MBA and Sloan Elective Courses: Marketing
MKTG 231. Marketing and Competition
The Marketing and Competition core variant will cover both marketing to consumers, using case studies and lectures, and marketing to businesses, using the INDUSTRAT competitive simulation. Class case discussions will focus on key concepts and marketing analyses as well as new perspectives on customer analysis and marketing strategies. The course will include three modules: (1) Analyzing Marketing Opportunities, (2) Developing Marketing Strategies, and (3) New Trends in Marketing Strategy Implementation. A major part of the course will employ the INDUSTRAT competitive simulation. In this simulation, each team, representing a company in 5-firm industry, will have to make a wide range of decisions, such as customer and segment selection, positioning, market research, sales force deployment, R&D, and whether to form alliances with other firms. During INDUSTRAT sessions, teams will discuss the previous period's results and marketing research data to make decisions for the next period.
MKTG 240. Marketing Management
The objectives of this course are to introduce students to the substantive and procedural aspects of marketing management and to sharpen skills for critical analytical thinking and effective communication. Specifically, the goals are to introduce students to marketing strategy and to the elements of marketing analysis: customer analysis, competitor analysis, and company analysis; to familiarize students with the elements of the marketing mix (product strategy, pricing, advertising and promotion, and distribution), and to enhance problem solving and decision-making abilities in these operational areas of marketing; and to provide students with a forum (both written and verbal) for presenting and defending their own recommendations, and for critically examining and discussing the recommendations of others.
MKTG 324. New Product Development
This course deals with the challenge of bringing to market elegant and efficient solutions to strong customer needs. This challenge is fundamental in customer-centric innovation, and is relevant whether students work for a startup or a large company, whether they sell products or services, and whether the customers are individual consumers or companies. The course will focus primarily on state of the art frameworks, concepts and tools that have been recently validated by innovative companies. Learning is structured around the following basic steps of the innovation process: 1) Opportunity identification; 2) Idea generation; 3) Design; 4) Testing; and 5) Launch.
MKTG 331. Marketing to Businesses
The overarching objective of the Marketing to Businesses course is to impart concepts, tools, and frameworks that students can apply as they pursue careers as business-to-business marketers, consultants, service professionals, and venture capitalists. Specific objectives of the course include (a) an analysis of the unique challenges in marketing to businesses (e.g., selling to a complex decision making unit, need for customization), (b) developing problem-solving skills oriented to business marketing strategy, and (c) identifying tools for market, segment, and customer selection and management. An important component of the course will be the INDUSTRAT competitive marketing simulation, in which teams will compete in an industrial market and make decisions regarding such aspects as segment selection, sales force deployment and compensation, alliances, pricing, and R&D. Not taught in 0209-10.
MKTG 340. Marketing Management: Advanced Application
This course is designed for students who have had prior exposure (either through previous coursework or work experience) to the marketing process and to the basic principles of marketing management. There will be an emphasis on application; i.e., the integration and use of marketing tools and frameworks to address problems of practice in marketing. Possible project modules include: devise a marketing plan for a broad line of consumer products; redesign a customer loyalty program; develop an integrated marketing communications campaign for a new product launch; re-launch a brand; plan and execute a channel expansion strategy.
MKTG 343. Customer-Focused Product Marketing
The objective of this course is to understand customer preferences, perceptions, and behaviors for product and service marketing (and, to some extent, pricing decisions). A dominant paradigm in the course is to conceptualize customers as choosing among products and services based on product positioning on multiple attributes or features. Methods for measuring customers' preference tradeoffs, perceptions, and trial and repeat purchase behaviors are emphasized. Topics include conjoint analysis (a set of methods to measure the values customers place on various product features and price); their use in determining benefit segments and in evaluating alternative product and pricing decisions; methods for measuring and understanding customer perceptions and brand equity; simulated and real test markets for predicting the likely success of new products; and customer adoption of new product categories. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 344. Marketing Research
This course is aimed at informing students of state-of-the-art marketing research. It aims to help students ask interesting and relevant marketing questions, search for the appropriate methodology, and make effective decisions based on the research output. The main objectives are to equip students with scientific methods to analyze marketing data and to develop an appreciation for the potential contributions and limitations of market research. Emphasis will be placed on both qualitative and quantitative aspects of marketing research. The research should help managers in addressing substantive marketing problems such as: market segmentation, estimating market potential, forecasting market demand, designing advertising and pricing practices policies, and developing new products.
