Marketing 5750
Marketing Strategy
Tues/Thurs 11:10-12:25
VC 13155
Fall 2013
Instructor:
Office:
Office phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Stacey R. Finkelstein, PhD, MBA
Stacey.finkelstein@baruch.cuny.edu
Office hours:
Course description: This is a capstone course which brings together all of the fields of marketing in order to
optimize the strategies and profitability of a firm.
Strategic marketing involves determining which customers your organization should serve, which products
and services it should offer them, and how. This course is intended to develop an analytical framework for
these decisions that permits managers to maximize their organization’s return on marketing expenditures.
Emphasis will be placed on developing a position in the market place that provides value to customers that is
not readily duplicated by competitors. As a result, the first half of the course will develop models for
understanding customers, competitors, and collaborators (e.g., suppliers and intermediaries). The second half
of the course will examine tools available to marketers to execute strategic decisions.
As a communication intensive course (CIC), this course is designed to help you improve your writing,
speaking, and presentation skills. Consultants are available to facilitate this and class assignments and
exercises will be tailored to meet the goals of CIC courses.
Course objectives:
1. To expose student to key aspects of marketing planning and strategy;
2. To integrate materials from psychology, finance, economics, management, accounting, and information
systems;
3. To review marketing concepts;
4. To give students a better understanding of marketing decision making;
5. To allow students to develop their communication skills
Nature of the course:
Substantial student participation is expected. Students should arrive at class having read the assigned reading
and relevant case.
Student evaluation: Student performance will be evaluated in the following areas:
Individual case analysis
20%
Case “Debates”
35%
Group Case Analyses
30%
Preparation and Reflection for Guest Lecturers
5%
Class participation
10%
Note: 45% of your course grade comes from class discussions of cases and participation. It is crucial that you
attend class having thoroughly prepared the cases and material for the day. Since you are all advanced
students I want to promote discussion of topics rather than overburden you with a heavy reading load.
Individual Case Analysis: Each student will be asked to turn in a written case analysis. THIS WRITTEN
ANALYSIS IS TO BE COMPLETED INDIVIDUALLY. The page limit is 2 pages (including figures
and appendices) and you will be challenged to clearly articulate your thoughts and strategy without
summarizing too many details in the case. A detailed outline of the case format and the case will be
distributed as the course progresses. The due date for the case is noted on the class schedule. It’s a
great idea to ask the CIC writing consultant to review a draft of the written case before you submit
it.
Note: Cases that are over 2 pages will be penalized as are cases that are late.
Group Case Analysis: The group case analysis will take a similar format as the individual write-up
and will be due during finals week. The page limit is 3 pages (including figures and appendices).
More details on the case and format will be distributed as the course progresses.
Note: Cases that are over 3 pages will be penalized as are cases that are late.
Classes before Case Analyses are due: Before the case analyses are due, I will not lecture. Rather,
that class will be available to you a time where you (individual case write-up) or you and your group
(group case write-up) can ask questions about the case or your analysis. I will NOT read a draft of
your write-up and provide line by line comments but if you have questions about your analysis, I will
be available to give advice.
Case “Debates”: Over the course of the semester, students will engage in group “debates” regarding
relevant cases. Before the debate, each team will know other teams’ strategies and will be asked to prepare a 3
minute PowerPoint presentation regarding their team’s strategy and why it was chosen. The time limit will be
strictly enforced to give everyone a chance to present and leave time for case discussion. I care less about
students getting the right answer and more about building a tension between opposing viewpoints,
challenging your assumptions, and creating reconciliation using course principles. I recognize that there are
some weeks that are just “crazy” for students. Over the semester, students will have 76 opportunities to debate
the cases and I will drop the lowest score for each group. You still must prepare the case even if you plan on
dropping that week’s presentation score. All students should email their presentations to me by midnight
the day before the presentation.
