So You're Thinking About A Marketing Career
by Joe Feczko
Congratulations. You've chosen to explore a career that offers some of the most diverse challenges in the job world. Sit back, relax, and by all means, read on! This is going to be fun.
You've heard it before--opportunity abounds; you can do anything if you put your mind to it. This is especially true of marketing. Sales, advertising, management, finance, creative design -- if you've listed any of these jobs on your "things I want to do when I grow up list," you have already expressed an interest in marketing, maybe without even knowing it.


A Marketing Campaign That Worked

One example of a successful marketing campaign at Federated Department Stores is Badge. Last fall, we launched Badge as a totally hip clothing line for kids from kindergarten to college. But Badge Streetwear is more than baggy jeans and retro-striped tee shirts. After extensive research conducted among young people, Federated returned to school this year with a brand image that was more than a "look," but is truly an identity. Federated named BudoVooba, a talented band of college-age musicians from New York University, its ambassadors. BudoVooba came on the scene in Badge ads, Badge posters, the Badge web site (www.badgezine.com) and is the feature story for Badgezine, a magazine available in department stores where Badge Streetwear is sold. The response to Badge so far has been, well, totally cool. Badge is a strong brand image geared to what kids and young adults in major cities relate to, think, feel and buy. That's what marketing is all about.

Great! Now How Can I Do This?

You've got a great head start in marketing because, like all of us, you are a consumer. So start by focusing on what interests you--music, sports, the Internet, environmental issues, or whatever.It is pretty standard that future marketers will have taken some general business courses in accounting, finance and management, but those are just the basics. You'll probably want to enroll in other courses based on the area of marketing that you want to go into. Just as important as the classes you attend, is the personality you bring to the job. Marketing takes into account a holistic approach, one where you bring the world around you to your job.

To enter a career in marketing, you are not only a student of business or communications or English, but also a student of life. You bring to your job the ability to visualize, communicate and analyze ideas psychologically. Marketers also are leaders with broad range of skills, and as such, are flexible, energetic and empowering. They possess an intuitive sense and are highly creative risk-takers.

In addition to these essential leadership qualities, you also must realize you'll be part of the workforce of the 21st Century. This group embodies an entirely different set of ideas and ideals than the traditional workforce. Gone are the days of guaranteed, 30-year careers at the same company. Come are the days of the professional who is loyal, but also accepts change well and responsibility for one's own career. The focus now is on career security rather than job security. Combining leadership qualities with a modern-day approach to work produces a marketer who is often highly entrepreneurial.

"In particular, African Americans have an important role to play in marketing fields today," according to Kim Hunter, president of Lagrant Communications, a Los Angeles-based African-American-owned advertising and public relations firm representing a wide range of major corporations. "As our society becomes more diverse, African-American marketers provide valuable insight into the customer's mind. Providers of consumer products and services in particular want and need African Americans, as well as talented individuals of all backgrounds, at the table.

"As a result, marketing is wide open for African Americans. There is opportunity to be creative, to be energized, and to be highly effective," Hunter said.

What Next?

To find out more about marketing and potential careers, do what you'll be encouraged to do throughout your life and career--network! Your greatest resources are the people closest to you. Talk to professors, family and friends for more information. You may be surprised to learn that a relative or acquaintance has a job related to marketing.

The American Marketing Association, the largest professional organization devoted to marketing, is also a good source of information, as are such groups as Marketing Opportunities for Blacks in Entertainment (MOBE) (mobe.com), the National Association of Market Developers (NAMD) (www.namdntl.org) and the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) (www.nbmbaa.org).

Look at brochures or surf the 'Net for information on companies you know, like and respect. You'll learn not only how they market themselv