The Luter College of Business & Leadership is one of the few undergraduate institutions nationwide to implement a degree program in direct/interactive marketing. Opportunities abound for graduates as companies clamor to hire marketers who possess the essential knowledge to compete in the digital age.

Direct marketing is an interactive marketing system using multiple media such as mail, print, telephone, broadcast and internet to target customers, one-on-one. Response is measurable, and the activity is usually stored in a database.

Our marketing curriculum builds on the fundamentals of direct/interactive marketing to help students understand that its use supports the organization’s mission and strategic business initiatives. Students learn to develop and use customer research, databases, direct mail, Internet, print advertising and package designs.

Direct and interactive marketing is hot. As the field has matured, it has become the preferred method of developing and maintaining loyal customers. Nearly half of all advertising expenditures in 2005 were related to direct marketing. In 2006, nearly 10.6 million workers were employed as a result of direct marketing activity, and growth is expected to be at 11.7 percent annually through 2011.

Students who select this specialization are prepared for careers in advertising, promotion, customer relationship management, public relations, sales and other marketingrelated fields.

In addition to course work, students participate in projects with local businesses, marketing internships and direct marketing seminars sponsored by the Direct Marketing Education Foundation (DMEF). Students may also join the CNU Direct Marketing Association that sponsors a variety of speakers and networking activities each semester, as well as an annual career and networking reception.

Students may also compete in direct marketing contests and scholarship programs. CNU’s teams have won numerous regional and national awards competing with more than 200 teams to produce “real world” marketing plans for corporate sponsors. CNU teams have won two gold, a silver and two honorable mention awards in the national ECHO direct marketing competitions.

Dr. Lisa Spiller, CNU marketing professor and creator of the school’s direct and interactive marketing program; was named the 2005 Outstanding Direct Marketing Educator by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation’s Board of Trustees; and in 2007 she won the inaugural CNU Alumni Society Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring.

For a high-demand career that places you where the action is, consider our exciting program focusing on direct and interactive marketing!