MARKETING

Required Resources 

Text Chapters

White, S. (2012). Principles of marketing [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://ashford.content.edu

Chapter 1: Marketing Fundamentals

This chapter relates to Discussion 1. In this first chapter, we explore the foundations of marketing as well as its history and evolution. Key concepts:

• The fundamental concept on which all marketing is based
• The 4 eras of marketing history and the changes that ushered them in (and out)
• The 4 P's of marketing
• The 4 utilities of value

In the case study, you'll learn more about the craft brewery movement and one brand's bold efforts to communicate value and differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. And don't forget to check out the short embedded videos where you'll witness the emergence of homo industrialus!

Chapter 2: The Marketing Process

This chapter relates to Discussion 2. Explore the stages of the marketing process from situation analysis to strategy formulation to campaign development to execution to measurement. Key concepts:

• Microenvironment versus macroenvironment influences
• The 5 stages of the market research process
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mass marketing vs. one-to-one marketing

In the featured case study, you'll see the marketing process in action with Project Flogton (a little backwards spelling reveals all!) and its efforts to inject more fun and broaden interest in a popular —if rather staid— pastime.

Article

Oliver Wight Americas, Inc. (2012). New white paper – Marketing’s role in the integrated business planning process: An advanced version of sales and operations planning (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/news/marketing-role-integrated-business-planning.htm

Multimedia

Forbes showcase video: A.G. Lafley defines effective business strategy

Recommended Resources

Deepen your understanding of this module's concepts by exploring the following:

Four new premises for creating strategic advantage through marketing...

Bettencourt, L. A., Lusch, R. F., & Vargo, S. L.(2014, Fall). A service lens on value creation:Marketing’s role in achieving strategic advantage.California Management Review, 57(1), 44-66

A brief history of marketing…

Canal+ (Producer). (2009). Brief history ofmarketing [Video segment]. In Neuromarketing:Consumers Under the Influence. Available fromFilms on Demand database.

Choosing the right name for your brand…

Manning, S. (2014, January). What's in a name?Entrepreneur, 42(1), 74-75

Three strategies for marketers to lead change, rather than react to it…

Yohn, D.L. (2014, February 24). Why marketersneed to stop following trends and start advancingmovements. Forbes. Retrieved fromhttp://tinyurl.com/oabmx5h (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Presentation

Introduction

This slide presentation highlights some of the key concepts of Week 1 including the fundamental question of "what is marketing?"View the Presentation

View the Week 1 Presentation.

QUESTIONS?

Please post any presentation questions to our week 1 Help forum.

Week 1 - Discussion 1

11 unread reply.11 reply.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Role of the Marketing Function

I'll take the job!

Here’s the scenario to imagine: a new 5 week marketing manager internship has opened up at each of the organizations listed below. And based on your past accomplishments (and that awesome business card), they all want you. The internship involves researching your employer’s current marketing efforts and then creating a marketing plan for a new product or service that you dream up. So, the question is – who would you choose to work for and why?

The List

Your choices span a variety of categories as well as marketing approaches. We've provided website links, so you can learn more before making a decision. You will be working with this brand throughout the course, so choose carefully.

• Toms Shoes (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Netflix (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Dunkin' Donuts (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• IKEA (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Mini Cooper (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Red Bull (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Target (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Guided Response:

You're going to create a discussion post that includes the information below. See our sample post for Harley Davidson (which is not one of your choices).

1. The brand you've selected to do your marketing internship with

• Choose from the list above

2. The reasons you selected the brand you did

• Give at least two reasons. No right and wrong answers here!

3. A link to a representative tweet from your brand

• That you believe captures their brand essence
• See the step-by-step tutorial on how to find a tweet and copy the link (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

4. The answers to these questions about your brand's unique selling proposition

• How would you describe your brand's unique selling proposition?
• How is that USP reflected by your chosen tweet?
• Refer back to the text as to what constitutes a USP.

Respond to at least three of your fellow marketers, including one who choose your same brand and two who did not.

• How are your rationales, USPs and sample tweets similar or different?
• Try to respond to those who do not yet have three replies.

I Need Help! I Can Help!

Got questions/issues with Twitter or this activity? Or maybe a helpful tip to share? Please post to our week 1 Help forum, so others can benefit!

Do I need to create a Twitter account?

You do not need to create a Twitter account to do this assignment.

I have chosen to do my marketing manager internship with Harley-Davidson as I think they've done a great job in crafting and maintaining thier brand image. Plus I'm a big fan of the TV show Sons of Anarchy which features lots of Harleys.

I would characterize Harley-Davidson's unique selling proposition with the phrase "American rebellion".

The holiday themed tweet I have chosen expresses this USP in the tagline "for badness sake" and the dominant use of black, silver and gold as well as the skull motif.

What's remarkable about this tweet (which is for Harley themed gift merchandise) is that it doesn't include a motorcycle and the Harley logo is only shown subtlely. The brand is so established that it can rely on its Twitter followers to mentally supply all the associated motorcycle imagery and rebellious associations that the brand has built-up over time.

View online tutorial (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Week 1 - Discussion 2

11 unread reply.11 reply.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 5 (Saturday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Products and Services

Products and Services

Every year hundreds of millions of dollars are spent marketing products (or services) that fail. Millions of dollars those companies would love to get back.

Fortunately you happen to have a functioning time machine that you bought on Craig’s list. And now you’ve got one chance to fix what went wrong in the marketing research process and convince one of those companies not to spend that money.

You’re going to investigate and document the story of a famous new product flop (and market research failure) and how you went back in time to fix it. And since we're marketers, we’re going to do this all in stylish, web 2.0 fashion with Storify.

• Identify and research a prominent new product/service failure.
  • The press loves failures, so you won’t have any problem finding examples.
  • Identify the following: product/service name, the company who marketed it, the year it was introduced and where (particularly if not in the U.S.).
• Find a sample ad for your failed product/service.
  • YouTube is great for TV ads; image searches are great for printed ads. If you can’t find an ad, you probably haven’t picked a big enough flop!
  • Grab the link for your ad.
• Answer the following questions about the market research process.
  • Refer to section 2.3 of the text as needed.
  • What are the steps in a market research process? Provide a brief explanation of each step relating it to your product as possible.
  • Where was the failure in your product's market research process? Which step was missing, not followed correctly, misinterpreted, or misrepresented?
  • What, in a single sentence, is the market research finding that you're going to go back in time and share with management to stop this introduction?
• Package all this information into a Storify story.
  • First, check our our example Storify assignment (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
  • Now see our Storify step-by-step web tutorial (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Don't forget to respond to your fellow marketers.
  • Respond to at least three of your fellow marketers.
  • Explain how their market research failure was similar or different than yours
  • Try to respond to those who do not yet have three replies.

Got questions/issues with Storify or this activity? Or maybe a helpful tip to share? Please post to our week 1 Help forum, so others can benefit!FAQs

Yes, but it is free.

image: Gary Knight via Flickr (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (CC BY 2.0)

View online tutorial (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.