Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
MKT 540 – Marketing Strategy
Professor Dr. Sabine Kuester
Fall Term 2015
Course Instructor/Lectures:
Course Administrator/Exercise Class:
Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Sergej von Janda
Course Objectives
Marketing Strategy is designed for students who are interested in the comprehensive strategic questions corporations face
in today’s market environment. At the end of this course, students will be able to develop and critically evaluate the
marketing strategy for a productinnovation. Also, this course will enable students to apply advanced frameworks, concepts,
and methods for marketing strategic choices at the business level. In order to acquire this skill-set, the teaching in this
course is built on the following elements:
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lectures and class discussions,
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case study work and case discussions, and
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a marketing plan project.
Course Registration & Organization
Students will be assigned to a team for the marketing plan assignment. Therefore, it is mandatory that you apply before
Sunday, September 6, 2015, 6 pm, by filling out the registration form, which you can download from our website
(http://kuester.bwl.uni-mannheim.de/en/home/). Please email this form to kuester_registration@bwl.uni-mannheim.de by
using the subject header “Marketing Strategy, Registration” (this is important; otherwise your email risks being filtered
out!). Alternatively, you can hand in a hardcopy of your application at our office, L 5, 1, room 0.11, ground floor (opening
hours: Monday to Thursday 9 am - 12 pm and 1 pm – 4 pm, Friday 9 am – 12 pm and 1 pm – 2 pm).
Please note, that there is a restricted course capacity. The degree of experience in Marketing, background, and
competences will be considered in the enrollment decision. We will notify you by September 7, 2015, whether you are
successfully enrolled in the course. The first lecture will take place on September 8, 2015. Important information, updated
slides, email addresses of team mates, as well as relevant exercises will be posted on the e-learning platform "ILIAS".
Please request access to the ILIAS group of this course using your student identification and password provided by the
registrar ("Studienbüro"). Please do so after your enrollment has been confirmed.
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Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
Course Components and Grading
This course is composed of a weekly lecture and a weekly exercise class. Both elements of the course have to be
completed (successfully) to receive the 8 ECTS points that are assigned to the course.
1. Lecture
The weekly lecture will explore the theoretical aspects of marketing strategy and integrate interactive case study
discussions to encourage students to apply their knowledge in practice. We believe that the best way to develop an
appreciation and aptitude for marketing strategy is to apply your knowledge of marketing concepts to actual business
situations. In this course, cases are used as an integral pedagogical tool that facilitates learning during the semester and
that helps to internalize the key principles of marketing strategy. If you internalize these principles, you should be able to
apply these to analyze any strategic situation – current or in the past. Please note that we are not using cases to discuss
current company examples and events.
At the end of the semester, students will jointly sit a 60 minutes closed-book, closed-notes exam consisting of short-answer
and analytical questions covering lecture material, in class discussions, and case studies. The final examination (individual
grade) accounts for 50 % of the overall course grade.
2. Exercise Class
The weekly exercise class will provide you with the tools and expertise to develop your marketing plan team project. At
the beginning of the semester you will be assigned to a team to jointly conduct an interactive marketing plan assignment.
For this assignment your team is asked to
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analyze and evaluate a strategic company situation,
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identify promising business opportunities,
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develop new product ideas to seize these opportunities,
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evaluate these ideas based on secondary and primary data, and

write a marketing plan for the proposed product.
Marketing plans can be written at different levels of detail, for example at the level of the entire organization, the business
unit, or the product/product line. You will write a marketing plan at the level of the product for an existing company of your
choice. Your first team task will be to agree upon a company for this assignment. You will come up with a new product –
more specifically a good, no service – one that your company would produce. The marketing plan project is divided into
five milestones with different deadlines throughout the semester:
(1) Before September 24, 2015, 12 noon, each team will have to submit two product ideas in order to get approval
for one idea to be pursued in the realm of this project (mail a simple word file to vonjanda@bwl.uni-mannheim.de).
(2) Be prepared to present your final product idea in class on October 8, 2015. Each team will have 2 minutes in
front of the class to introduce the final product idea. Submit your presentation slides (4:3 power-point format)
before October 7, 2015, 12 noon (mail to vonjanda@bwl.uni-mannheim.de).
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Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
(3) You will conduct concept test with a minimum of 30 people and hand in your results before October 29, 12 noon.
You are asked to hand in an overview about the tools you used for your concept test (e.g., interview guideline,
survey), and the raw data you gathered (e.g., interview transcripts, survey data in SPSS or excel file). Detailed
explanations are not expected at this point but within the frame of your written marketing plan and marketing plan
presentations.
(4) Subsequently, you are required to write a marketing plan. The written marketing plan must not exceed 7 pages
(A4, font Arial 11pt, 1.5 spaced, bound, margins 1.5 cm), cover page and appendices not included. The
assignment is due before November 19, 2015, 12 noon. Please submit 1 digital version of the written marketing
plan to vonjanda@bwl.uni-mannheim.de prior to class as well as 1 printed version at the beginning of the exercise
class November 19, 2015.
Make sure to address your concept test results appropriately in your marketing plan. Your final marketing plan
should include:
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
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cover page (course title, term, name of professor, names of team members, company and product chosen,
and date),
executive summary,
description of product idea,
strategic focus and plan (i.e., mission, business model),
situation analysis (e.g., company, market segments, competition),
market-product focus (i.e., targeting, positioning),
marketing program (e.g., communication, pricing),
implementation plan (i.e., go-to-market plan, timeline),
evaluation and control (i.e., risks and implications for company), and
appendices (e.g., supporting information, statistics, figures, visuals, list of references).