MKTG 347. Strategic Marketing Communication
This course is designed to sharpen students' grasp of the strategic and tactical avenues that lead to competitive advantages in the marketplace. The course will begin with a strong emphasis on marketing strategy and introduce students to powerful frameworks that will address two broad goals of any firm: (1) Establish a competitive advantage by offering a super customer value proposition and (2) Generate sustainable organic growth. Since any good strategy needs to be followed up by effective tactics, the course will then segue into marketing communication tactics that will enable the firm effectively accomplish its strategic objectives. Here, the concepts and frameworks will only be applicable to traditional approaches (such as the use of television, print, and point-of-purchase promotions) but also to emergent approaches (such as the use of the internet, mobile media, etc.). Designed from the perspective of executives who are often involved in making strategic as well as tactical marketing decisions to solve contemporary business problems, this course is intended for students whose career plans include consulting and new business ventures (especially those that are related to emerging media), apart from those thinking of careers in marketing. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 352. Building Strong Global Brands
Which brands do you love? Apple? IDEO? Method? Daily Show? Google? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you create a powerful brand? These are the questions we will explore in Building Innovative Brands. The focus of the project-based class is to explore how to build innovative brands, where brand is defined as "a sensibility" or "reputation"—departing from traditional perspectives of brand. The reality is that most brands could be making a much stronger impact than they are today in terms of deeper purpose, social value, and greater inspiration for employees as well as customers. This seminar will dive into this potential. We will hone in on brands that excel at (a) strategic philanthropy (i.e., doing good and making money) (b) telling their story and (c) incorporating a strong design element into the brand which infects the company internally and customers externally. This 4 unit version of MKTG 552 is not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 356. Global and International Marketing
This course addresses the opportunities and challenges associated with the development and implementation of marketing strategy in international markets. It aims to develop frameworks and knowledge that will enable future managers to better formulate and effectively implement marketing plans in different regions of the world. Topics covered include global brand management at different stages of the product life cycle; analysis of various international market structures; market entry strategies in developed and emerging markets including country selection and marketing program design based on consumer, country and competitive analysis; international marketing mix strategies including the globally standardized versus locally adapted marketing program debate, product positioning, international channel selection and management, international pricing, and advertising and promotion strategies; marketing alliances; international retailing strategies; marketing leadership styles while pursuing global offensive and defensive strategies; and marketing organization and control including managing headquarter-subsidiary relationships. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 357. Brand Planning
This seminar addresses some of the basic branding decisions faced by companies. The main objective of the course is introduce students to the concepts, models and methods that will help address the challenges faced by brand stewards, brand managers and others in marketing-related positions. The course will rely on leveraging marketing theory, science and practice to understand and manage brands. Specifically, the objectives of this course are to shed insight on:
- Understanding the Brand: Determining brand positioning and value proposition
- Crafting the Brand: Planning and implementing brand marketing programs
- Building the Brand: Building consumer-brand relationships and measuring brand performance
- Managing the Brand: Growing and sustaining brand equity over time and across geographic boundaries
Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 363. Strategic Services Management
Service industries account for more than 75% of developed economies with developing nations following close behind. Executives in service industries often report that the conventional business solutions designed for manufacturing and CPG (consumer-packaged-goods) industries are not always useful and relevant for managing services. For example, managing customer interactions takes a whole new meaning in services industries, which unlike CPGs are temporally extended processes that require involvement of customers in the creation and delivery of the service. This need to better understand service-systems is reflected in heightened efforts to establish service-science as a discipline by companies interested in service innovation (e.g., IBM and Oracle). In response to the changing needs of businesses, this course will develop an appreciation for how managing services, and the unique challenges they face, differ in key respects from managing conventional marketing operations. Students preparing for entrepreneurship, management, consulting or non-profit careers will learn how service planning and implementation systems operate to create profitable and sustainable service offerings. We will explore particular challenges in the delivery of superior service, whether it is face-to-face or electronic, across several industries including financial institutions, high-tech businesses, hospitality, healthcare, entertainment and non-profit sector.
