Marketing Communications and Strategy, EN 662.651.02

Fall 2011, Thursday 3 – 5:30; Room?

Instructor: Pamela H. Sheff

Campus extension: 410.516.7056

Cell: 410-336-0679

E-mail:

Office: 102 Whitehead

Office hours: T/ Th: 1:30– 3 p.m., Wed. 12-1p.m. and by appt.

Course Assistant: Scott Clark

E-mail:

Required Texts: The Marketer’s Toolkit, Harvard Business School Press, ISBN: 1591397626;Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, Harvard Business School Publishing Company, ISBN: 9781591396192; Marketing Mistakes & Successes by Robert F. Hartley, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-470-16981-0; The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, ISBN: 978-0-470-54781-6; and Course Pack

Main link (All cases + Pricing simulation):

Team Link (Just the group simulation):

Course Objective: to answer the questions “What is marketing? Why do we do it? How do we do it?”

The course will:

· Familiarize you with the role of marketing within an organization as well as the contemporary and ethical contexts in which marketing operates;

· Introduce you to key marketing ideas, terms and practices;

· Develop your skills in marketing analysis, planning and strategy; and

· Provide practice in presenting, defending and critiquing your own marketing recommendations.

We will explore the theory and practice of marketing in general, and in particular, as it applies to engineering and entrepreneurial organizations. Since marketing is naturally the study of human behavior, our discussions will often take an anthropological tone.

Classes will center on discussions and contemporary issues. I expect you to keep current with developments in the media and come to class prepared to apply the assigned readings to the issues we discuss. The course will run seminar style and involve significant teamwork; each group will come to class prepared with a two page analysis of thecase/cases we are to discuss that day. Since our focus is on marketing as it is practiced in the business world, you will also work in teams to research, develop and present full-scale marketing plans for a choice of new products or services. Presenting and critiquing team projects will provide opportunities to hone communications skills.

Ethics Statement: The strength of the University depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, re-use of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition.

Course Plan

Please read this syllabus with care and request clarification of requirements or policies that are unclear to you. It is your responsibility to meet all deadlines and complete all assignments noted here, even if they are not announced in class. I reserve the right to change this syllabus at any time during the semester based on the needs of the class.

All reading/and or assignments must be completed prior to the class for which they are assigned.

Week 1 (September 1)

Introduction to Marketing

Assigned: Note on Marketing Strategy (Dolan); Marketer’s Toolkit, pp. xi – 17; Chapters 3 – 5.

Week 2 (September 8)

Presentation by Center for Educational Resources: Best Practices in Visual and Oral Communication

Case discussion: NIKE

Assigned: Chapter 19, Marketing Mistakes & Successes (MMS); answer question 6 (p. 318) in a memo of no more than 2-3 double-spaced pages. To answer the question, you must do some research into the athletic goods industry in 2011 and you must incorporate the emergence of Under Armour into the competitive landscape.

Week 3 (September 15)

Understanding the Customer

Case discussion: IKEA Invades America

Assigned:Marketer’s Toolkit, Chapter 7; Blue Ocean Strategy, pp. 3 – 44; Answer the following questions in a 2 -3 page double-spaced memo: What factors account for IKEA’s success? Do you think IKEA is being overly optimistic in its growth plans – why or why not? How would you make the company’s value proposition more attractive to American consumers?

Week 4 (September 22)

Understanding the Competitive Landscape

Case discussion: McDonald’s

Assigned: Chapter 8, MMS; Marketer’s Toolkit, Chapter 5; Blue Ocean Strategy, pp. 45 -115New Rules, p. 71. Answer the following questions in a 2 - 3 page double-spaced memo: Where is McDonald’s in 2011 and what long-term expansion mode would you recommend for the company going forward? Why?

Week 5 (September 27) – Class meets on Tuesday!

Branding

Case discussion: Mountain Man Brewing Company

Assigned: Blue Ocean Strategy, Chapter 6; Marketer’s Toolkit, Chapter 6; New Rules, Chapters 3-5. Answer the following questions in a 2 - 3 page double-spaced memo: would you create a light beer and if so, describe how you would market the new product. If not, explain why and how you would improve sales of your existing product.

Week 6 (October 6)

Pricing

Case discussion: online pricing simulation

Mid-term Exam (take home) assigned

Week 7 (October 13)

Disruptive Technologies

Reading: Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave; Marketer’s Toolkit, Chapter 8

Mid-term Exam due

Form teams for market segmentation simulation game and presentation

Week 8 (October 20)

Case discussion: online market segmentation simulation

Week 9 (October 27)

Team Presentations

Week 10 (November 3)

Ethics in Marketing

Assigned: MMS, Chapter 23: Answer question 2, p. 378, in a 2 - 3 page double-spaced memo; Marketer’s Toolkit, Chapter 2.

Develop ideas/products for marketing plans; form teams.

Week 11 (November 10)

Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy – Guest Speaker

Assigned: New Rules, Chapters 8 -10

Week 12 (November 17)

“Murder Boards” for marketing plan presentations

Week 13 (November 24 –Thanksgiving)

Week 14 (December 1)

Team Presentations of Marketing Plans

Marketing Plans due in written form

Assigned: Final Exam (take home essay) due ? by noon
Graded Assignments

Your grade in this class will be based on the following:

Class participation: 15%

Case analyses: 20%

Mid-term exam: 15%

Team presentation: 15%

Written Marketing Plan: 10%

Presentation of Marketing Strategy: 10%

Final Exam: 15%

35% of your grade in this class will be based on team activities. To insure fairness and accountability, each team member will submit a written performance assessment for every team assignment, including a grade, for his or her team members. You must fully explain or defend the grade.