Grading Rubric:
Presentation (5 points)
PowerPoint appears professional
No typos
Slides aren’t too cluttered (e.g., too much text)
Font is legible for everyone in the room
Presentation
Stays within 3 minute time limit
Is “smooth” (few hiccups when speaking, transitioning among slides etc.)
Analysis (5 points)
Answers:
What problem are you solving?
How would you solve the problem?
Week 3 of course onward – contains positioning statement
Makes Specific Recommendations (see tips below for writing good cases/creating good
presentations)
For the case debates and group write-ups, students will choose their own group and that group will remain
in-tact for the rest of the semester. Group work can be difficult to coordinate – However, it is a valuable
experience because you will typically work in teams and small groups in your career. When choosing team
members, don’t just consider whether you are already friends with a fellow student but whether that student
will be an effective team member who will bring different perspectives to the table. It is expected that every
student will actively participate in the debate.
Participation: You are expected to attend class regularly and participate in class discussion. You
must be prepared to discuss the assigned chapter readings, articles and cases at all times. In my
lectures, I will assume you have completed the relevant reading and will not focus on spending
lecture time summarizing the text. Rather, I will use lectures to delve deeper into key concepts.
However, please feel free to use participation as a way of getting any questions answered or sharing
an insight or comment. It’s likely that if you’re wondering about something, others in the class feel
the same way. Participation should be enjoyable and also help you to learn. Class participation and
attendance count for 10% of your grade, so take them seriously.
A word on the use of laptops, smart phones etc. Students will be allowed to use laptops in class to
facilitate note-taking. However, many students find themselves tempted to use their laptops, phones,
etc. for other reasons (e.g., surfing Facebook). Not only is this unprofessional for business students
(you wouldn’t dare surf the web in an important meeting), but every emotion and expression you
have is easily conveyed to other students and to faculty. My goal as your professor is to convey and
promote enthusiasm in the course material, not to police you. Please, be respectful and use
technology to further your learning (not hinder yours or others).
The instructor may give a junior or senior a WU grade (the equivalent of an F) for excessive
absences. The Registrar’s office requires that students who have attended no classes before week 5
be dropped from the class.
Reflection on Guest Lecturers: Over the course of the semester, I will have at least one guest
lecturer though more are likely. After the guest lecture, I will ask you to complete a short (~1 page)
reflection piece where you relate principles from the speaker’s talk to course concepts and discuss at
least one new or surprising idea you took away from the talk.
Tips on Writing and Presenting Good Cases. PLEASE READ AND REFRESH YOUR MEMORY
BEFORE CLASS “DEBATES” AND INDIVIDUAL/GROUP WRITE-UPS.
In your formal write-up and in presentations, use the following structure (though no need to delineate by
subheadings).
1. Purpose: State the purpose of the report/presentation. What problems do you need to address?
2. Recommendations: State the manner in which problems you have identified should be resolved. In
this section, only your recommendations should be given.
3. Analysis: Include reasoning for your recommendations here.
Common Errors:
1. Stating the purpose of the report in terms of what recommendation you will make without indicating
what problem you are trying to solve in the first place. For example, putting “to segment and target
the market” is a poor purpose. It tells the reader the type of recommendation but not what problem
segmenting and targeting is meant to address. (The type of problem that these efforts could address is
low return on marketing expenditures, lack of focus in the sales force, increased competitive entrants
who are taking marketing share etc.).
2. Describing recommendations in terms of the type of analyses that should be done as opposed to
presenting concrete actions the firm should take. For example, “we recommend that the firm analyze
its competitive position and develop new products not easily copied by competitors” is a poor
recommendation. By contrast, something like “we recommend that the firm target the high education
market, focusing on professors and other education professionals with whom the firm has long-term
contracts and ongoing relationships” is a better recommendation in terms of specificity.
3. Problem and recommendation sections are too long. No more than ½ a page is required for each of
these sections. In the case debates, do not summarize case details – I already know them and so do
your classmates.
4. Analysis centers on minor issues or issues for which there is little or no data. Let the case facts guide
you – if there is little or no data, do not dwell on it.
