Fall 2010
MKTG 860.2 Strategic Marketing
College of Business, San Francisco State University
Instructor:
DTC Office:
Office hours:
Telephone:
Email:
Instructor web page:
Course web page:
Class Meetings:
Sanjit Sengupta
835 Market Street, #572
Monday Wednesday 16:45 - 18:15; Tuesday 17:15 - 18:15, or
by appointment
415 817-4366
sengupta@sfsu.edu
http://online.sfsu.edu/~sengupta
http://ilearn.sfsu.edu
Wednesday 18:30 – 21:15 PM DTC 558
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Strategic marketing is concerned with the development, implementation and evaluation of
marketing plans for product-markets. The focus in this course is on strategic decisions, decisions
which have a long-term impact on the organization and which are difficult and costly to reverse.
The specific learning objectives of this course are:
1. To understand marketing terms, principles, and frameworks as the basis for marketing
planning and implementation.
2. To practice analytical decision-making in marketing.
3. To know the process of researching and writing a marketing plan for an organization.
4. To develop oral and written communication skills and teamwork skills.
COURSE MATERIALS
A Framework for Marketing Management, 4/e, by Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller. Pearson
Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-602660-5.
Marketing Plan Outline, McGraw-Hill Irwin, download from iLearn.
The four cases need to be purchased from the Harvard Business School Publishing website using
a credit card. To access my course on this website, click here. You will come to a page titled
“Authorized Student Access Required”. Returning users of this website click on “Login Now”,
new users click on “Register Now”. If you have never registered on this website before, you will
need to do provide some personal information and select a username and password. After
registration you will be able to login with your username and password and access the cases for
purchase and download. For technical assistance, please contact Harvard Business Publishing
Customer Service at 1-800-545-7685 from 8am-6pm EST. Customer Service can also be reached
at custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu.
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Four articles from Business Week and 4 articles from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Hot links to
these will be provided in iLearn through the library’s electronic database. If you have never used
the SFSU Library electronic databases, you will need to go to the library website and click on
Library Account / PIN under Quick Links and apply for a PIN number.
PowerPoint overheads on the Kotler chapters available from iLearn.
COURSE FORMAT
Participants are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. You are
encouraged to raise issues in class unresolved from the readings. Lectures will highlight and
clarify important principles from the readings. Class discussion will revolve around the
application of principles to real-world business problems. The emphasis in these discussions
will be on multi-way interaction. You should feel free to comment on anything the instructor or
colleagues say. The spirit of all discussion should be constructive, to foster learning.
GRADING POLICIES
Course grades will be based on evaluation in six assignments with the following weights.
15%
15%
10%
30%
15%
15%
Three individual case write-ups, 5% each
Three group case presentations, 5% each
Group Oral Presentation of Marketing Plan
Group Written Marketing Plan
Attendance and in-class participation
Final Exam
1.
Individual case write-ups need to be submitted for the McDonald’s, Samsung, Mountain
Man Brewing Company, and IDEO cases. Each write-up should include problem
definition (from the point of view of the protagonist), analyses (strengths and weaknesses
of alternative solutions) and recommendations within a one-page memo. Think of
yourself as a staff member or consultant advising the protagonist when you write the
memo. These should be uploaded in iLearn before class on the scheduled date. Your
assignments will be checked against the Turnitin database to check for originality. Out of
the four memos, only the best three will be counted for your grade. On the day the case is
scheduled, you will be assigned to a small group and given a specific question. The group
will discuss the question, formulate an answer and make a presentation to the rest of the
class. If you are new to the case method of learning, please read the note carefully on the
last page of this syllabus.
2.
Participants should form groups of 5-6 individuals and each group should select a
product-market for an existing organization. Then develop a marketing plan from
scratch for this product-market. Select an organization that is interested in your output.
This gives it a stake in cooperating in your data collection efforts, making your task
easier. Start your search early for a good client and motivated team members. You will
need to collect both secondary and primary data for this project. Every member of the
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group must participate in writing and presenting a part of the plan. The oral presentation
and written plan should be pitched to a higher level of management for approval. The oral
presentation should summarize and highlight the key aspects of the written plan. Any
secondary data used in the plan should be properly cited in footnotes.
3.
Your punctual attendance and participation during class meetings is vital to the success
of the class. In fact, if you anticipate missing more than two classes for whatever reason,
you should not register for this course. The ability to think on your feet and make creative
contributions to business meetings is a skill worth developing. Therefore, a considerable
portion of the course grade is assigned to in-class participation. You may be asked to
respond to instructor queries on assigned readings, raise issues relevant to the material
being discussed, or provide new insights based on your experience. Quality rather than
quantity of contribution is important. Each week you can earn 1 point for attendance and
1 point for saying something meaningful in class.
4.
There will be a discussion forum in iLearn, where you can apply marketing concepts and
frameworks to companies, products and services that may or may not have been covered
in class. Feel free to post questions, comments or web links related to marketing topics in
the course, and reply to each other’s messages. I will also join in these discussions
periodically.
5.
The final exam will be an individual written case analysis of a different company than
one of the four in the course.
A weighted aggregate score will be computed across the above five evaluations. Aggregate
scores will earn course grades according to the following cut-offs.
95 - 100%
90 - 94%
86 - 89%
83 - 85%
80 - 82%
76 - 79%
73 - 75%
70 - 72%
66 - 69%
63 - 65%
60 - 62%
less than 60%
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
0.7
0.0
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
If at any time during the semester you wish to discuss your performance or any other issues,
please feel free to contact me!
COURSE POLICIES
Reading material assigned according to the schedule should be read BEFORE the class.
