Columbia Business School
Executive MBA Program (Saturday only)
Marketing Planning
Professor Don Sexton
Uris Hall 316
212-854-3477
des5@columbia.edu
Summer, 2016
TA: Charlotte Levitt
clevitt16@gsb.columbia.edu
Syllabus
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
Lewis Carroll, author.
“Plans are nothing, planning is everything.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, former president, Columbia University.
“Plan your work, work your plan.”
Anonymous.
“One possible reason why things are not going according to plan is that there never was a plan.”
Ashleigh Brilliant, aphorist.
The marketing plan is the roadmap for the marketing strategy. It makes clear the objectives to
be achieved by the strategy, the key strategic choices - target markets and positioning, the
programs to implement the strategy (the marketing mix), and predictions of the expected results..
Plans provide the initial structure for approaching markets. However, no plan ever survives
intact once it is put in motion. Plans need to be changed. The competitive environment may not
be what it seems and forces constantly change the competitive situation. As Eisenhower
observed, it is planning – understanding the competitive environment thoroughly and
understanding the options available at any time – that is key to marketing success, not just the
plan itself.
Nonetheless, it is important to have a comprehensive plan for the market. Without objectives
and without clearly defined strategy and programs, there are no guidelines for marketing actions.
Yet many managers skip over the marketing plan, especially the strategic choices of target
markets and positioning.
This course provides the participants with a systematic way to prepare a marketing plan that will
be efficient and effective in achieving business objectives.
Marketing Planning
2
Learning Objectives
During the course, students will:
1. Understand the marketing planning process.
2. Review key components of the marketing strategy.
3. Learn and apply techniques for developing marketing plans.
4.
Prepare a comprehensive marketing plan.
Text
Ho Yin Wong, Kylie Radel, and Roshnee Ramsaran-Fowdar, Building a Marketing Plan.
New York: Business Expert Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-60649-159-1.
Course readings book, consisting of articles and cases.
Grading
Class Participation
20%
Term Project Document
50%
Interim Term Project Presentation
10%
Final Term Project Presentation
20%
Class Participation
The class should function as a workshop where all class members contribute to the success of
others. Class participation will be evaluated in terms of questions or issues raised, experience
and insights shared, and comments and suggestions offered.
Class Attendance
If you expect to not be able to attend a class, please advise me by email in advance. Thank you.
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Term Project
Each student will be involved in developing a marketing plan. The project may be done on an
individual or team basis. If possible, the marketing plan should focus on a real product or
service marketing situation. There are no page limits on the project. However, the text of
projects typically consists of 25-35 pages. Please note that slide decks are not acceptable since
they typically do not provide sufficient depth of discussion to evaluate the plan.
Typically the marketing plan will include:
Executive Summary
Situation Analysis
Business Objectives
Target Markets and Positioning
Branding
Marketing Mix
Design
Pricing
Communications – Media and Creative
Distribution
Budget
Forecast
Each project will be presented to the class twice: once during the course to show progress and
receive feedback and then at the end of the course to explain the completed plan. Two hardcopies of the plan must be submitted to me no later than August 20. I
The document for the project will be evaluated solely by the instructor on the basis of
persuasiveness of the plan including soundness of the marketing strategy, consistency of the
marketing tactics, creativity, and thoroughness.
Pedagogical Approach
Classes include lecture/discussions, planning exercises, case discussions, and presentations.
The lecture/discussions focus on the key stages in the process of developing a marketing plan.
Planning exercises provide techniques for resolving marketing decisions such as choice of target
market and determination of brand positioning. Case discussions illustrate how the ideas
introduced during the course may be applied. Speakers provide perspective on the marketing
planning process and opportunities to discuss planning issues. Student presentations allow the
class members to receive and give feedback and suggestions concerning their term project.
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Course Materials
Hard copies of the lecture notes will be distributed during class. All lecture notes are also
available on Canvas.
Class Outline Note: Sessions subject to change due to scheduling of speakers or workshops.
Session Date
1
May 14
Topic
Introduction
Marketing Strategy
12:30 pm
2
May 21
3:45 pm
3
June 4
Readings
Wong, Chapter 5
Discussion of Projects
David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad,
“Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?”
