1. Marketing Research and Analytics Program Opens Doors to
Various Careers
Did you know that in order to launch careers as marketing research, CRM, direct response, online
marketing, loyalty program, sales data or marketing strategy analysts as well as data and
analytics and business analytics specialists, you only have to attend one program?
Centennial College’s Marketing Research Analytics offering (officially known as Marketing –
Research & Analytics) is open to applicants who have previously completed a three-year college
diploma or university degree in any discipline or have a two-year college diploma or a partial
university degree (75 per cent complete), and who have a minimum of two years work experience
relevant to the program. Additionally, applicants may be required to present proof of English
proficiency and an assessment of numeracy skills.
Because the program is geared to mature students, its curriculum excludes liberal studies in order
to focus on techniques used to determine and extract valuable knowledge about competitors and
customers in a market setting. As such, the program contains a mixture of lectures and labs
where students are exposed to SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Enterprise Miner. In addition,
students are exposed to Environics Analytics Envision software to develop comprehensive profiles
of selected target markets. These are leading software solutions used in the Research and
Analytics fields. Students also have access to the full suite of Microsoft products, including:
Microsoft CRM, Excel and PowerPoint. Specific courses in which students partake include:
Marketing Analysis and Planning, Fundamentals of Marketing Research, Computer Application for
Marketing Analytics, Statistics for Marketing Research, Case Analysis and Marketing Metrics,
Fundamentals of Interactive Marketing and more.
Despite its short length, this program gives students the opportunity to learn through hands-on
application such as case studies, simulations, project-based learning. The goal of the practical
aspects is on helping students to develop project management, teamwork, analytical and report
writing and presentation skills. A final semester opportunity allows students to develop and
implement a capstone project that integrates and applies all of their learning.
Upon successful completion of each marketing research course in this offering, students are
prepared to launch careers as analysts on whom marketers rely on for their insight, to make
effective decisions, attract a greater client base and deepen existing client relationships. This
reliance indicates the vital role that marketing research plays in managerial decision-making. In
their roles, graduates must: use different research methodologies to conduct effective surveys,
perform statistical analysis and identify industry trends and consumer behaviors, design
questionnaires, complete data manipulation and quality control, create statistical output and
development of programs, and more.
It is worth noting that graduates of the Marketing Research and Analytics program will receive an
Ontario Graduate Certificate from Centennial College, plus Certificates of Recognition from SAS
and Environics Canada. To receive the SAS certificate, students must successfully complete the
three specified SAS courses in the program.