MKTG 365. Applied Marketing Analytics
Firms operate in an increasingly challenging business environment, with greater competition, more informed customers and rapidly changing market trends. Simultaneously, they also have access to more information about their customers, the marketplace and their competitors than ever before. In this environment, knowing how to use this information to make optimal business decisions is a crucial competitive advantage. Firms often have access to data that they do not know how to use. The objectives of this course are to introduce students to state-of-the-art marketing analytics and to teach them how to practically apply these analytics to real-world business decisions.
MKTG 371. Pricing Strategy and Analysis
Pricing right is fundamental to a firm's profitability in a competitive business environment. Yet firms in diverse industries implement ad-hoc rules and trial-and-error approaches to pricing that significantly reduce profits. This course will draw on strategy, marketing techniques, and principles from microeconomics to describe practical approaches that are useful for optimal pricing decision-making. The main objective is to help students develop a systematic framework to think about, analyze and develop strategies for pricing right. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 375. Consumer Behavior
Contemporary approaches to marketing emphasize the importance of adopting a consumer focus, from determining consumers' wants and needs to shaping their attitudes and ensuring purchase satisfaction. This course provides insight into consumer psychology and the means by which consumer behavior can be influenced or altered. The course has both theoretical and practical objectives in that will: (1) explore theoretical frameworks and research findings that are relevant to understanding consumer psychology and behavior, and (2) apply these frameworks and findings to show how they can be used to develop effective marketing techniques and tactics. By shedding light on the psychological underpinnings of consumers' thoughts, attitudes, preferences, needs, and decision making styles, this course will help students make more insightful and effective marketing decisions.
MKTG 376. Creativity and Innovation: Ideas That Work
Creativity is not some ethereal quality that only a chosen few are blessed with; innovation is not the nebulous work of "creative people." Practical methods can be learned by anyone and harnessed in business to change the world. The goal of the seminar is to learn frameworks that stimulate and foster creativity. The course will explore processes and ideas that will help students address and improve companies in a rut, entrepreneurial startups, new projects, customer research, company discovery, customer marketing and information delivery. Students will work in small self-selected teams to study innovative companies (e.g., IDEO, Facebook, Diggnation, Mozilla, Comedy Central, Apple), and truly creative individuals. This course will also examine the relationship between creativity and health, happiness and productivity with the goal of generating specific techniques and tricks to increasing the tendency to think differently. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 532. Persuasion
This course will provide insight into the psychology of persuasion. It will examine classic and contemporary theories of persuasion and discuss cutting-edge research findings that explore ways to form, maintain, and change people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Students will learn about diverse and effective persuasion techniques (e.g., how to give messages more impact), and students will build an understanding of the psychology driving those techniques to help develop novel ideas for influencing others and shaping their thoughts and actions. "Persuasion" is a good course for students pursuing careers in virtually any industry, with particular relevance for those interested in marketing, entrepreneurship, leadership, and organizational behavior more generally.
MKTG 536. Entrepreneurial Ventures in Luxury Markets
No description available.
MKTG 547. Strategic Marketing Communication—Compressed
The course is designed to sharpen students' grasp of the strategic and tactical aspects of Marketing Communications that lead to competitive advantages in the marketplace. The course will begin a focus on strategy and introduce students to frameworks that address two broad goals of any firm: (1) Establish a competitive advantage by offering a superior customer value proposition and (2) Generate sustainable organic growth. The course will then segue into marketing communication tactics that will enable the firm effectively accomplish its strategic objectives. Here, the concepts and frameworks will only be applicable to traditional approaches (such as the use of television, print, and point-of-purchase promotions) but also to emergent approaches (such as the use of the internet, mobile media, etc.). Designed from the perspective of executives who are often involved in making strategic as well as tactical marketing decisions to solve contemporary business problems, this course is intended for students whose career plans include consulting and entrepreneurial ventures, apart from those thinking of careers in marketing.
