Course Syllabus: MARKETING 502A/B Spring/Summer 2019
Professor: Dr. Kyle B. Murray Office: 4-40J
Phone: 780-248-1091
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Page: http://www.kylemurray.com Twitter: @KyleBMurray
COURSE OVERVIEW
This course is intended to provide an intensive examination of marketing and its role in business. Ideally, marketing is pervasive throughout the organization and, among other things, centers on understanding customers, developing a
sustainable differential advantage, managing the marketing mix, branding and communication. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on the application of theoretical concepts to practical marketing problems.
Note that this course requires steady effort throughout the term.
REQUIRED MATERIAL
This is a blended learning course, which means that videos and quizzes posted to eClass will be essential to success in the course. eClass will also include
supplementary materials, such as the lecture schedule and optional readings.
In addition, students must purchase the MARKETING 502 – Harvard Custom Coursepack available at: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/618478. This
coursepack includes the core readings and access to the simulations required for this class.
GRADING
Evaluation will be based on the following components:
Class Participation 10%
eClass Quizzes 5%
May 30th – Pricing Simulation* 5%
June 20th – Final Project Outline 5%
July 11th – Midterm Case Analysis* 20%
July 18th – Managing Customers Simulation Report* 15%
July 25th – Brand Communications Critique 15%
August 8th – Final Project Video Presentation 25%
o Group selection will be discussed during the first class (*denotes group assignment) o Requirements for each of these components are outlined on the following pages.
o Late assignments will be decreased by 10% for each day late.
The final grades in the course will be based roughly on the following schedule:
Letter
Grade Grade Point
Value Percentage (%)
Grade Description
A+ 4.0 ≥ 95% Outstanding
A 4.0 ≥ 90% Excellent
A- 3.7 ≥ 85% Very Good Performance
B+ 3.3 ≥ 80% Good Performance
B 3.0 ≥ 75% Satisfactory Performance
B- 2.7 ≥ 70% Less than Satisfactory
C+ 2.3 ≥ 65% Minimum Pass (Alberta)
All grades below C+ (University of Alberta) are indicative of failure at the graduate level and cannot be counted toward the course requirements.
APPOINTMENTS
Although I do not have set office hours, I do strive to be available to any student who wants to speak with me. However, I ask that you send me a short e-mail ([email protected]) that outlines your questions/concerns, and allows us to arrange a convenient time to meet. It helps me be fully prepared to give you appropriate feedback and advice, and it makes for a much more productive interaction.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect.
Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior (online at
https://www.ualberta.ca/governance/resources/policies-standards-and-codes- of-conduct/code-of-student-behaviour) and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University. All factual information taken from other sources (books, web pages, papers, etcetera) must be referenced in submitted work.
CLASS SCHEDULE & OVERVIEW
*Please see eClass for an up-to-date and detailed week-by-week outline of the course schedule, including weekly readings, cases, videos lectures & quizzes to be completed outside of class time.
SESSION TOPIC CASE / SIMULATION COURSEPACK READING
1 Course Introduction
2 Framework for Marketing Strategy Taco Bell A Framework for Marketing Strategy
3 Segmentation and Targeting Segmentation & Target
Selection
4 Pricing Basics Universal Rental Car
Simulation
5 Customer-Centric Pricing Strategy Pricing Strategy
6 Positioning and Differentiation Starbucks
7 Product Management Aqua Lisa Quartz Product Policy
Summer Break / Reading Week
8 Mid-Term Case The Mid-Term Case will be available on June 20th
& it is due on or before July 11 9 Customer Management Managing Segments &
Customers Simulation
10 Brands and Brand Equity Brands and
Brand Equity
11 Digital Marketing West Jet Christmas
Class Participation
A valuable classroom experience requires rigorous preparation and high-quality class discussion. There is a difference between contributing and merely participating. Merely participating can be achieved by saying just about anything (e.g., quote a number from the case). A meaningful contribution on the other hand requires that you teach the class something useful that could have gone unnoticed. Please note that my emphasis will be more on quality than quantity. Negative contributions such as absence without notice, lack of preparation, negative comments, weak positions and weak defenses will lower your contribution grade.
*class participation is worth 10% of your final grade
eClass Quizzes
There will be five eClass quizzes, which are to be completed individually (i.e., do not share answers or work on the quizzes with other students). These quizzes are intended as a tool to help you assess your understanding of the lectures and readings that week.
