Career Journeys
Career Journeys - Marketing
Career Path: Marketing
Marketing is a powerful business function, and Darden gives its students the skills to wield those powers. From understanding important elements ranging from the poetics of consumer psychology to the science of marketing metrics, Darden students know how to build an integrated and impactful marketing strategy. World-class faculty who are transforming the marketing space, combined with an expert array of career resources prime Darden students for a career in this sector.
Powered by the Darden MBA, Marketing Alumni Achieve Stellar Career Outcomes
Darden’s Class of 2023 began their post-MBA careers in marketing roles at the world’s top companies and earned record starting salaries.
Companies Redefining the Marketing Space See the Value of the Darden MBA
Top Hiring Companies
Marketing Students From Darden Are Transformed in Charlottesville, Ready to Lead Anywhere
Top Locations
Atlanta, Georgia
Austin, Texas
New York, New York
San Francisco Bay Area
Seattle, Washington
Washington, D.C.
Marketing Alumni From Darden Launch Careers in Variety of Roles
Top Job Titles
- Senior Product Manager
- Associate Brand Manager
- Product Marketing Manager
- Product Manager
- Brand Manager
- Global Product Lead
- Senior Advisor, Product Marketing
- Marketing & Analytics Director
Meet Your Marketing Career Team
Jenny Zenner
Senior Director
Shavone Dudley
Associate Director of Employer Engagement and Recruiting
Michele Rankin
Senior Director
Explore Darden Electives and Coursework That Deliver In-Demand Marketing Skills
In your First Year, you’ll gain an invaluable foundation in fundamental business concepts as you build lasting connections with your learning team and section.
Here, we help you navigate what comes next. After the First Year core curriculum, Darden students begin to tailor their experience by selecting from over 100 electives. Students interested in a marketing career may find particular benefit from the courses listed below or via the elective guide below.
Career Elective Guides
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Consumer and Competitive Insight
Understanding what consumers want by designing experiments and surveys and analyzing market data is essential. One study suggested that 83 percent of CMOs are responsible for analyzing and measuring the effectiveness of their marketing spending and 72 percent are responsible for conducting marketing research.
Course Number Course Title 7500 Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship in Action (IDEA) 7600 Data Visualization and Analytics 8015 Behavioral Decision Making 8125 Storytelling with Data 8334 Consumer Insights in a Data-Driven World 8496 Data Science in Business -
Strategy
CMOs also need to think and act strategically by understanding what consumers want and finding unique market positions for their companies to capture. 94 percent of CMOs are primarily responsible for developing their company’s marketing strategy and 83 percent their brand strategy.
Course Number Course Title 7994 Strategic Analysis and Consulting 8067 Managing Innovation 8205 Marketing and Society 8464 Hot Topics in Marketing 8650 Cases in Global Strategy Seminar 8758 Strategy in the Digital Age -
Implementation
As a manager with functional responsibility, it is important for marketing executives to know how to get things done. One study suggested 93 percent of CMOs are responsible for implementing their company’s marketing strategy and 78 percent for their marketing communications and media plan.
Course Number Course Title 8033 Digital Marketing 8407 Pricing 8130 Prototyping and Product Development I 8170 Managerial Finance 8320 Leadership Communication During Times of Disruption and Transformation 8400 General Managers Taking Action 8621 Project Management 8757 Pricing Analytics -
Specialty Knowledge
In addition to the general areas listed above, you want to think about how you can get off to a fast start by developing industry-specific knowledge and skills. For example, if you want a marketing career in health care, you might consider some of the following electives:
Course Number Course Title 8030 Challenges in Health Care: A System Overview 8500C Solutions and Innovations in Health Care Alternatively, if you are considering a marketing career in the technology sector, you might start as a product manager and consider taking a few of the following courses:
Course Number Course Title 8632 Software Design 8633 Coding with GPT 8636 Digital Product Management 8640 Digital Capstone The technology-career elective guide can help you develop a more comprehensive point of view.
