Marketing
Sample Course Outlines
Brand Management
Course Overview
One of the most invaluable intangible assets that a firm has is its brand(s). Brand also plays a critical role in successful marketing strategies. This course introduces you to the concepts of brand, brand equity, and strategic brand management. You will learn to identify and establish brand positioning and values; design branding strategies; grow and sustain brand equity. The course will use a combination of: case studies of leading brands, lecture, discussion, role-play, student presentations, and guest speakers.
Course Objectives
- To formulate effective brand strategies to build and manage brand equity
- To evaluate an actual firm's branding strategy using brand audit methodology
- To have hands-on practice of a "new" brand design
- To enhance your communication and group management skills
Grading
| Activity | Points |
| Class Participation | 20 |
| Individual Case Study | 15 |
| Quiz | 15 |
| New Brand Presentation | 25 |
| Brand Audit Project | 25 |
| Optional Presentation | 5 |
| Bonus | 10 |
| Total | 115 |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Introduction to Marketing
Course Overview
This course lays the foundation for all the subsequent courses in the program. Students will develop a solid working knowledge of the 4 P's of marketing—product, price, promotion, place—along with concepts such as target markets, demographics/psychographics, positioning, product life cycle, adoption curve, and the other fundamental components. The course includes interactive discussions among the students, case studies, and marketing projects formulated by teams of students.
Course Objectives
The basic objective of the course is to provide the students with a broad introduction to marketing concepts, how these concepts fit within the overall strategy of the firm, and how they influence management and decision making.The practice of marketing is both strategic and tactical. Marketing strategy involves high-level decision making regarding products and services, target markets, competition, and expansion or growth. Marketing tactics seek to effectively implement these strategies to a profitable conclusion. It is with the seamless transition from strategy to tactics that gives the firm a higher probability of success.
The center of the marketing universe is the customer. This has to be the main underlying principle of all marketing theories. The organization that is the most able to provide the best value for the customer is the organization that is most likely to succeed and last. This course will include best-practice concepts that will relate marketing theories to the benefits and advantages of being a customer-centric firm.
Grading
| Activity | Points |
| Midterm Exam | 25 |
| Final Exam | 40 |
| Class Participation | 15 |
| 2-3 Page Paper | 20 |
| Total | 100 |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Global Business and Marketing Strategy
Course Overview
This course is the capstone course for several of the International Diploma Programs. Its purpose is to provide knowledge and skills in strategic management as well as to apply principles learned in other courses in the Business Administration, International Business, and Marketing International Diploma Programs. You will be a member of a team that will:
- Run a business—that is, act as senior management for a large company
- Attempt to manage your company in order to make a profit, the goal of business
- Compete with other teams to be successful in a complex international market
- Learn to think as a general manager rather than as a marketer, accountant, or finance person
- Experience the strategic process of setting a goal and achieving that goal, taking into account all the elements of your company—production, human resources, finance, marketing—as a means to execute your strategy.
Course Objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able to- Work together with other international students to “run a company”—i.e., manage and coordinate individual departments to produce an integrated business strategy
- Make decisions from a company-wide rather than a silo perspective
- Analyze and respond to competitors in a dynamic international market
- Integrate production with marketing, human resources, and international trade, as well as with the financial aspects of a business
- Understand and perform the basic financial calculations required to run a business
- Develop strategies and revise them in light of your company’s changing situation
- Analyze results to identify options for your company under stress conditions
- Evaluate tradeoffs between preserving short-term profitability and the long-range need to strengthen your company’s competitive position
- Apply what you are learning from your other courses
Grading Criteria
Student grades will be determined based on the percentage of points earned on five separate graded events, some individual, some team, as follows:| Assignment | Percentage |
| Active Class Participation [individual] | 10% |
| (Are you present, on time, and active, including breaks?) Team gets points if on time. |
|
| Quizzes [2 x 10%] | 20% |
| (Does your company know what it is doing?) | |
| Practice Strategy Template | 10% |
| (How you plan to execute your strategy.) | |
| Team Score on Simulation | 40% |
| (How well your team does under stress.) You may assume a C+ if you make an effort. [Part of your grade is your instructor assessment of your contribution and effort.] |
|
| Individual Final Paper | 20% |
| (Links this course to your overall program.) | |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Integrated Marketing Communications
Course Overview
This course introduces you to an integrated marketing communications (IMC) concept. Your instructor will take you through an overview of marketing communications methods that result in your creating abbreviated strategic plans such as a creative brief, public relations plan, personal selling and sales promotion plan, general and direct marketing plan, and media plan. As you learn the concepts, you will be implementing these methods into an integrated marketing communications plan.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to- Develop competitive strategies and plans for an integrated marketing communications plan and its related disciplines of study—i.e., advertising, marketing, media, etc.
