Marketing: An Introduction

The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to the key concepts, analytical tools, and activities that comprise marketing management. Students will also be provided practice in assessing and solving important marketing problems. This course is a foundation for advanced courses in marketing, which is designed to help students equip themselves with strong theoretical and practical foundations. People often think about marketing as advertising – a highly visible activity by which organizations try to persuade customers to buy products and services. Marketing, however, is much more than advertising alone; advertising itself cannot single-handedly make customers buy things that they don’t want. Rather, marketing involves a wide range of activities that can be broadly categorized into two: (1) having a comprehensive understanding of the market and (2) developing a marketing strategy as a value creation process. With this in mind, I have organized the course into two modules. The first module covers the principles of marketing which are the bases for making marketing strategies, such as identification of market needs and problems. The second module will focus on specific marketing practices and tactics as vehicles of value creation. These marketing decisions (e.g., product, price, distribution, promotion) comprise the marketing mix, which should be designed based on a rigorous analysis of market situations. In other words, failure to find the right combination of the marketing mix may result in business failure. From successful completion of each module, students will be able to acquire knowledge on the factors below. Module 1: Core Marketing Concepts and Frameworks “What is marketing and how are marketing problems analyzed?” You will learn principles of marketing pertaining to: * The definition and scope of marketing * Marketing as a value-creating process * A wide range of analytical frameworks and conduct a situation analysis * The objective, process, and importance of market research * Consumer behavior and consumer decision making process based on the latest findings from consumer psychology Module 2: Developing a Marketing Strategy “How are marketing strategies developed and implemented?” You will learn how to make sound marketing decisions based on the following factors. * Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning: How to assess market potential, understand, and analyze consumer behavior * Branding: How to develop, measure, and capitalize on brand equity * Decision making regarding the Marketing Mix - Product, Price, Place and Promotion - the key tools that are used when putting a marketing plan/strategy into action. This will include consideration of new product development/innovation, pricing strategies, marketing communications/advertising, sponsorship and other promotional efforts, and distribution strategies.