Traditional university marketing degrees are too often failing to teach students practical concepts that reflect the marketing world of the 21st Century, argues MBA provider, Australian Institute of Business (AIB).

The organisation argues that traditional degrees still focuss on outdated theories such as the marketing P’s developed in the 1960s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

The AIB plans to revolutionise its marketing program by throwing away traditional marketing textbooks and, with them, the concepts which are no longer relevant to contemporary marketing and business practice. AIB students will learn the latest in customer experience and digital marketing while developing vital skills to manage marketing initiatives in the current business landscape.

Some of the theories still being taught by universities are almost 60 years old. It begs the question: if students of medicine and science aren’t taught such aged material, why are universities still teaching our future marketing experts these decade-old theories, especially when there is new research constantly being undertaken?

With social media, content streaming, and the creation and consumption of digital content at its peak, AIB recognises that with the online purchase behaviours of consumers, the digital age has revolutionised marketing, and students need to be taught as such.

AIB associate professor Karen Miller said, “Businesses’ need for marketing is still essential, but where that marketing is most effective has changed a lot. Everything in marketing textbooks, even 2019 editions, focuses on the lead up to a purchase and stops there, focusing purely on the notion of marketing being an exchange. But with the digital age, it has grown and evolved to be much more complex than that.”

AIB’s new MBA marketing curriculum takes into consideration the impact the digital world has on how marketing is delivered by including new subjects such as customer experience management, new product design, digital marketing and digital business start-up.

Dr Miller believed changing educator’s mindsets will allow the expansive and modern marketing curriculum, and students, to thrive.

“Teachers are often doing what has always been done, not adapting or changing curriculum to reflect industry practice, the digital age, and the whole marketing package. It’s not as simple as it sounds though, and that’s because marketing textbooks date so quickly. It certainly presents the opportunity for us to develop our own digital textbooks to teach with, in addition to the leading industry journals which AIB currently takes cues from,” continued Dr Miller.

Moving from Queensland to Adelaide to work at AIB, Dr Miller praised the private business school’s commitment as a higher education provider to deliver practical outcomes. “We want to be relevant, practical, and lead the way in preparing our students for the industry,” Dr Miller concluded.