BUS M&L 4203: MARKETING STRATEGY
Spring Semester, 2015 (THURSDAY)
A. COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Vasu Unnava, Ph. D.
Office Hours: By Appointment & Special Hours
Email:
Office:
Telephone:
URL:
313 Fisher Hall
(614) 292 3212
Carmen.osu.edu
unnava.2@ osu.edu
Required Course Pack:
Course packet is available from UNIPRINT in bookstores. Note the name of instructor (VASU
UNNAVA) on the packet.
Supplementary Course Material:
All other course materials such as case assignment questions, work sheets etc., will either be made available on
CARMEN or given out in the class.
Course Objectives:
Marketing strategy plays very important role in marketing. Decision makers in corporations understand the
influence of environmental factors, recognize potential opportunities and threats in the market place and use
marketing tools, research, and planning in creating successful marketing strategies. Marketing strategies enable
organizations to achieve sustainable competitive advantage over competitors and hence achieve positive return
on investment. You will develop and improve your qualitative and quantitative analytical skills, written and
oral presentation skills by applying knowledge of marketing principles to real business problems. You will
create, recommend marketing strategies and defend them. To be a successful marketing strategist, you should
understand the problem, underlying causes, and provide justification for the marketing strategy.
Class Format:
Marketing strategy course is based on business cases. The course focuses on student group case presentations,
discussions, team interactions and evaluations. If you cannot attend regularly, you should not plan on taking
this course this semester. Class attendance and active participation in discussions are critical to your learning
and success in this course. The concepts learned from case analyses will be applied to a select case of
TARGET Corporation to develop a marketing strategy.
Course Evaluation:
Your grades will be evaluated as follows:
1. Course Case Presentation
2. Executive Committee Evaluation
3. Class Participation
4. Online quizzes, Best eight out of ten
5. Target Case
6. Target Report
7. Final EXAM
TOTAL
Bio BONUS
TOTAL
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
10% (Group Grade-one case)
5% (Group Grade-one case)
10% (Individual Grade)
40% (5% each quiz, Individual Grade)
10% (Group Grade)
5% (Group Grade)
20% (Individual Grade)
100%
1%
101%
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
Page 1 of 7
IMPORTANT NOTE: Re-grading requests will be accepted in writing on a paper (emails are NOT accepted)
within 1 week of receipt of the grade.
Grading Scale
The grading scale, and point conversion that will be utilized for the final grade is as follows:
Grade
GPA
Grade
GPA
A
= 94-100 %
4.0
C+
= 77-79 %
2.3
A= 90-93 %
3.7
C
= 73-76 %
2.0
B+
= 87-89 %
3.3
C= 70-72 %
1.7
B
= 83-86 %
3.0
D+
= 67-69 %
1.3
B= 80-82 %
2.7
D
= 63-66 %
1.0
E
= below 62
Group Work in the course:
Students will be forming groups at the beginning of the semester and as a group, and they will be
responsible for working in groups to complete four assignments. They are as follows:
1. Your group will read, prepare, present one case and respond to questions/comments from class.
2. As an executive committee, your group will evaluate another group’s presentation in the class.
3. Your group will create a marketing strategy for an assigned TARGET case and present to
TARGET team.
4. Finally, your group’s responsibility will be submitting the marketing strategy report on your
TARGET case.
Very Important Note: You will provide a printed copy of your PPT file on case presentation to the
instructor at the beginning of presentation or email the night before the presentation.
I) Oral Presentation (10%): A formal professionally prepared oral presentation of your course case
analysis is required. The presentation time is about 30 minutes. Your presentation should focus on:
a) A clear statement of the problem including your justification for viewing the problem as you
do
b) A thorough analysis of the situation
c) Presentation of alternative strategies, if the case material requires presentation and evaluation
of multiple marketing strategies.
d) Selection and justification of final marketing strategy and reasons why other alternative
strategies are rejected
e) Implementation plan of the final marketing strategy.
Each group will have “Question and Answer (Q&A)” session at the end of the presentation. This is
an opportunity for students to participate in case discussions. Executive committee would take lead in
asking questions and then other students will follow. Each member in presenting group will take turns
in responding to questions from students in the class. You will find helpful tips on how to analyze a
business case on CARMEN. Each group will meet with instructor to discuss case questions and
presentation material before presentation to the class.
Dress Code for Presentation: Dress code is business casual for case presentation.
II. Executive Committee (5%): Each group will become a board of directors or an executive team
evaluating one case presentation. Executive committee will evaluate case presentation on the quality
of analysis, presentation skills and Q&A session. The evaluations will be kept confidential till the
