.
MKTG 376, Strategic Brand Management, 3 Units
This course introduces students to the essential concepts of strategic brand management. It provides an in-depth exploration of how brands are created, positioned, and leveraged for maximum market advantage. Through the perspective of customer-based brand equity, students learn about influencer marketing, digital platform brands, social listening, attribution modeling, and marketing to bicultural consumers. Upon completion of this course, students are able to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the principles and techniques used in today's competitive marketing environment.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 378, Contagious Marketing, 3 Units
Students in this course gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategic methods that organizations employ to promote their products, services, or ideas in the digital age. Course material covers various channels used for connecting with consumers, such as advertising, public relations, and other communications. Students explore the historical and current practices of contagious marketing campaigns, focusing on how organizations build value through branding, storytelling, publicity, and medium utilization. By the end of the course, students have a deep understanding of the principles and practices of contagious marketing and are equipped with the skills needed to create effective campaigns.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 465, Strategic Marketing Management, 3 Units
This course offers a strategic approach to the management of the marketing function. As the capstone course for marketing majors, students utilize marketing case analysis to examine and evaluate the entire marketing decision-making process. Course content focuses on the strategic analysis of market opportunities and the development of the marketing mix through project coursework.
MKTG 466, Digital and Social Media Marketing, 3 Units
Within an organization's strategic and business objectives, digital marketing leverages traditional marketing, utilizing essential digital marketing tools such as online branding, display advertising, social media marketing, and search engine optimization. Content in this course emphasizes the development of digital marketing strategies and programs for an organization, and students have the opportunity to earn an industry-recognized Hootsuite certificate in social media and social media marketing management.
Prerequisite: MKTG 260
MKTG 502, Marketing Principles, 3 Units
This course focuses on understanding marketing management, formulating and implementing marketing strategies, and provides a systematic framework for marketing planning, analysis and evaluation. The characteristics and management of markets are described in topics that include the marketing environment, components of the marketing mix, market segmentation, positioning and targeting.
MKTG 515, Marketing Research, 3 Units
This course prepares students to approach marketing research from a management perspective. The role of marketing research process, the human side of marketing research, and organizational and ethical issues are discussed. Students utilize comprehensive cases and analysis, along with a marketing research project.
MKTG 527, Marketing Strategy, 3 Units
This course offers in-depth management, analysis, and decision-making resources related to marketing strategy, including environmental turbulence, competitive analysis, customer and market analysis, product life cycle analysis, and marketing mix management. Course material is primarily case-based.
MKTG 545, International Marketing, 3 Units
International marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of a company's goods and services to consumers or users in more than one nation. The elements of the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place-channels of distribution) first studied in domestic marketing are analyzed in global terms, thus adding the elements of geography, cultural forces, and the structure of distribution to the uncontrollables with which the marketer must contend.
MKTG 565, Integrated Marketing Communications, 3 Units
In this course, the marketing communication function is introduced and analyzed. Topics include advertising theory, planning and measurement, communication theory, the integrated marketing communication (IMC) mix, promotional strategies, public relations and publicity, consumer education, collateral materials planning, and promotional ethics.
MKTG 580, Strategic Digital Marketing, 3 Units
This course discusses the differences between E-commerce and E-business in relation to the firm, emphasizing the correlation between business, technology, and society. An advanced marketing course, it builds on the firm's business model, which guides its traditional and dynamic online marketing presence. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the Christian worldview and community citizenship, and on developing a positive long-term relationship with customers and stakeholders, thereby creating a distinct competitive advantage for the firm. Student projects integrate learning activities with business organizations.
PUBR 215, Public Relations and Social Media, 3 Units
Students in this course explore the application of public relations strategies and techniques to social media platforms, examining the different ways organizations can communicate with their publics through new technologies. Students learn through a hands-on approach to case studies and social media campaigns, and through a detailed study of social media platforms, social media trends, and communication theories applied to this new form of communication. A crucial element of the course is the design, development, and implementation of a social media consultancy project for a nonprofit.
PUBR 250, Introduction to Public Relations, 3 Units
Applies communication principles and theories to the field of public relations. Emphasis is placed on developing successful approaches to establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between organizations and their publics through successful two-way communication.
PUBR 325, Public Relations Agency, 3 Units
This course equips students with a realistic approach to daily life as a public relations practitioner. Because this course is structured as a workshop replicating the structure and organization of a public relations agency, students experience a working environment that prepares them for the professional world as they produce public relations materials for a variety of clients. A key component of the course is the development of a portfolio of work samples.
Prerequisite: PUBR 250
PUBR 330, Writing 3: Public Relations Writing for Campaigns, 3 Units
This course helps students develop skills in writing and creative strategy in the public relations profession, with special attention given to news and persuasive writing in print, broadcast, digital, and social media platforms; key message construction; and writing for internal and external audiences. Course content also addresses standards, ethical issues, and critical thinking as part of the public relations writing process. Each student produces an individual portfolio of writing samples of public relations products, such as news releases, op-eds, media kits, interviews, scripted interviews, fact sheets, and online materials. Meets the General Education Requirement: Writing 3: Writing in the Disciplines.