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Material submitted in written form is expected to be an effective business communication. Poor
grammar, spelling, punctuation and appearance detract from the effectiveness of your message
and will be graded accordingly.
Late assignments will be penalized with lower grades.
Evidence of academic dishonesty is taken very seriously by your instructor and will be severely
dealt with.
Classroom behavior must be conducive to learning.
The last day to drop the class is September 7.
Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations are encouraged to contact the
instructor. The Disability Programs and Resource Center is available to facilitate the reasonable
accommodations process.
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Date
8/25
SCHEDULE
Topic
Reading
Introductions
Defining Marketing for the Twenty-First Century
Marketers Target Men’s Hair as Promising Frontier
Kotler Ch 1
WSJ 12/1/08
9/1
Developing and Implementing Marketing Strategies and Plans
Why Business Plans Don’t Deliver
Kotler Ch 2,
WSJ 6/22/09
9/8
No Class
9/15
Understanding Markets, Market Demand, and
Environment
Creating Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty
Case: McDonald’s
the
Marketing Kotler Ch 3
Kotler Ch4
HBSP
9/22
Analyzing Consumer Markets
Spendthrift to Penny Pincher: A Vision of the New Consumer
Kotler Ch 5
WSJ
12/18/09
9/29
Analyzing Business Markets
Skype Targets Businesses to Ring Up New Revenue
Kotler Ch 6,
WSJ 3/23/09
10/6
Identifying Market Segments and Targets
Case: Samsung Electronics (A): Entering India
Kotler Ch 7
HBSP
10/13 Creating Brand Equity
Blowing Up Pepsi
Kotler Ch 8
BW 4/16/09
10/20 Creating the Brand Positioning and Dealing with Competition
Setting Product Strategy and Marketing Through the Life Cycle
Case: Mountain Man Brewing Company
Kotler Ch 9
Kotler Ch 10
HBSP
10/27 Designing and Managing Services
Developing Pricing Strategies and Programs
Case: Phase Zero: Introducing New Services at IDEO
Kotler Ch 11
Kotler Ch 12
HBSP
11/3
Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Channels
Managing Retailing, Wholesaling and Logistics
Starbucks: Howard Schultz vs. Howard Schultz
Kotler Ch 13
Kotler Ch 14
BW 8/6/09
11/10 Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Communications
Managing Mass Communications
Giving Products a Good Backstory
Merchants Push Sales Through Social Media
Kotler Ch 15
Kotler Ch 16
BW 5/14/09
WSJ 6/1/10
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SCHEDULE (Continued)
Date
11/17
Topic
Managing Personal Communications
Managing Marketing in the Global Economy
Foreign Forces Transform Hollywood Films
11/24
Thanksgiving Recess: No class
12/1
Project Work
12/8
Marketing Plan Reports & Presentations Due
12/15
Final Exam
Reading
Kotler Ch 17
Kotler Ch 18
WSJ 8/2/10
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Introduction to the Case Method1
The case method of instruction has been used successfully to train students and managers since the
early part of the last century. The goal is to develop an ability to reason effectively when dealing
with specific problems. Appropriate use of theory and acquisition of procedural skills are also
important goals. You may be familiar with case method of learning from earlier classes but it might
be worth our time to emphasize some important aspects. The two main components of the case
method of instruction are the case and the students.
The Case
A case is a written account of an actual situation that raises problems that the protagonist (usually a
manager) in the situation must solve. The case contains background information on the objective of
the activity, its size and location, and the people and institutions involved. Within this context, the
case relates a series of events and issues that confront the protagonist. The problem may not be
defined clearly. An important part of a general management education is to develop an ability to
determine what the problem is as well as the best course of action for its solution.
The aim of a case is to present facts that were known or available to the case protagonist and which
formed the basis for his or her analysis and decision. The decision is typically not described in the
case; rather the development of decisive courses of action is left to the student. If a decision is
indicated in the case, the discussion often focuses upon an analysis of the validity of the decision.
A case may be only one or two pages in length, or it may run to 20 pages or more. It
may contain organization charts, excerpts from surveys, statistical analyses, and other
supplementary data. In relating events leading to the administrative difficulties, the case may
impart substantive information about techniques, procedures, systems, organization structure,
environmental conditions and other facts. Since a case is an account of an actual experience and
since all experiences are unique, at least in terms of some of their details, it is important that the
case be concerned with major issues that underlie executive action, such as strategic planning,
product line management or product development.
The Students
A case is read by students prior to its discussion in class. The facts of the case are
appraised in the discussion. Participants in the discussion not only suggest the course of action
they would recommend but defend their analysis and course of action. Although the
discussion of many cases may lead to a decision accepted by a majority of the class members,
the discussion is not necessarily intended to culminate in any one approved solution; there is no
one correct answer.
In preparing the case, the student does more than analyze the specific problem involved.
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Bernhardt, Kenneth L. and Thomas C. Kinnear (1991), Cases In Marketing Management, 5th edition, Boston, MA:
Irwin. Adapted from writings by Schrieber, Hunt, McNair, Newman, Planty, Smithet al.
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Typically, the student will relate the case problem to problems he has encountered in his or her
own experience. The student's view of the case may be prejudiced by their experience. Thus, in
the discussion, the individual participant may find that the opinions of other members in the
class differ sharply from their own. An individual may learn, through the comments of others,
that she has overlooked certain salient points. Another may find that he has weighed one factor
more heavily than other members have. This interaction of presenting and defending
conflicting points of view causes individual members to reconsider the views they had of the
case before the discussion commenced. It leads to a clearer perception of the problems, a
recognition of the many and often conflicting interpretations of facts and events, and a greater
awareness of the complexities within which management decisions are reached.
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