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Personal Development and Leadership
Senior Marketing Executives emphasize the importance of leadership and interpersonal skills. One survey of marketing recruiters suggested leadership and communication skills were both hard-to-find and highly desired by companies. It also indicated that the ability to work collaboratively was critical.
Darden offers a wide variety of SY electives that help support your development as a leader and effective team member. Here is a short list of courses cited by recent graduates. There are many more from which to choose. "Marketing Leadership" might be particularly relevant, but many of the previously listed marketing courses will help you develop leadership skills too.
Your choices should reflect your needs for personal growth. Consider taking a few from the list:
Course Number Course Title 7605 Strategic Communication 7612 Speaking About Business 7619 Paths to Power 8019 Defining Moments 8052 Marketing Leadership 8476 Collaboration Lab 8500ZZZ CEO Leadership in the 21st Century 8619 Leading Teams 8706 Leadership, Diversity and Leveraging Difference 8707 Leadership Coaching 8930 Negotiations
Concentrations
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Business Analytics
The Business Analytics concentration will prepare students to participate in organizations that make abundant use of data/quantitative/mathematical techniques (“data science”) as part of their business processes. It is a more general version of the “Market Analytics” concentration in that the areas of application are more than marketing. We expect completion of this concentration to be a useful signal to potential employers of the analytic and quantitative abilities of the student.
Faculty Contact: Robert Carraway
Concentration Requirements
A student will be recognized as having completed this concentration when they have met the following constraints:
- Completed at least 9.0 hours of the courses listed below.
- Completed at least 1.5 hours of an Independent Study with a Quantitative Analysis faculty member.
Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.
Specific Required Courses: None. Although we expect students will take Data Analysis and Optimization (7600) as it is a pre-requisite for some of the courses below.
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours 7600 Data Visualization and Analytics 1.5 8015 Behavioral Decision Making 1.5 8033 Digital Marketing 1.5 8047 Pricing 1.5 8053 Sustainable Global Value Chains 1.5 8055 Analytics for Experiments, Forecasts and Growth 1.5 8059 Foundations and Applications of FinTech 1.5 8125 Storytelling with Data 1.5 8180 Hot Topics in Analytics 1.5 8444 Investments 1.5 8445 Quantitative Portfolio Management 1.5 8496 Data Science in Business 1.5 8621 Project Management 1.5 8632 Software Design 1.5 8633 Software Development 1.5 8636 Digital Product Management 1.5 8640 Digital Capstone 1.5 8757 Pricing Analytics 1.5 8830 Supply Chain Management 1.5 -
Business Development and Growth
Sustainable success requires organizations to innovate and grow to maintain or increase profitability. Students in this concentration will learn the fundamentals of managing innovation, organic growth, and acquisition and integration of mergers and acquisitions.
Faculty Contact: Jeanne Liedtka
Concentration Requirements
A student will be recognized as having this concentration when they have completed 9.0 credit hours from the courses listed below.
Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours 7500 Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship in Action (IDEA) 1.5 7603 Valuation in Financial Markets 1.5 8013 Strategic Corporate Governance 1.5 8014 Strategic Thinking 1.5 8130 Prototyping and Product Development 1 1.5 8304 Consumer Behavior 1.5 8310 Competitive Dynamics Seminar 1.5 8400 General Managers Taking Action 3 8459 Innovation and Design Experience 3 8697-8699 Darden Consulting Project (must be approved for this concentration) 1.5 -
Marketing
The marketing concentration prepares students for careers in marketing by helping them understand how to manage customer relationships (e.g. in consumer packaged goods, consumer durables, consumer services, consulting firms, Not for Profits (NFPs), industrial goods and technology products). Through this series of courses, students will gain insight into how customer-based marketing decisions can create loyal, engaged customers.
Faculty Contact: Raj Venkatesan
Concentration Requirements
A student will be recognized as having this concentration when they have completed 7.5 credit hours from the courses listed below.
Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.
