MBA in Marketing Degree Emphasis
Earn Your Marketing MBA Emphasis To Specialize Your Skillset
The Master of Business Administration with an Emphasis in Marketing enables working professionals to develop a deeper understanding of strategic management and organizational development. An MBA can empower you to pursue senior executive positions. This widely respected credential equips you to drive positive change, influence corporate growth and embed ethical business practices.
Choose GCU's MBA in Marketing Emphasis
The Colangelo College of Business at Grand Canyon University (GCU) offers an evening or online MBA with a specialization in marketing. The Master of Business Administration with an Emphasis in Marketing enables working professionals to develop a deeper understanding of strategic management and organizational development.
The Colangelo College of Business believes in these three aspects of how business affects the greater good:
- Business as a force for good
When business is done right, we elevate humanity. We promote conscious capitalism in all our business teachings. - Free markets and purpose for prosperity
We believe in having a higher purpose for business and a stakeholder orientation for long-term success. - Business as ministry
We approach business through a Christian perspective; love, care and support your team because everybody matters.
As a student in GCU’s MBA in marketing emphasis, your coursework will explore the following:
- The cultural, linguistic, aesthetic and religious influences of international marketing
- Marketing planning, strategy and control as principles of marketing management
- Product development innovation, pricing strategy and strategic marketing issues
- Key concepts in leadership and organizational behaviors
The modern business environment is complex. Future business leaders and executives require an MBA in marketing program that is equally complex and provides a comprehensive study in the faith-integrated principles of managerial strategies.
The evening or online MBA in marketing emphasizes theories and research in current trends of branding and advertising. You will explore the influences of language, aesthetics, religions and business customs on marketing strategies, as well as focus on sustainability in the global marketplace.
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Careers for Marketing MBA Graduates
Marketing MBA graduates have a competitive advantage in the workforce. The MBA in marketing emphasis requires tenacity and perseverance. Graduates are recognized as having the necessary core competencies to drive business success and assume leadership positions within an organization.
A master’s degree in marketing can enable you to pursue meaningful work within a broad range of sectors, including hospitality, banking, media, logistics, healthcare and information technology. Some of the career opportunities that can be related to MBA marketing programs may include:
- Chief executive
- Sales manager
- Project management specialist
- Management analyst
- General and operations manager
As you work toward earning your master’s degree in marketing, you will explore the formulation and execution of core marketing strategies that promote a unified brand voice. You will develop foundational knowledge based on sound theories and research, with an emphasis on current trends in services and products marketing.
The global marketplace is competitive. To gain an edge, businesses must embrace the role of the innovator. A strong brand voice unifies the elements of the organization and serves as the liaison between the company and the consumer.
MBA in Marketing Emphasis Program FAQs
Read through our frequently asked questions to discover why earning your marketing MBA is the next best career step for you.
While you can certainly enjoy a marketing career without an MBA in marketing, the added knowledge and skills gained with this degree program can help set you up for long-term professional success. Earning your master's degree in marketing is not only an investment in yourself, but demonstrates to employers you are invested in furthering your education in the field.
Like any other career, being able to establish experience and dedication to your job is an important factor. In addition to your education credentials, potential employers also look for internships, past successes and consistent work in your marketing portfolio when reviewing applicants.
There are many different reasons why someone may choose to go back to school to earn their MBA in marketing, and the age of the student may vary due to those reasons. However, out of some of the highest ranked MBA programs in the U.S., the average MBA student age is 28.1 While there is not necessarily a best age to earn your marketing MBA, applicants in the 26 to 28 range are most common.1
An MBA in marketing can be a valuable addition to your resume and provide you with benefits such as high-level job opportunities and a higher salary potential. As of May 2021, sales managers have a median annual wage of $127,490, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.2
There are a variety of topics taught in an MBA marketing program. You’ll learn advanced techniques in strategizing and planning marketing projects along with how different cultures perceive product marketing. There is also an emphasis on the financial side of marketing and how to budget a project while working with a team to put together a marketing plan.
While other MBA in marketing programs may have different course requirements, GCU’s master’s degree in marketing does require you to complete accounting, economics, statistics and finance courses. In these courses, you will learn the basic principles of financial accounting along with introductions in micro and macroeconomic concepts. These will be used to support marketing strategies to increase revenue generation.