When grading your written marketing plan (accounting for 60 % of the marketing plan project grade) special
attention is given to the following aspects:
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innovativeness of product idea,
ability to implement the idea in the realm of the corporate logic of chosen company,
execution of market research and adequacy of marketing strategy recommendations following this research,
overall soundness of positioning and proposed market launch strategy,
team’s ability to manage overall task (effectiveness and efficiency), team spirit, and delegation.
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Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
(5) As a final milestone, each team will give a 10 minute presentation of their marketing plan, following a 5 minutes
Q&A on November 26 and December 1, 2015. Be aware that the presentation order will be chosen at random.
The presentations (4:3 power-point format, don’t forget to include page numbers) are due to be submitted via
email to vonjanda@bwl.uni-mannheim.de by November 24, 2015, 12 noon.
Make sure to address your concept test results throughout your final presentation. The evaluation of your final
presentation (accounting for 40 % of the Marketing Plan Project) is based on:

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
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overall soundness of positioning and proposed market launch strategy,
adequacy of marketing strategy recommendations following your market research,
your ability to convince the audience of your product idea in the given timeframe,
the conciseness of your presentation,
your presentation skills.
Throughout the semester, you can address questions regarding the marketing plan project and obtain feedback from us
in the exercise class and in incubator meetings with your individual team supervisor. The grade for the marketing plan
team assignment is a team grade with peer evaluation and accounts for 50% of the overall course grade.
Course Material
For this course, you will need to purchase a reader, which contains the lecture slides and the case studies (which is
copyright material). The reader will be available for € 12,00 in our office (L 5, 1, room 0.11, ground floor) on Tuesday,
September 8, 9:30 am – 12:00 noon as well as Wednesday, September 9, 10 am - 12 noon and 1 pm – 3 pm to those
students, who are successfully enrolled in the class. You may also pay with the ecUM-Card.
Recommended reading:
 Homburg, Christian, Sabine Kuester, and Harley Krohmer (2013), Marketing Management - A Contemporary
Perspective (2nd ed.). London: McGraw-Hill.
A Note on Plagiarism (using intellectual property of others):
Be aware that we will check your written deliveries for plagiarism, so make sure that you indicate all sources used in an
adequate way. Familiarize yourself with the common rules of citation (i.e., Journal of Marketing or AMA style). The
plagiarism software we use is very sophisticated and has proven to be very effective to detect plagiarized text, exhibits,
graphs, tables etc. In one of your first team meetings you need to talk about the issue of plagiarism and establish a code
of conduct. Plagiarism will lead to a failed assignment.
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Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
Course Outline
Lectures take place on Tuesdays from 1:45 pm to 3:15 pm, Palace, Room O 151
Exercise classes take place Thursdays from 1:45 pm to 3:15 pm, Palace, Room O 145
Date
Lecture / Exercise Class
until September 6, 2015,
6 pm
Course Registration
Introduction to the Course
September 8, 2015
A1 Setting the Scene: Introduction
A2 Setting the Scene: Marketing Strategy
September 10, 2015
September 15, 2015
September 17, 2015
September 22, 2015
Kick-off Marketing Plan Assignment
First Team Get-Together
A3 Setting the Scene: Marketing Plan
B1 Innovation Management: New Product Development
Exercise: Team Building and Idea Generation
Self-Studies: Product Idea Development
B2 Innovation Management: Market Development & Takeoff
Exercise: Rapid Prototyping
September 24, 2015
Self-Studies: Case Study Work
Marketing Plan Milestone 1: Deadline Product Ideas
September 29, 2015
Case Study 1
October 1, 2015
Incubator Meeting: Feedback Final Product Idea
October 6, 2015
C1 Shaping Marketing Strategies: Strategic External Analysis
October 8, 2015
Marketing Plan Milestone 2: Presentation of Final Product Idea
October 13, 2015
C1 Shaping Marketing Strategies: Strategic External Analysis
October 15, 2015
October 20, 2015
Exercise: Marketing Plan Q&A Session
Self-Studies: Concept Test Design
C1 Shaping Marketing Strategies: Strategic Internal Analysis
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Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester
Chair of Marketing & Innovation
October 22, 2015
October 27, 2015
October 29, 2015
November 3, 2015
November 5, 2015
Self-Studies: Case Study Work
Incubator Meeting: Feedback Concept Test
Case Study 2
Self-Studies: Marketing Plan Assignment
Marketing Plan Milestone 3: Deadline Concept Test Results
C2 Shaping Marketing Strategies: Strategic Analysis Output
Self-Studies: Marketing Plan Assignment
Self-Studies: Case Study Work
November 10, 2015
Case Study 3
November 12, 2015
Marketing Plan Presentation Q&A Session
November 17, 2015
C3 Shaping Marketing Strategies: Strategy Identification, Selection, and
Implementation
November 19, 2015
Marketing Plan Milestone 4: Deadline Written Marketing Plan
Self-Studies: Marketing Plan Presentation
November 24, 2015
D1 Strategic Innovation
November 26, 2015
Marketing Plan Milestone 5: Marketing Plan In-Class Presentations
December 1, 2015
Marketing Plan Milestone 5: Marketing Plan In-Class Presentations
December 3, 2015
Exam Recap
Final Exam
Syllabus can still be subject to change
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