Marketing Majors

I participated in a focus group today where marketing majors at VSB discussed items we were pleased with and items we weren’t pleased with as marketing majors. One thing that came up, that apparently I’ve been oblivious to, is the negative connotation the “M” majors have at VSB (Marketing, Management & MIS) for being not as great as the others (notably Accounting & Finance).

Apparently it has something to do with the fact that our classes aren’t as difficult, our homework isn’t as constant, or how the majority of us don’t have jobs right now. As obviously noted above by my ability to be oblivious, I think marketing majors are great. I LOVE what I do, see marketing’s importance in an organization, and understand that our work is mostly long-term projects.

More or less, I love being a marketing major. And although some of my VSB peers might not think it’s an  important facet of business, Forbes contributor Stacey Powell does:

Through years of working with small business owners, many have come seeking answers to their financial issues. As an accountant, I would like to think that good accounting would provide the answers. But the truth is that it’s usually not about the numbers. The truth is that the most important component of impacting one’s financial issues is sales and marketing.

The author even admits to feeling a little over-confident in college about her major.

In business school we are taught that our major is the most important major in the school. What could possibly be more important than accounting? I’m sure that the finance majors, the strategic planning majors and the human resource majors all felt the same way. And we all thought that the marketing majors were the lightweights; a little flighty, a little head in the clouds, always thinking about ideas rather than facts. But there’s a reason that entrepreneurs are willing to pay marketers like Fabienne Fredrickson more than they’re willing to pay accountants like me. Well-implemented marketing can produce results that will resolve your financial issues. Well-implemented accounting will ensure that you make wise investments in marketing and that you have financial clarity about the results.

So I appreciate all that accounting and finance have the ability to do (shout-out thanks to Dad for doing my taxes!) but I do hope others can understand that a marketing person’s head in the clouds doesn’t mean she’s flighty,  she’s just thinking of the next great positioning or integrated marketing campaign  to keep your accounting sheets out of the red.

Do you think marketing has a negative stigma? If you’re in marketing, what do you do to combat against it?