*the eClass Quizzes are worth 5% of your final grade
Pricing Simulation
This simulation provides you with an opportunity to apply what you have learned in class to make a series of marketing—and in particular pricing—decisions for a rental car company. You will be competing against the computer and your success, in terms of profitability relative to your peers, will determine your grade. The details of the simulation and the evaluation process will be discussed in class. This is a group assignment and will take place in-class on May 30th.
*the pricing simulation is worth 5% of your final grade
Midterm Case Analysis
At the mid-point of the course, you will be given a case to analyze based on the material covered to that point (i.e., framework for marketing strategy, segmentation, targeting, positioning, pricing and product management). The midterm case will be made available to students on June 20th. The deadline for submission of the case analysis is July 11th. The word limit for this assignment is 2000. This is a group assignment.
*the midterm case analysis is worth 20% of your final grade
Managing Customers and Segments Simulation
In this single-player simulation, students assume the position of CEO of a medical motor manufacturer and are tasked with executing a successful business-to-business
marketing strategy over a period of twelve fiscal quarters. The simulation addresses product policy, pricing, and market positioning of the company's product line to both small and large volume customers. Students also prioritize the manufacturer's efforts in acquiring and retaining customers in order to achieve a combination of sustainable revenues and profits and maximize cumulative profits at the end of the simulation.
You will be competing against the computer and your success – in terms of market share, customer satisfaction, revenue and profitability – will play a role in your final grade.
However, I am more interested in the process you go through than in the results that you achieve.
This is a group assignment.
In less than 2000 words, you are expected to build on the concepts covered so far in the course to provide the following information:
1. Describe your overall marketing strategy.
o How did your approach differ between market segments?
o What role did the available market research play in the strategy you chose to pursue?
2. What were the major turning points in your decision making during the simulation?
o You do not need to provide a rationale for every decision you made;
however, you should explain how the strategy you chose to pursue was refined or revised during the simulation.
o Please provide more detail for periods during which you made a substantial change in your strategy.
o Please explain what you believe drove any period of dramatic results (i.e., any period that was substantially different from the periods before or after it).
3. How would you evaluate your performance?
o What would you do differently if you were to play the same scenario again?
*this assignment is worth 15% of your final grade.
Brand Message Critique
Based on the Brands and Brand Equity lecture, you are to critique a marketing
communication of your choosing. That communication should be one that intends to affect brand equity. Please include a copy of the image or a digital version of the video with your submission. The ad can be drawn from any popular platform (for example:
TV, Print, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc.).
This is an individual assignment.
In your critique, using less than 2000 total words, please answer whichever of the following questions are relevant to the brand communication that you have chosen:
1. The message
Who is the target market for this message? How would you describe the persona?
Will the story be effective with the target audience? Why or why not?
What elements of the message facilitate its transmission in a social network?
Is this a System 1 or a System 2 message?
2. The brand
What stage of the BrandDynamics Pyramid is the message aimed at influencing?
What associations is the message attempting to build or reinforce?
Does this message fit with pre-existing associations? The stories others are telling?
3. How would you measure the success of this message?
4. What, if any, changes would you make to this message?
*this assignment is worth 15% of your final grade.
Final Project Video Presentation
Project Outline
A brief one-page outline of your project is due on June 20th. Early submissions are encouraged. To minimize duplication, topic approval will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. (5% of your final grade)
Project Presentation
You are to select a current business topic with relevance to marketing and develop a 10-12 minute video, which will be made available on a private site for your classmates to view (resources for video development are listed on eClass).
The grade for this assignment will be based on your ability to integrate course material with your own research into your chosen topic. It should be clear in your paper that you understand the relevant course concepts and are capable of using those concepts as a foundation for future learning and/or applying those concepts to real world marketing problems.
Project Objectives & Criteria for Evaluation
The purpose of this project is to permit you to pursue a topic that is of interest to you, but may not be covered in sufficient detail in the course. The project may be applied (identification of a current real-world problem and potential solutions based on course concepts) or theoretical (integrating course concepts with an area of marketing theory that was not covered in the course).
The key criteria for grading this project are:
1. How well you integrate course material into your project.
o How well is not the equivalent of how much. The goal is not to
incorporate as much course material as is possible; instead, you should try to integrate the course material that is most relevant to your chosen topic.
2. What you teach the class (i.e., what your own research brings to the course that is new and expands on concepts covered in the class).
o For an applied contribution, you should use your chosen topic as a way to improve your classmates’ understanding of both the relevant course concepts and the area of application.
o For a new theoretical contribution, you should explain the theory to the class and indicate how it fits within the relevant general marketing concepts covered in this course.
