This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 3 (Summer 2014)

The rapidly rising demand for digital marketing expertise and the accompanying explosion in job openings has prompted the School of Business’ Marketing Department to offer a new undergraduate major in Digital Marketing & Analytics at the Stamford campus.

Digital Marketing & Analytics students will learn how to use marketing analytics to gain insights into consumer behavior and to develop digital marketing strategies. The major takes a comprehensive approach that covers all aspects of marketing and includes developing strategies for creating, branding, and positioning digital products and services; dynamic pricing, digital distribution, social media and digital communication; and integrating digital marketing into a firm’s overall marketing strategy.

The new major supplements a certificate in Digital Marketing & Analytics, already available for business students at Storrs, and a minor in Digital Marketing & Analytics, offered to non-business majors at the Storrs, Hartford, and Stamford campuses.

“This will put our students on the frontier of marketing,” said Robin Coulter, professor and head of the Marketing Department at the School of Business. “There is tremendous excitement among students, faculty and the business community. We’re very enthusiastic about the curriculum and the abundant opportunities that await students who pursue these fields,” she said.

In fact, a quick check of the job-hunting web site Indeed.com found 25,000 marketing jobs, many requiring digital media and analytical expertise, all within 50 miles of the Stamford campus.

Lee Manning, human resources director for Coca-Cola Northeast, said the company recruits employees with digital marketing and analytics skills. “The world is changing at a very quick pace,” Manning said. “People have to keep up with the different types of communication. It is important to be quick and nimble in business today, and to stay ahead of the curve.”

For instance, Coca-Cola recognizes the importance of the growing Hispanic market and employs digital marketing experts to explore how its beverages are viewed by those consumers, what questions they may have, and the best way to target information to that consumer demographic.

Proficiency in marketing analytics is rapidly becoming a requirement for many marketing positions and the ability to use analytics to inform marketing strategy is central to leading marketing organizations. Graduates who can strategically use digital analytics to gain and act on insights into consumer search, decision making, purchase activities, and the success of marketing activities are increasingly in demand.

Bernard Gracy Jr. ’85 (ENG), vice president of strategy, Digital Commerce Solutions at Stamford-based Pitney Bowes Inc. said every company today either has to have a digital marketing strategy—or face extinction.

Pitney Bowes is a global technology giant that provides shipping and mailing solutions, data management and engagement software and location intelligence for two million customers, including 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies. It employs 16,000 people.

Gracy said Pitney Bowes used to receive calls from businesses, asking advice on the best location to open a storefront, or the ideal location for a new bank branch. They still do.

“But now what they want is to go global,” he said. “They have globalized digital storefronts that reach consumers around the world. They may want to do business with customers is Botswana, Estonia, Lithuania,” he said. “Digital marketing has never been more important. At Pitney Bowes, we are going through explosive growth.”

The School of Business faculty envisions graduates using their digital analytics and strategic marketing skills in traditional consumer and business-to-business marketing and sales organizations, social media organizations, online firms such as Amazon.com, as well as startups.

Although a general business major has been offered in Stamford for many years, this is the first specialized marketing major offered on the campus and joins the recently launched majors in Financial Management and Business Data Analytics.

“The Digital Marketing & Analytics major concept in Stamford makes incredible sense. Digital media is growing rapidly and the greater Stamford area is becoming a mini mecca for production,” UConn marketing professor Kevin McEvoy said. “We are very central to the marketing and advertising hubs of the world. There are numerous opportunities nearby.”

Meanwhile, students in communication sciences, professional sales leadership, economics and statistics, as well as graphic designers and digital media and design majors are expected to seek the digital marketing and analytics minor.

Approximately 18 percent of the students enrolled in the UConn School of Business are marketing majors.

The Digital Marketing & Analytics major will be available to undergraduate students in Stamford in Fall 2015.