FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005

CONTACT: Steve Dolan
(619) 594-5664
sdolan@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO, Thursday, September 8, 2005 -To meet the needs of today's workforce, the College of Extended Studies at San Diego State University offers certificate programs in marketing, advertising, public relations, media, and sales.

The Professional Certificate in Marketing and Media Specialist program allows you to learn everything you need to know to quickly enhance your career and earning capacity in the aforementioned fields. Past students have found this program to be especially rewarding due to the real-life, eye-opening approach of the instructors, with each providing real-world, ready-to-use definitions, examples, and advice relative to the business of mass communication and sales.

Practical information you'll understand and use everyday is stressed. This comprehensive program is provided through a partnership between SDSU's College of Extended Studies and the San Diego Ad Club.

Courses include:

Media Planning and Buying: This course is an introduction to the subject of evaluating and selecting media in order to meet specific strategic marketing goals. It covers a broad spectrum of decisions that must be made when working with media.

Key topics include: types of media including electronic, print, and out-of-home; advantages and limitations of all media; components of the media plan including target audience, geography, seasonality, communication objectives, media budgeting, media strategies and tactics; and media buying methods.

Media Sales and Promotion: This course takes a good look at the benefits and challenges of a career in media sales. You'll study the building blocks to a sale -- research, promotion, and other collateral areas. You'll understand what the client means and needs for promotion. And you'll learn the current and future state of the industry via lectures and panel discussions with practicing professionals.

Key topics include: the fundamental components of sales, the keys to successful sales, understanding what the client wants and needs, and where the industry is going.

The Marketing and Advertising Campaign: With this capstone course, you'll take everything you've learned in the program and put it to use. Here, your entire class becomes a virtual full-service marketing and advertising agency, selects a business to pitch, and creates the plan and campaign to win the business.

Key topics include: the campaign planning system, the creative process, the client's situation analysis, branding, positioning, and the big idea.

To earn a career-enhancing Marketing and Media Specialist Certificate, you must pass six courses: The Marketing Plan, Creativity and the Media, The Principles of Media Management, Media Planning and Buying, Media Sales and Promotion, and The Marketing and Advertising Campaign.

For more information or to register, call (619) 594-6255 or visit www.NeverStopLearning.net.

SDSU's College of Extended Studies offers a wide variety of lifelong learning classes, seminars, and certificate programs. Career advancement courses are offered in many areas of management, leadership, and quality improvement while self-enrichment courses range from astronomy to web design. Additionally, the College offers over 30 certificate programs, online courses, and many other learning opportunities. For more information on the cutting-edge opportunities offered in sales and marketing, or other programs, visit the College's web site at www.NeverStopLearning.net.