1 Retrieved from Poets & Quants, Average Age & Work Experience At Top MBA Programs, in January 2023
2 The earnings referenced were reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”), Sales Managers as of May 2021.Due to COVID-19, data from 2020 may be atypical compared to prior years. The pandemic may also impact the predicted future workforce outcomes indicated by the BLS. BLS calculates the median using salaries of workers from across the country with varying levels of education and experience and does not reflect the earnings of GCU graduates as sales managers. It does not reflect earnings of workers in one city or region of the country. It also does not reflect a typical entry-level salary. Median income is the statistical midpoint for the range of salaries in a specific occupation. It represents what you would earn if you were paid more money than half the workers in an occupation, and less than half the workers in an occupation. It may give you a basis to estimate what you might earn at some point if you enter this career. You may also wish to compare median salaries if you are considering more than one career path. Grand Canyon University can make no guarantees on individual graduates’ salaries as the employer the graduate chooses to apply to, and accept employment from, determines salary not only based on education, but also individual characteristics and skills and fit to that organization (among other categories) against a pool of candidates.
Core Courses
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare students for the graduate learning experience at Grand Canyon University. Students have opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills necessary to succeed as graduate students in the College of Business. Emphasis is placed on utilizing the tools for graduate success.
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the College of Business, key concepts of leadership, and an overview of how the science of organizational behavior contributes to effective leaders and managers.
Course Description
This course is designed for students who are preparing for more advanced coursework in business but who have not had accounting in undergraduate work. Topics covered include the principles and practices of financial accounting, including the fundamentals of revenue recognition, the components of the balance sheet, and financial statement analysis. ?The course explores accounting theories using publicly traded companies and case studies.
Course Description
This course is designed for individuals who are preparing for more advanced coursework in accounting and is designed for students who have not had finance in undergraduate work. Topics covered include financial analysis, financial planning, asset evaluation, capital structure, and working capital management.
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to prepare students in mathematical, probability, and statistical concepts for their upcoming studies in quantitative methods. The course is intended for those students who have not had any prior statistical education, although students who have had statistics should also consider taking the course as a refresher.
Course Description
This course introduces microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts that are relevant to contemporary business. Emphasis is placed on using economic data for business decision making.
Course Description
This course is a study in the quantitative tools and techniques used to model business functions and applications. Emphasis is placed on how to set up models, and how to interpret and apply their results. Prerequisite: SYM-506.
Course Description
Management of the marketing function, market environmental analysis, and marketing planning, strategy, and control are fundamentals of marketing management. The course examines the marketing process, marketing research, product development innovation and diffusion, pricing strategy, distribution value drain, advertising and promotion, and strategic marketing issues. Emphasis is placed on case study analysis and current academic research with a marketing plan as a significant curriculum component.
Course Description
This course covers managerial accounting concepts and procedures for internal reporting, including the study of cost behavior, cost systems, budgeting, and performance evaluation. Coursework includes case studies, group projects, and class discussion. Prerequisite: ACC-502.
Course Description
Operations Management examines managerial concepts and strategies relating to the management of operations in both manufacturing and service environments. Emphasis is placed on methods to streamline and drive inefficiencies out of a firm’s internal processes to build a highly efficient organization. The course also focuses on external processes by examining ways to achieve greater supply chain integration with suppliers and customers. Quantitative and qualitative methods and tools are introduced and applied. Prerequisite: SYM-506.
Course Description
This course discusses elements of business financial decisions, including financial forecasting and development of proformas, management of working capital, capital budgeting, capital structure, and raising funds in capital markets. Prerequisite: FIN-504.
Course Description
This capstone course focuses on preparing and conducting a strategic analysis of a selected publicly traded firm to produce actionable intelligence used to formulate recommendations to promote the creation of a value-adding strategy. Based on the results of their strategic analysis, students are then required to prepare the framework of a strategic plan that creates significant value for the selected firm. Prerequisites: MGT-605, MKT-607, ACC-650, and FIN-650.
Course Description
This course introduces students to the state-of-the-art research and practice in services marketing, with an emphasis on discussion of the field's most current services marketing concepts, principles and theories, and application of services marketing concepts to actual practice through case analysis and outside projects. Prerequisite: MKT-607.
Course Description
This course provides an analysis of current trends and issues facing an international firm’s efforts to manage the marketing mix. Comparisons of language, aesthetics, religions, business customs, and attitudes on the marketing concept and strategies are addressed. Prerequisite: MKT-607.
Pursue a next-generation education with an online degree from Grand Canyon University. Earn your degree with convenience and flexibility with online courses that let you study anytime, anywhere.
Grand Canyon University’s evening programs cater to the demands of working professionals who prefer an in-person learning environment. Our night classes meet just once per week and offer the interaction and discussion of a typical college classroom.
* Please note that this list may contain programs and courses not presently offered, as availability may vary depending on class size, enrollment and other contributing factors. If you are interested in a program or course listed herein please first contact your University Counselor for the most current information regarding availability.
* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Programs or courses subject to change.