Welcome to the Department of Marketing in the E. J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University! This page links you to what we believe is the most exciting business area: marketing. Through this portal you can explore our undergraduate and graduate marketing programs, courses, and faculty. You can also link to some national marketing organizations.

We are often asked "What is marketing?" and, of course, we have an answer to your question. Marketing is just about anything that affects a customer's decision to buy or not buy from a company. It includes all communications (advertising, sales presentations, Web site promo, and the like); and it involves all decisions the company makes about the design and operation of its products and services; it takes in prices as well as price discounts and promotions of various types. Marketing also covers the distribution system, meaning the dealers, retailers, online ordering, and other means of presenting and delivering the product to the customer. On top of these, marketing is normally charged with the responsibility of planning and executing a complete marketing strategy that satisfies customers better than any competitors' marketing strategies. As you can see, marketing performs many vital functions for organizations, and every day brings exciting new challenges to marketing managers.