- Analyze the marketing promotional mix elements (advertising, public relations, direct marketing, media planning, personal selling, sales promotion, and Internet marketing)
- Decide which qualities of each marketing discipline and tools of each are most effective to meet your customers' needs depending on variables such as product or service type and available budget
Grading
| Assignment | Percentage |
| Assignments | 80% |
| Final Exam | 15% |
| Attendance | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Global Marketing
Course Overview
The Global Marketing course is designed to introduce students to advanced marketing concepts and practices in a global business environment. A comprehensive overview of the dynamics and trends in global marketing include market analysis, strategic planning, product positioning, messaging, project management, integrated marketing communications, distribution, and pricing. Special emphasis will be placed on the development and delivery of global launches and campaigns. The course addresses the skills necessary for evaluating, developing, and delivering marketing programs for a global and multicultural audience. This interactive course will include a variety of teaching methods and media such as class discussions, exercises, simulations, case studies, video and Web, guest speakers, and presentations.
Course Objectives
By the course's end, you will be able to- Understand how to evaluate and apply global market dynamics and trends
- Develop a global strategy and launch plan to ensure successful execution worldwide
- Recognize global and local marketing practices and apply protocol to various intercultural situations
- Evaluate cultural value systems, behavior standards, communication techniques, and issues of diversity to be used as guidelines for working with local markets
- Learn how to develop and apply communication strategies, tools, and technologies that enable international customer success
- Understand how to organize operations and manage teams for successful global program execution
Grading
| Assignment | Percentage |
| Participation: Attendance and Assignments | 20% |
| Quizzes | 20% |
| Marketing Project | 30% |
| Final Exam | 30% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Marketing Research
Course Overview
This course is designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of the field of marketing research. Class participants will study the central concepts of marketing research, as well as the tools and techniques used in this field to support good marketing decisions. Students will follow the research process from the determination of an organization's marketing problem to the application of the appropriate research design to resolve that problem.
Course Objectives
Upon completing the course, you will be able to- Understand and accurately apply the key concepts and terminology of marketing research
- Determine how the marketing research process is applied to marketing problems to make appropriate decisions
- Use appropriate secondary data resources to clarify marketing problems
- Distinguish between good and ineffective qualitative and quantitative research tools
- Create effective research designs and instruments to solve marketing problems
- Understand and use approaches for primary data collection
- Design a research process to solve a marketing problem, using the most appropriate research techniques for a given situation
- Demonstrate an understanding of data analysis techniques
- Consolidate and present an entire research project, from defining a marketing problem to compiling the data, with appropriate recommendations based on the research conducted
Grading
| Assignment | Percentage |
| Individual Assignments (65% of grade) | |
| Class Tests | 25% |
| Secondary Research Assignment | 20% |
| Qualitative Research Design and Results | 10% |
| Participation in Discussions and Activities | 10% |
| Group Assignments (35% of grade) | |
| Problem Definition/Objectives | 5% |
| Questionnaire Design and Implementation | 15% |
| Final Group Presentation and Materials | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Strategic Marketing
Course Overview
In this course you will be able to utilize and apply all that you have learned in the previous marketing courses. From a strategic perspective, marketing is comprehensive and includes not only the understanding of marketing terminology but also a method of applying it in a competitive environment. Marketing is dynamic and requires us to constantly be aware of the marketplace from the viewpoint of the customer and the competitors. The objective of marketing strategies is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for your company and its products and services. In this course we will primarily focus on the dynamics of competition and we will explore some new concepts, gain new insight, and develop new skills as we approach several marketplaces.
Course Objectives
Strategic marketing's pivotal role in business performance is demonstrated in the market-driven strategies of successful organizations competing in a wide array of market and competitive situations. The escalating importance of superior customer value, leveraging distinctive capabilities, responding rapidly to diversity and change in the marketplace, creating new products, and recognizing global business challenges requires effective marketing strategies for gaining and sustaining a competitive edge. Strategic Marketing examines the concepts and processes involved in market-driven strategies.Grading
| Assignment | Percentage |
| Class Attendance (300 points) | 10% |
| Group Case Analysis (600 points) | 20% |
| Group Board of Directors Presentation (150 points) | 5% |
| Midterm Exam (750 points) | 25% |
| Final Project (450 points) | 15% |
| Final Exam (750 points) | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.
Marketing Metrics
Course Overview
This seminar covers the relevant principles and concepts of business accounting, finance, and economics necessary for you as a marketing professional to effectively contribute to your company's success, both as marketers and as future senior managers or business owners. This course forms the foundation upon which you will build a better understanding of what "the numbers are telling" you about business performance and about how your marketing efforts will be judged by senior management's use of financial analysis.
Course Objectives
Marketing Metrics will help you to- Understand the external numbers that impact strategic business decisions
- Understand how to raise money and manage a company's cash
- Interpret and work through basic accounting and financial statements
- Use numbers effectively to make and to evaluate existing and future financial marketing decisions
- Know how to differentiate costs, revenue, profitability, and the role of cash
- Understand the interrelationships of price sensitivity, budgeting, forecasting, and the costs of distribution, inventory, and promotion
Grading
| Assignment | Percentage |
| Class participation | 10% |
| Quizzes and homework | 30% |
| Final Paper | 60% |
| Total | 100% |
Note: Course content may vary from this sample outline.