Course Number Course Title Credit Hours 7500 Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship in Action (IDEA) 1.5 8033 Digital Marketing 1.5 8047 Pricing 1.5 8130 Prototyping and Product Development I 1.5 8304 Consumer Behavior 1.5 8464 Hot Topics in Marketing 1.5 8496 Data Science in Business 1.5 8620 Brand Management: Creating, Testing, and Analyzing New Brand Strategies 1.5 8636 Digital Product Management 1.5 8757 Pricing Analytics 1.5 8999 Darden Independent Study (must be approved for this concentration) 1.5 8500BLP Building and Leading a Professional Sales Force 1.5
Dual Degrees and More
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Management Science Specialization
For students who want to add a quantitative and analytical focus to the general management curriculum, Darden offers a management science specialization. This specialization requires that students earn 12 credits from a select group of electives. It also carries a STEM designation, which gives international students in F-1 status who meet certain requirements the possibility of 36 months of work authorization in the U.S. after graduation.
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Master of Science in Business Analytics
In one year and 30 credit hours, students in Darden's M.S. in business analytics degree develop the portfolio of skills needed to leverage and communicate insights into strategic corporate actions, solutions and results.
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Master of Business Administration/Master of Science in Data Science
Darden's Master of Business Administration/Master of Science in Data Science (MBA/MSDS) provides robust training and cutting-edge tools ideal for students who plan to pursue a variety of career fields, ranging from technology to entrepreneurship to consulting.
Beyond the Classroom, Opportunities in Marketing That Catalyze Your Professional Purpose
Darden’s best-in-class Career Center and wide array of student organizations and centers provide you the opportunity to learn about yourself and learn from others as you pursue your purpose.
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Career Preparation
Through Darden’s Career Center and Alumni Career Services, you’ll gain career guidance from the moment you enroll and for wherever your career takes you after graduation. Here’s what you can expect:
- Darden-facilitated opportunities for networking, meeting alumni and industry leaders, and interviewing
- Access to advanced analytics and data to craft recruiting marketing materials such as resume, LinkedIn, and more
- NYC and West Coast job treks
- Resume and cover letter reviews
- Industry- and employer-specific database for interview prep and salary research
- Case interview prep
- Mock interviews
- Employer case competitions
- Negotiation skill-building
- Executives-in-Residence Program
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Career Clubs and Activities
Darden Marketing Club
The Marketing Club at Darden seeks to establish a strong marketing reputation for the School, provide a forum to educate and enhance members' understanding of marketing, assist members in exploring marketing employment opportunities, and encourage interaction between students, companies and faculty.
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Conferences and Events
Darden Marketing, General Management and Tech (MGMT) Conference
Darden's MGMT Conference provides a unique opportunity for three of the School's largest career clubs to host and engage with top employers hiring Darden talent.
Meet Marketing Visionaries Who Will Help During Your Darden Career and Long After
Award-Winning Faculty
Consistently recognized as the best in the world, the Darden faculty look to the critical thinking from their classrooms to inform their fieldwork, and vice versa.
Here, scholars and accomplished business leaders converge to create an unrivaled education experience.
Explore Darden Faculty >
Select Alumni Leaders in Marketing
Darden’s alumni network is united in its commitment to shared professional and personal excellence. Here, you'll join a global network that’s over 19,000 people strong.
Katie Bisbee (MBA '04)
Chief Marketing Officer, DonorsChoose.org
Robert E. Collier (MBA ’10)
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Technology, ChemTreat
Sarita T. Finnie (MBA ’01)
Vice President, Shopper Marketing, Bayer Consumer Health
Marcien B. Jenckes (MBA ’98)
President, Advertising, Comcast Cable
Marguerite M. Longo (MBA ’08)
Global Commercial Head, Future of Self Care, Johnson & Johnson
Cynthia K. Soledad (MBA ’02)
Co-Lead, Global Diversity & Inclusion; Chief Marketing Officer and Consumer Practice, Egon Zehnder
There Are Even More Opportunities to Explore
Darden students can go from here, to anywhere. Graduates begin their post-graduation careers in a wide variety of the world’s most in-demand sectors. Explore even more career journeys.