MKTG 549. Understanding Consumers, Understanding Cultures
The focus of the seminar is on understanding current theoretical, conceptual and methodological approaches to various aspects of cultural psychology and anthropology, particularly in the context of consumer behavior. A secondary goal is to advance this knowledge by gaining some insight into how to conduct the research, gleam insights from the environment and through interacting with consumers, and drawing marketing implications for that knowledge. Thus, the seminar is similar to a PhD seminar in that it entails reviewing and discussing a set of articles that focus on cross-cultural marketing issues, understanding the methodologies used in the articles and discussing the marketing implications of the findings in the articles. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 551. Initiating, Sustaining, and Monetizing Green Marketing
The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in environmental consciousness among customers, especially among the crucial 18-34 demographic. Going green for marketers is no longer a luxury, it is becoming a necessity. How should marketers think about initiating and sustaining green marketing? How can they differentiate themselves from competition, especially with every player wanting to jump onto the green bandwagon? More importantly, how can marketers exploit this rapidly growing trend in terms of monetizing such efforts? Where are such opportunities likely to arise in the future both in terms of technological and marketing innovations? The primary goal of this seminar is to address these questions across different domains and industries, thereby gaining insights in an area of marketing that is so green (pun intended).
MKTG 552. Building Innovative Brands
Which brands do you love? Apple? IDEO? Google? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you cultivate a well-loved brand? These are the questions we will explore in Building Innovative Brands. The focus of the project-based class is to explore how to build innovative brands, where brand is defined as a "reputation"—departing from traditional perspectives of brand. The reality is that most brands could be making a much stronger impact than they are today—in terms of deeper purpose, social value, and greater inspiration for employees as well as customers. This seminar will dive into this potential by analyzing brands that excel at (a) strategic philanthropy (i.e., doing good and making money) (b) telling their (unique) story and (c) incorporating a strong design element into the brand—which can infect the company internally and customers externally. The class will encompass a broad ecosystem of contributors. Leaders from the world of brand—both small entrepreneurial companies and large, global market-leaders—will be incorporated into the class both as presenters as well as advisors to offer first-hand perspectives about the challenges and lessons along their varied paths to success. This approach is intended to make the walls between the classroom and the world outside a little more porous.
MKTG 561. Channels Management
The design and management of channels of distribution are critical components of business strategy and key elements in organizing and implementing marketing strategy. The course aims to introduce frameworks and develop practical managerial learnings for effective design, implementation and management of channel networks. The course begins by identifying and discussing some fundamental decisions regarding design of channel structures and systems including selection of types of channel intermediaries, number of resellers to be used, targeted intensity of market coverage, desired channel length and breadth, and terms of contracts between channel members. The course also covers issues relating to the design and management of multiple and hybrid channels. The merits and demerits of various forms of resellers at each level of marketing channels are also evaluated. Types of channel members discussed include wholesalers, dealers, distributors and retailers. Franchise systems and the impact of electronic channels on channel structures are also covered. The second half of the course covers the relationship of channel management with other elements of the marketing mix, as well as the ongoing management and coordination of channels as markets evolve, including how channel conflict and channel power influence behavior of channel members and affect channel function and performance. Case studies exemplify how firms have grappled with the challenge of building channel cooperation and productivity, and developing working relationships among channel members over the channel life cycle in national and international markets. Some special types of channel structures prevalent in certain regions of the world will also be discussed. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 564. Conjoint Analysis
There is a considerable amount of emphasis in most companies on being customer-oriented. The focus of this second year seminar is to understand customers for product (or service) planning and, to a lesser extent, pricing decisions. Specifically, the seminar emphasizes the understanding of customer preferences. A dominant paradigm in the seminar is to conceptualize customers as choosing among products and services based on product positioning on multiple factors (attributes/features). The seminar focuses on Conjoint Analysis, methods that assess the values customers place on different factors of a product, and determine how the values are traded off in making brand-choice decisions. The resulting information is useful in evaluating alternative product and pricing decisions, and in understanding the market in terms of benefit segments. Not taught in 2009-10.
MKTG 565. Strategic Product Line Management
Product managers in industrial, technology, and consumer goods companies often face the challenge of developing and maintaining an optimal product portfolio over time. For example, a Ford product manager might consider expanding the product line by adding new models or cutting the number of models to focus on the ones with the highest profit margins. At HP the decision might be whether to focus on slashing production costs by introducing new printers similar to existing ones or on minimizing cannibalization by offering cutting edge new technology. For a brand manager at Clorox the challenge could be whether to respond to a competitive threat by aggressively marketing products in the same space or by retrenching to a niche market. This course will discuss the current marketing thinking on the topic and relevant frameworks that will help managers make efficient product line decisions after examining external market forces and internal capabilities. Students will apply the concepts discussed in class by developing a marketing strategy for a product line of their choice. Not taught in 2009-10.