finals week of the semester. Details on the responsibilities of executive committee can be found on
CARMEN.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
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III. Class participation (10%): An extremely important part of the class will involve your
contributions to case discussions. There are at least a couple of reasons why class participation is
weighted 10% in this class. First, those who prepare the most outside of class and participate most
actively in class will be likely to learn the most from the class. Second, they will also contribute
greatly to the learning of other students in the class by encouraging thorough discussion of important
case-related marketing concepts and issues.
To do well in class participation, students must regularly contribute to class discussion by making
insightful comments that reflect a careful analysis of assigned material. It is expected that all
students will carefully read and analyze each case prior to class discussion. This will facilitate active
participation and enrich the quality of class discussions.
The following grading guidelines are provided to assist you in understanding how class participation
will be graded. Please also note that class participation should not be confused with class attendance.
Merely attending class will not lead to a strong class participation grade. To accomplish the latter it
will be necessary to be consistently actively engaged in the class discussions and a leader in many of
these discussions. Therefore, we might consider the following examples of possible class
participation grades.
Scale
Description
A
A consistent leader in class discussions who regularly makes
strong contributions by making insightful comments that reflect a
thorough analysis of the case and/or articles and other enrichment
material under consideration in this class – comments that advance
our understanding of the topics under consideration.
B
Contributes fairly regularly to class discussion making insightful
comments that reflect a careful reading of the cases and articles
under consideration in the class.
C
Contributes to class discussion with reasonable comments that
follow from the prior discussion, but does not contribute as
frequently or consistently as others.
D
Infrequent comments or a tendency to make comments that do not
appear to be based on a reading of the case. Comments when
called on but the comments frequently do not reflect a careful
reading of class material.
E
Very few positive contributions to the class discussion.
Students will receive a set of class participation sheets at the beginning of the semester and it will be
collected during at the end of the semester. Students will note down their contributions to each case
discussion in the class and hand over the sheet set to the instructor during and/ or at the end of the
semester.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
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IV. Quizzes (40%): Best eight quizzes out of ten quizzes, each 5% or 40% of total points
There will be ten quizzes during the semester and best eight scores will be counted. The dates for
quizzes are given in the syllabus. Questions will come from the assigned readings, case presentations
and key learnings discussed in the class. Each quiz will contain about 10 multiple choice questions.
The quizzes are CARMEN online quizzes. Duration of quiz will be about 20 to 30 minutes. Material
for quizzes will come from the cases discussed in the class. Quizzes will open on Thursdays around
5 pm and close on Sundays at 11:00 pm.
V) Oral Presentation of TARGET case (10%):
Each group will be assigned a case provided by TARGET Corporation. And each group will present
their marketing strategy for the TARGET case.
VI) Written Report (5%) on TARGET case: Each group will submit a written report of TARGET
case. It should not exceed five pages (double spaced, 12 point font, standard margins). It should
summarize key points from oral presentation and conclusions about marketing strategies. You can
submit the report in electronic format in CARMEN drop box.
VII) Comprehensive Final EXAM (20%):
There will be about 40-50 multiple choice questions and the exam duration will be about 80 minutes.
Details will be posted on CARMEN.
Note: The University and College expectation is that students spend two hours outside of class for
every hour spent in class. So, for our course, you would about spend two hours and forty minutes
on the course outside class room every week.
FIRST BONUS OPPORTUNITY:
You can earn one bonus point when you will turn in bio-sheet (emails do not get credit) with your
picture by Jan 29, 2015.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
Page 4 of 7
FISHER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
B. IMPORTANT NOTES
Important Notes
 All quiz dates, exam dates, and assigned reading due dates are included in the Course Outline.
Please make note of these dates and plan your semester accordingly. If you are unable to
attend a class, please notify me by email unless it is an emergency. With a valid written
excuse, missed exams or quizzes will be dealt with on an individual basis. Without a valid
written excuse, missed exams or quizzes will recorded as zero pints.

