Bad omen, or typical class structure aggravation?

Should I consider it a bad omen that the very first actual marketing class I've had (Marketing and the Virtual Marketplace) I hate? Should I be wary of the fact that marketing - my concentration for this degree - seems to me to be basically a whole fuck of a lot of explaining to higher-ups just why they should ok the spending of any money at all in order to create high-profit advertising campaigns?

Or is it just the school aspect of it that has me having to explain and account for and legitimize every step, time and time again? I mean, that does show that I'm learning, but is the class structure based on making sure we understand the concepts, or a horrid reality (or - dear god please no - both?) Do marketing directors have to inch their way through red tape at every turn in order to explain to numbskull chief financial officers that yes, we really do need to spend X amount of dollars in order to draw in new customers and keep our current ones happily returning? Are CFO's really that dumb? Will the vast majority of my career consist of explaining myself? I mean, I'll be the one with the fucking degree in this, after all - shouldn't they just do what I say with a minimum of bitching and toe-stepping?

Is money really that much of a moron-maker of people who, by their rank and title alone, should know that it takes money to make money?!?

Should I be disquieted at the thought that I may have signed up for something that will drive me batshit for the rest of my too-young-to-retire-yet life? I'd make a better (and much much happier) manager, based on my other classes (all of which have been about management of some kind or other).

... If I were a manager, I could fire stupid people. Or just make them explain themselves for my own amusement. If I'm a marketer, I may be the amusement, even though it would be my research and decisions which would make the company sucessful.

These are not good thoughts to go to bed to.

I'll see what my future marketing classes are like, and hope that they're infintely better than this one. I loathe this one. I'm so glad it's almost over. If future marketing classes turn out to be just as hideous, I'll switch my concentration to management. I wouldn't even have to take any extra classes, because the classes for marketing and management concentrations are the same all the way up till not quite three-quarters of the way through the program (I know because my boss is concentrating on management and we compared our classes.)

I could switch concentration as late as summer of next year without having to backtrack and make up classes, so I have plenty of time to decide, but for now I'm a little ... well, disappointed.

4 comments:

Wren said...

There's more to marketing than talking CFOs into spending money, something they're naturally inclined not to do (they sleep well when the numbers on any given day are higher and dislike making them drop). What you're learning is the humdrum, day-to-day, Here's-the-reality side of marketing, but there's also creativity and the fascination and excitement of seeing your ideas sprout wings and ... well... drop dollars. Bad analogy, sorry. Hang in there. It's a wide field with lots of possibilities. But ya gotta get the nuts-and-bolts-money-thing first.

Cap'n Ergo "XL+II" Jinglebollocks said...

Marketing? I dunno 'boutchoo, but I'd rather stick my left nut in a garlic press an' give it a mighty squeeze than take THOSE classes. I say switch!!

Boldly Serving Up Wheat Grass said...

Chances are you won't have to worry about the money thing for quite some time (except academically). You should stick to marketing, IMHO. After all, at least there are "marketing" jobs in the Sunday paper and online -- no matter what your locale. But, what do you do with a degree in management? Bank teller? That's so general. Even if you push for a masters, you're going to have to specialize in marketing, finance, accounting, etc. Stick with marketing. It's the most creative end of almost any corporation. Chances are, it'll go down like this: (1) You graduate, (2) you'll get a job as a marketing coordinator somewhere, (3) you'll become a marketing manager, (4) you'll become a marketing director. It's not until #4 that you'll find yourself embroiled in financial arguments from time to time -- and it's not with the CFOs; it's with the CEOs. CFOs are usually just number crunchers & glorified bean counters. Rarely in my experience do they become overly involved in setting policy or strategic direction. They're more worried about preparing financial statements, setting up internal control policies, working with auditors, etc.

Again, you're going to have to start at #1, which is a coordinator position within some niche of a marketing department. It might be PR or media relations, it might be event planning, it might be advertising, graphic design, marketing communications, web development, etc. Might even be sales. It's an extremely broad field -- but, again, one that allows for creativity. If it's a small company, you'll do all of the above. If it's a large company, you'll be responsible for a single area.

Sketch said...

Mom- I thought it was a good ananlogy ... but maybe I'm just weird like that.

Hot Lemon- Ouch! Glad I don't have nuts. Thanks for reading my blog! :)

Patrick - I was hoping that was the case. Still, I had been wanting to be the one in charge of it all someday. I guess arguing with other department heads is just part of any management/director/supervisor job, but it's not something I'll look forward to. Give me the creative side and I'll be happy. Good to know that I cuold use my graphic design background as more of a foot in the door - two degrees to start off with are better than one (til I get that third, master's degree...) Thanks for the info! :)