Marketing Strategy: Decision Making & Analysis

Course Objectives

• Enhance understanding of the marketing decision-making process
• Develop ability to formulate marketing strategy
• Further develop analytical skills by working with market data
• Make sound decisions and recommendations based on analysis
• Develop oral and written communication skills to meet business standards
• Improve interpersonal skills for effective team work

Communication Guidelines

• Lecture slides are posted on Canvas in advance
• Email is the best way to contact, aiming for a response within 24 hours
• Include the class number (MKTG 419) in the email subject line
• Students are responsible for checking email regularly for class updates
• Report any technical issues with course materials access ASAP
• The calendly link is: https://calendly.com/dr_lada_kurpis/15min

Class Policies

• Late assignments will incur a 10% deduction per day, exceptions may be made
• Exams (midterm and final) must be taken on the scheduled date

Grading Summary

• Total points possible in class: 400
• Team Work: Product Planning Project is worth 70 points
• Team Work: Group Home Assignment 3 is worth 25 points
• Individual Work: Student Profile (Home Assign 0) is worth 5 points
• Individual Work: Personal Brand Workshop is worth 15 point
• Individual Work: Each Home Assignment (1, 2, and 4) are worth 25 points each, totaling 75 points
• Midterm Exam is worth 80 points
• Final Exam is worth 90 points
• Participation (discussions, in-class activities) is worth 40 points
• The grading scale is as follows: A (93.0% ), A- (90.0%), B+ (87.0%), B (83.0%), B- (80.0%), C+ (77%), C (73.0%), C- (70.0%), D (60%) and F (Less than 60%)

Course Essentials

• The course textbook is "Walker, Orville C. and Mullins, John W. Marketing Strategy: A Decision-Focused Approach, 8-ed, McGraw-Hill/Irwin."
• Current Wall Street Journal articles are required, accessible via the class schedule/Canvas
• Harvard Business School Articles; access learning materials directly from HBS using links on Canvas
• Students must utilize the Syllabus and Tech Support file

Learning Objectives

• Define strategy
• Distinguish between different strategies dimensions, strategy hierarchy
• Understand steps in the strategic planning process
• Understand marketing orientation and its difference from production orientation

Strategic Planning

• A strategy constitutes a fundamental pattern of present and planned objectives
• It deploys resources and manages interactions between an organization, markets and competitors.

The Five Dimensions of Strategy

• Scope
• Goals and objectives
• Resource deployments
• Identification of sustainable competitive advantage
• Synergy

Hierarchy of Strategies

• Corporate strategy
• Business-level strategy
• Marketing strategy

Strategic Planning Objectives

• Objectives should be SMART:
  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Time-Bound

Article Discussion: "Forget Moonshots"

• Tesla's stock increased 12%, possibly due to investors' confidence in Elon Musk
• Meta's shares decreased by 11% due to investor concerns with Mark Zuckerberg
• Strategic management lesson: Investors value factors beyond current results

Article Discussion: "Wall Street's ESG Craze Is Fading"

• ESG investment products became popular due to increasing focus on ethical/sustainable investing
• Greenwashing hurts ESG funds
• The long term future of ESG funds is uncertain

Strategic Marketing Planning Components

• Executive summary
• Situation analysis (Four "C"s)
• Goals and objectives
• Segmentation, targeting, positioning
• Marketing strategy (action plans for the four P's)
• Projected Profit and Loss statements
• Control and implementation

Market-Oriented Management

• Follows a business philosophy commonly called marketing concept
• Marketing is the activity, and set of institutions and processes for; creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Production vs. Market-Oriented Organizations

• Production Orientation: Company sells what it can make
• Marketing Orientation: Company makes what it can sell

Product Line

• Production Orientation has a narrow product line
• Marketing Orientation has a broad product line

Pricing

• Production Orientation: Pricing is based on production and distribution costs
• Marketing Orientation: Pricing is based on perceived benefits provided

Research

• Production Orientation: Focuses on product improvement and cost-cutting in the production process
• Marketing Orientation: Focuses on identifying new opportunities and applying new technology to satisfy customer needs

Packaging

• Production Orientation: Protects the product and minimizes costs
• Marketing Orientation: Designed for customer convenience and as a promotional tool

Credit

• Production Orientation: Credit is regarded viewed as a necessary evil to minimize bad debt losses
• Marketing Orientation: Credit is a customer service to attract customers

Promotion

• Production Orientation: Emphasizes product features, quality, and price
• Marketing Orientation: Emphasizes product benefits and the ability to satisfy customers' needs or solve problems

This course enhances the understanding of marketing decision-making and strategy formulation. Students will develop analytical skills using market data to make recommendations. Focus is on improving communication and interpersonal skills for effective teamwork and business standards.