Prerequisite: PUBR 250 and Writing 2
PUBR 340, Digital Storytelling, 3 Units
This course defines and develops the concept and process of storytelling in the context of digital media. Students explore the idea of storytelling from its inception to its delivery, identifying the components of a story, comparing different strategies used in the field, and developing their own digital storytelling. Students must connect and contrast different strategies utilized by public relations professionals when creating digital storytelling.
Prerequisite: PUBR 250
PUBR 350, Reputation Management, 3 Units
Students in this course explore the concept of reputation and the strategies necessary for developing, maintaining, and improving the reputation of organizations, and building and maintaining positive relationships with publics. Through a variety of case studies and best practices, students identify the different areas of reputation management, including proactive issues and crisis management, and effective approaches to handling crises, capitalizing on performance. As a practical outcome of the course, students design and develop a full-scale reputation management plan for an organization.
Prerequisite: PUBR 250
PUBR 400, Public Relations Management and Ethics, 3 Units
This course is the culmination of the public relations program, covering the advanced application of strategic public relations creative and management functions in organizations through the design, creation, development, and implementation of public relations campaigns for a variety of purposes (e.g., internal communication, media relations, crisis communication, social media, diversity, social corporate responsibility). A key component of the course is planning and implementing a public relations campaign for a local organization. Students also examine specific public relations contexts and analyze case studies that exemplify how organizations successfully apply communication to take advantage of public relations opportunities and solve public relations problems. Students also explore the ethical dimensions of the professional practice of public relations.
Prerequisite: PUBR 330
PUBR 420, Public Relations, Non-profits and Social Causes, 3 Units
Course instruction covers wide-ranging study and application for working and flourishing in communications for the non-profit sector. Learning skills need to prepare for this unique field include language nuance, effective story-telling, strategic networking, as well as an understanding of the similarities and differences existing between communication approaches used in the for-profit, government, and non-profit sectors. This course will also cover the particularities of faith-based non-profits.
PUBR 430, Innovation and Creativity, 3 Units
Students in this course study the creative process, learning the tools and resources for understanding the role of creativity and innovation in the field of strategic communication. Course material also covers the tools and techniques for fostering creative thinking in our everyday life and in the corporate environment. Special attention is paid to identifying how innovation and creativity are expanding the potential of strategic communication campaigns, and a vital component of the course is the final project, in which students identify a problem, develop strategies to solve it, and produce an innovative solution.
Prerequisite: PUBR 250
PUBR 440, Public Relations and Entertainment, 3 Units
We live in one of the world's largest media markets. This course will explore the entertainment industry and the public relations strategies and practices in the field. Students will learn about the structure of the entertainment industry, distribution channels, media relations and so forth. This course offers a very practical, hands-on workshop where an active professional offers students a series of case studies and challenges to be worked, discussed and solved in the classroom. Students will be exposed to the real life scenarios and will create a number of pieces for their professional portfolio.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing
PUBR 450, Public Relations International Experience, 3 Units
This course aims to explore the nature of international communication in a practical manner. This course will study the practice of social media, paying special attention to the creative process and industry trends. The course will be structured in two distinct parts, pre and post traveling. Before traveling, students will study the history, culture and socioeconomic context in order to be prepared for the places to be visited. Once abroad, we will meet with different communication agencies, social media startups and public relations professionals who will share their expertise on the topic. The practical outcome of the course will be the production of a video diary of the trip, where students will share their thoughts, reflections and lessons learned using one of the concepts previously discussed as the guideline for the visual narrative.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing
PUBR 495, Special Topics in Public Relations: Crisis Communication, 3 Units
This course studies the nature and origin of crisis and how organizations respond to them. Exploring in depth the connections between organizations, media and publics, this course reviews the industry's best practice and the theoretical framework for crisis management. Relying heavily on recent and relevant case studies, students will discover the diverse strategies and techniques and tools used by organizations when faced with crisis situations. As a practical outcome of the course, students will design and develop a full-scale crisis communication plan for an organization.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing
PUBR 496, Public Relations Capstone, 3 Units
This is a senior-level, "capstone" course structured in two distinct parts. The first half of the course discusses and explores the ethical issues that public relations practitioners will deal in their everyday life. Using the Public Relations Society of America's Code of Ethics, students will explore the ethical dimensions of the practice of public relations, and its intersection with a Christian worldview. The second half of the course covers more applied topics of professional readiness for students. As seniors prepare to enter the professional practice, this course will cover professional related topics such as vocation, resume preparation, industry knowledge, and portfolio preparation.
Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing