Media Analytics Major
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About the Major
The media analytics major equips students with the knowledge and skills to become effective data-driven decision-makers within the media industry. From understanding Netflix viewership to analyzing Instagram influencers, students learn how to legally and ethically collect data, generate relevant insights and communicate those findings to diverse audiences.
Jobs in Media Analytics
- Consumer insights analyst
- Digital content strategist
- Director of audience development
- Media analyst
- Social media marketing manager
Past Elon Media Analytics Internships
- 22squared
- CollegeAPP
- Collegiate Sports Associates
- Sales Factory
- Texas Instruments
Related Majors
Forging his own path in media analytics has led to diverse experiences
Emmanuel “Manny” Tobe always knew he wanted to major in communications, but the success that came after his graduation was something he never saw coming.
“When I was in high school, I was looking at schools, knowing that I wanted to go into communications,” Tobe said. “I started out as a journalism major because, in high school and middle school, the only career option I knew of in communications was journalism. It wasn’t until I got to Elon and started taking some more classes that I was able to see the different levels of communication and the large number of fields and work that you can do in communications.”
After getting into Elon and experiencing all the majors and fields the university offered, Tobe switched to a double major in media analytics and cinema and television arts, with a minor in political science. He got involved with campus organizations from the start. During his first year, he joined Elon Phoenix Weekly, and by his second year, he and his roommate were producing.
“Being involved in Phoenix Weekly gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “There are a couple of things I did there that I’m really proud of. For one, we strapped the camera to the back of a golf cart for an interview. We also did some really fun stuff, like when we traveled to South Carolina and did a feature on kids who were BMX bikers. We also interviewed David Stern, who’s the commissioner of the NBA.”
Tobe says it’s important to get involved early on and look for the smaller campus and off-campus organizations to offer your expertise.
“One thing that I also recommend is utilizing the community,” he said. “I think that a lot of people underestimate the connection that Elon and Burlington have. I worked at Ace Speedway, a racetrack 40 minutes from campus. I was the communications intern, and I did that for a summer, and it was a great experience that not many Elon students know about.”
Tobe was also a Communications Fellow and credits the program for allowing him to explore multiple fields in communications and meet industry professionals.
“To be a freshman and to get the chance to go to a bunch of advertising agencies and hear from account directors and producers and listen to them talk was so cool,” he said. “I never expected going to those agencies to be as beneficial as it was, but I think that’s the cool thing about being exposed to a lot of different things as a Communications Fellow.”
Immediately after graduating in 2021, Tobe was thrust into the professional world with a three-week internship for the Tokyo Olympics. Later, he began working for the NBA in broadcast operations. One of his top experiences while working for the NBA was being able to work out of Las Vegas and help with the summer league tournament.
While Tobe has also started his own company, Ecsetera, the effort is on hold for now. He is currently working for Droga5, an award-winning advertising agency based in New York City. His favorite work to date with the company is working on a video for a charity called HT40.
The agency created a video for this charity with the NHL that had high schoolers and a couple of NHL players singing “Lean on Me” while skating on the ice, emphasizing that if you need someone to lean on, there are people around you, and there’s no struggle you have to go through on your own.
Tobe also worked on the award-winning Bosch Appliances ad for this year’s Super Bowl, which starred Guy Fieri and aired during the game’s second quarter. The ad was a major success, even winning the “Readers’ Choice Best Ad” award from Ad Age.
“I was responsible for producing some of the digital banners and social media for the campaign,” he said. “It was an incredible experience and gave me such insight into how large campaigns are made and what happens when people work together to accomplish a goal.”
Tobe says working in advertising is different from how it used to be, but it makes the field exciting.
We can fast forward, we can skip, we can go on a streaming service, we can pull out our phones and look at something else. Because of how technology and the media have changed and evolved with us while growing up, we are a generation that must be really advertised to and marketed in creative, cool ways.
Tobe has taken the lifelong learner approach when it comes to his career. His advice to recent graduates is to stop stressing about titles and roles you see on LinkedIn, noting that everyone is on their own path, and it’s important not to get distracted by others and to be true to yourself.
Did You Know?
- Elon’s media analytics graduates have gone on to work at companies such as Google, Disney, Fox, Bloomberg and the NBA.
- Student media organizations offer students an array of opportunities to get hands-on analytics experience. Among them: Elon News Network, Elon Student Television, the radio station WSOE-FM, Live Oak Communications and Elon Sports Vision.
- Want to pursue your own project? Go ahead. Elon is a national leader in undergraduate research and has experienced faculty eager to help you explore your own media analytics-related inquiry.