Marketing research is one of the basic core courses in most marketing curriculum. Research includes both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis includes various research techniques such as surveys and effectively gathering unbiased data. For quantitative analysis, students must know how to get and understand data such as demographics and consumer patterns.
Advertising can focus on online or offline media. The student will focus on how to effectively create and distribute advertisements. This includes advertisement analysis where students compare different advertisements and study best practices on placement, wording, images and video. Copy writing may also be included in some advertising courses; this is the study of how to effectively write ad text used in websites, direct mail and postings.
Brand management is a more abstract study in marketing. Here, students learn the different factors required in creating and maintaining a brand image. This includes analyses on case studies of successful branding strategies, dealing with positive and negative publicity and estimating financial brand valuations. This class is particularly useful for aspiring entrepreneurs or for students looking to work in start-ups -- these companies often hire graduates to start in relatively higher positions with broad responsibilities.
Due to companies becoming more international and global, schools have started to integrate marketing and culture studies. These courses typically cover major marketing concepts, such as advertising and research, but apply each concept to a particular culture or a broad global perspective. Some of these courses may also integrate short-term country visits and immersion trips into the coursework.
Since midway of the first decade of 2000, social media marketing has emerged as a newer business model for marketing professionals. As a response to this, certain universities and online programs offer social media marketing training. This includes research of past social media marketing campaigns, executing tactics on different media channels and establishing return-on-investment models. This trains students for relatively newer careers such as Facebook campaign manager, professional blogger and online media analyst.