You are encouraged to set up an appointment and meet the instructor. E-mails should not be
seen as an alternative to class participation. Not all questions can be effectively answered by
e-mail. The response to any e-mail question can be suggesting a one-on-one meeting, or by
addressing the question during next class session.

You are responsible for everything that takes place in class, including changes to assignments
or schedules, whether you are present or not.

Please come to class on time. Do not engage in side conversations.

Usage of laptop PCs, tablet PCs, and cell phones is NOT allowed in the class room. Turn
off your cell phones, mp3 players and pagers before you come to class. Do not take calls.
No texting is permitted in the class. They make class distracted from the main issues.

Late arrivals, moving in and out of class room or using computers in the class room will
cause a letter grade deduction from your final grade.
Have fun! This course let you conduct marketing strategy without risking your own money or your
job.
Academic Integrity or Misconduct:
All students are expected to abide by the university’s Code of Student Conduct which may be found
on the website of the Office of Academic Affairs, Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM):
http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/home.html. Your attention is particularly called to guidance on plagiarism:
http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/hownottoplagiarize.pdf. The instructor is obligated by University policy to
report to COAM all suspected cases of academic misconduct. If you are unclear regarding any aspect
of University policy on the above matters, discuss your questions with the instructor.
Disability:
Every effort will be made to provide each student with a meaningful learning opportunity. If there are
any obstacles that could prevent you from learning effectively, please set an appointment with the
instructor so that we might jointly figure out how to circumvent those obstacles. Any student who
feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the
instructor privately to discuss specific needs. The Office for Disability Services, 614-292-3307, in
room 150 Pomerene Hall can assist with coordinating reasonable accommodations should there be a
need.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
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Course Outline* for BUS ML 4203, Thursdays
VASU UNNAVA, Marketing Strategy, SPRING SEMESTER 2015
No
Date
Content/Case
1
2
3
15-Jan
22-Jan
29-Jan
Syllabus
Analysis Tools
Introduction to Target Corp.
4
5-Feb
5
12-Feb
6
19-Feb
7
26-Feb
8
5-Mar
9
12-Mar
10
26-Mar
11
2-Apr
12
9-Apr
Brand Management:
Altius Golf and The Fighter Brand
Brand Extensions: Mountain Man Brewing Co:
Bringing Brand to Light
Product Positioning:
Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product
Positioning
Customer Loyalty: Olympic Rent-A-Car U.S.:
Customer Loyalty Battles
New Product Development: Montreaux
Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready for
Healthy Dark Chocolate?
Competitive Strategy in Retailing:
Reeds Supermarkets: A New Wave of
Competitors
Spring Break ( 16-20 March)
Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0:
HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0
Advertising & Segmentation:
What is the Deal with Living Social?
Strategic Marketing Planning:
Brannigan Foods: Strategic Marketing Planning
13
16-Apr
TARGET Case Presentations
14
23-Apr
TARGET Case Presentations
TARGET CASE WRITTEN REPORT,
CARMEN DROP closes by 11:00 AM on May
5, 2015
Finals
Week
Assignment
.Bio Sheet Due
ONLINE QUIZ 1
(Analysis tools)
ONLINE QUIZ 2
(Altius Golf)
ONLINE QUIZ 3
(Mountain Man.)
ONLINE QUIZ 4
(Clean Edge Razor)
ONLINE QUIZ 5
(Olympic Rent-A-Car)
ONLINE QUIZ 6
(Montreaux Chocolate USA)
ONLINE QUIZ 7
(Reeds Supermarkets)
ONLINE QUIZ 8
(UnMe Jeans)
ONLINE QUIZ 8
(HubSpot)
ONLINE QUIZ 10(Brannigan
Foods) .Due Class Participation.
*Note: Subject to change if necessary. Please check CARMEN for important notes, lecture slides, and
announcements.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
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Due: 29-Jan, by the start time of class.
Thursdays 4203
BUS M&L 4203: MARKETING STRATEGY,
SPRING SEMESTER 2015
BIO SHEET: Bonus Opportunity
Name: __________________________________________
(e-mail):___________________________________
(phone). (
)
-
.
What is your experience in Marketing?
What are your career goals?
One interesting fact about yourself:
Please attach your photo in the upper right and corner of this sheet.
VASU UNNAVA
BUS M&L 4203: Marketing Strategy
THURSDAYs, Spring Semester 2015
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