Don Sexton, “Competing with Customer
Value Added”
Wong, Chapter 1
Marketing Planning
Process
Tim Calkins, “Writing Great Marketing
Plans”
Case: The Toronto
Ultimate Club
Wong, Chapters 2, 3, and 4
3:45 pm
4
June 11
Situation Analysis:
Customers
Case: Land Rover North
America
12:30 pm
Situation Analysis:
Competitors
5
June 18
8:30 am
6
Case: Nouveau Event
Planning: The Wedding
Extravaganza
Situation Analysis: Trends
Case: Brannigan Foods:
Strategic Marketing
Planning
June 25
Case: Eli Lilly: Xigris (A)
Strategic Choices
12:30 pm
Case: Shouldice Hospital
Paul J. H. Schoemaker, “Scenario Planning:
A Tool for Strategic Thinking”
Max H. Bazerman and Dolly Chugh,
“Decisions Without Blinders”
George S. Day, “Is It Real? Can We Win?
Is It Worth Doing?”
Daniel Yankelovich and David Meer,
“Rediscovering Market Segmentation”
Pankaj Ghemawat, “Managing Differences,”
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7
July 9
Interim Presentations
8
12:30 pm
July 16
Branding
Wong, Chapter 6
Case: Rebranding an
Indian LCC
James R. Gregory and Donald E. Sexton,
“Hidden Wealth in B-to-B Brands”
Roland T. Rust, Valerie A. Zeithaml, and
Katherine N. Lemon, “Customer-Centered
Brand Management”
Wong, Chapters 7, 8, and 9
3:45 pm
9
July 23
Marketing Programs
12:30 pm
Communications
Case: Sephora Direct:
Investing in Social
Media, Video, and Mobile
Pricing
10
July 30
Marketing Accountability
V. Kumar and Rohan Mirchandani,
“Increasing the ROI of Social Media
Marketing,”
Marco Bertini and John T. Gourville,
“Pricing to Create Shared Value”
Don Sexton, “Pricing, Perceived Value, and
Communications”
Wong, Chapter 10
Don Sexton, “Value Above Cost”
Don Sexton, “Managing Communications
ROI”
12:30 pm
“Using Measurement to Boost Your Unit’s
Perfrormance”
Svend Hollensen, “Budgeting and Control”
Forecasting
Case: TruEarth Healthy
Foods: Market
Research for a New
Product Introduction
Thomas Steenburgh, “Market Size and
Market Share Analysis”
Spyros Makridakis, Robin M. Hogart, and
Anil Gaba, “Why Forecasts Fail, What to
Do Instead,”
Strategy Over Time
Don Sexton. “Managing Brand Equity over
Time”
11
August 6
Final Presentations
8:30 am
12
August 13 Final Presentations
12:30 pm
“Note on the Implementation of Marketing
Plans”
A. G. Lafley, “I Think of My Failures as a
Gift”
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Faculty Bio
Don Sexton is Professor of Marketing and Professor of Decisions, Risk, and Operations,
Columbia University, and has been a faculty member at Columbia Business School for more
than 45 years. He has taught at several institutions including UC-Berkeley, the University of
Hawaii, INSEAD, the China Europe International Business School, the Indian School of
Business, the Moscow School of Management (Skolkovo), the University of Tehran, and the
Australian School of Management. His articles have appeared in numerous journals such as the
Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and
Management Science. His best-selling books, Marketing 101 and Branding 101, have been
translated into several languages including Chinese, Turkish, Russian, Vietnamese, Polish,
Romanian, and Indonesian. Don’s most recent book, Value Above Cost : Driving Superior
Financial Performance with CVA®, the Most Important Metric You’ve Never Used explains how
marketing drives financial performance and is also available in Chinese. He served as President
of the NY American Marketing Association and President of the Association for International
Business Education and Research and is an advisor to the Marketing Accountability Standards
Board. He is a recipient of Columbia Business School’s Distinguished Teaching Award and
received the Marketing Trends Award for his work on marketing and branding strategy. Don is
the founder of The Arrow Group, Ltd.®, a company that has provided consulting and training
services to such companies as GE, IBM, Unilever, Pepsi, Sony, DuPont, Pfizer, Volkswagen,
Citibank, Boeing, and Verizon. His MBA and PhD degrees are from the University of Chicago
and his BA degree from Wesleyan University, all in the disciplines of economics and
mathematics. He is rated a Master Scuba Diver and his interests include wreck diving and
underwater photography. Don is a qualified Formula Ford driver and a professional painter
(sextonart.com) with works in collections in the United States, Europe, and Australia.