Marketing Graduates Need Jobs – This Tool Can Get Them There
COVID-19.
The Great Resignation.
Inflation.
Social and Political Unrest.
Student Loan Debt.
U.S. Population Migration.
Remote and Hybrid Work Evolution.
The last few years have been anything but uneventful! Not even colleges and universities have been spared. Faced with declining enrollment, an uptick in trade school affinity, and students' prioritization on quality of life – academia has (finally) been persuaded to provide a more in-depth answer to the question being routinely posed by nervous students:
Can this degree provide me with a job?
In business, we call this "ROI." As a scholar-practitioner, there isn't a single brand campaign, marcomm plan, or strategy that I've supported that isn't based upon this metric. It's the rationale for any marketing activity; it's the proverbial handshake. With greater intensity, academia is being asked (upfront) to provide ROI – of a student's time, money, relocation, debt, etc. In my opinion, higher education was one of last pillars of our American society able to gracefully sidestep this evaluation.
While some of my peers have scoffed at the mere suggestion, I, myself, salute this approach. As a proud #FirstGen and hailing from a rural community, college education was about skills development. Skills that are marketable and transferrable to various fields of pursuit. While, yes, students want to attend football games, may join fraternities and sororities, study abroad, and desire the quintessential "college experience," (I did) students also want to earn a living upon graduation! It's not either/or; it's also/and.
In fact, the marketing industry is routinely comprised of students and professionals from an interdisciplinary collection of schools and programs – business, media and communication, sociology, psychology, public health, law, engineering, computer science, and fashion and textile, to name a few. We are found helming roles within Fortune 500 marketing departments, agencies, and consulting firms. This reality poses a very important question for higher education instruction:
How can we provide academic training that aligns with the marketing industry's recruitment, brand, and business growth needs?
The 2023 Modern Marketing Capabilities Framework is an industry-driven playbook centering talent development, brand evolution, and business impact. As a scholar-practitioner within academia, I am considered a member of clinical faculty (typically entitled, lecturer or professor of practice). With formal, R1-level graduate research and theory training, coupled with more than 10 years of hands-on experience within the interdisciplinary field of marketing, my faculty appointments bring industry best practices into curriculum design and innovation. I absolutely love it! And, so do my students. While a very small percentage may develop long-term careers within higher education, the reality is that most students will pursue jobs within the industry.
I believe this framework is essential for curriculum and instructional design for marketing professional development. There, I've said it! Whew! In much the same way that we undertake pedagogical training, building our course curriculum through Bloom's Taxonomy, I believe this framework is a benchmark for the interdisciplinary needs of marketing instruction. It provides an in-depth understanding of the modern, interdisciplinary marketing environment. An enriching compilation, the framework provides a succinct description of what should be infused into the course pyramid of learning.
Below, are the key sections that can be utilized to improve: 1) course content; 2) program curriculum; and 3) career counseling, role identification, and long-term planning. Our goal, as scholar-practitioners, should be to create assessments, course assignments, and student learning outcomes (SLOs) that are directly tied to these tangible, in-demand and career growth-oriented skills.
Technical Quotient Skills (Curriculum Innovation)
- Brand, Creativity, and Media
- Data, Technology, and Measurement
- Talent and Marketing Organization
- Society and Sustainability
Human Quotient Skills (Assessments and Assignments)
- Cognitive Chops (How you Think)
- People Skills (How you Collaborate)
- Creative DNA (How you Innovate)
- Personal Traits (How you Show Up)
Foundational Skills (Modern Marketing Evolution)
- DEIB (Cultural Competency)
- Leadership Development (Strategy and Engagement)
- Storytelling (Consumer Insights)
- Digital and Web3 Marketing (Tech Savvy)
- Data and Tech Acumen (Telling the Story of the Data)
- Governance and Compliance (Law)
Archetypes Identification / Career Paths and Retention
- Internships / Immersive Experiences (Pre-Graduation)
- Career Counseling (Role Identification)
- Career Strategies (Long-Term Planning)
- Benchmark Assessments
As clinical faculty, we have a unique role within our academic programs. We are the translators of theory, research, community insights, and applied marketing strategies and tactics. Simply put, we are connoisseurs of #TangibleGrowth dedicated to #TalentEmpowerment. Consider this framework your industry partner in fulfilling this exciting mission!
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Raegan L. Burden, MMC, is a contributing author of The 2023 Modern Marketing Capabilities Framework.