5. Analysis reads like a mystery novel – big points are left to the end. Business reports, good ones at
least, present key decisions upfront and then support them.
6. Report is biased or one-sided. Do not hide relevant facts – use logic to support the relative superiority
of your choice.
7. If you include figures or other supporting evidence, do so by clearly labeling and discussing why you
include the figures (e.g., figures should have axes clearly labeled). A mistake, however, is to bring in
outside data beyond the case. The case is meant to be a “broad-strokes” tool for education. Not all
relevant details are included and data are sometimes modified to make a pedagogical point (i.e., for
teaching purposes).
8. Think about your reader/audience as someone you are trying to help. Make your presentation/writeup easy to follow. Use the CIC consultant where relevant to help you make your presentations and
write-ups “smooth.”
Course Administration: I am on campus most days and am happy to meet to discuss the course. Please send
an email to set up an appointment if you are unable to make scheduled office hours. I will post course
updates, documents, and interesting materials to Blackboard.
Assignment schedule:
CLASS
1
TOPICS
READING ASSIGNMENTS
Introduction
E Raymond Corey, Marketing
Strategy – An Overview. An
introduction to what Marketing
Strategy encompasses.
Aug 29
CASE
Assignments
Due
John Deighton, The Case Method of
Instruction.
Robert J Dolan, Basic Quantitative
Analysis for Marketing. Reviews
some of the quantitative tools useful
in the analysis of marketing
situations. Will be very helpful in the
case discussion and analysis moving
forward.
2
Sep 3
Introduction
Case Preparation questions
for BMW Case
Bayerische
Motoren
Werke AG
(BMW)
3
Sep 5
Customer
Analysis:
Segmentation
Harvard Business School, A Note on
Customer Market Segmentation
Calyx and
Corolla
Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook,
and Taddy Hall, Marketing
Malpractice: The Cause and the
Cure
Write on
Board Group
Position on
Calyx and
Corolla
Case preparation questions for Calyx
and Corolla
Werner Reinhartz and V. Kumar,
The Mismanagement of Customer
Loyalty
4
Sep 10
Segmentation
Continued
Short case
debates
5
Sep 12
Customer
Analysis:
Targeting
Robert J. Dolan, Perceptual
Mapping: A Manager’s Guide
(Note: This reading is particularly
technical and I won’t actually teach
you how to do PM but we will talk
about it and see how it can be a
useful tool. Read this article for
general insights/principles rather
than for statistical techniques)
6
Sep 17
Customer
Analysis:
Positioning
Gail McGovern & Youngme Moon,
Companies and the Customers Who
Hate Them
Colgate
Precision
Toothbrush
Write on
Board Group
position on
Colgate
Kevin Lane Keller, Brian Sternthal,
& Alice Tybout, Three Questions
you Need to Ask About Your Brand
Joseph L. Bower & Clark G. Gilbert,
How Managers’ Everyday Decisions
Create – or Destroy – Your
Company’s Strategy
7
Sep 19
Customer
Analysis: T&P
8
Sep 24
Group Meeting
9
Sep 26
T& P cont.
10
Oct 1
T& P cont.
Oct 3
Dr. Finkelstein will meet with each
group to give advice on the first
group write-up
Catch up and questions. Dr.
Finkelstein will answer questions on
material and cover whatever lecture
material got cut short the past few
weeks.
Discussion of Old Spice
Old Spice
First Group
Write Up
Due
Barco
Projection
Systems
Write on
Board Group
Position
No Class
11
Oct 8
Company
Analysis
12
Oct 10
Competitive
Analysis
Alice Tybout & Bridgette Braig,
Strategic Analysis, Opportunities,
and Planning
David J Collins and Cynthia
Montgomery, Competing on
Resources: Strategy in the 1990’s
Per Baruch Academic Calendar,
Classes follow Monday Schedule
Oct 15
13
Oct 17
Competitive
Analysis Cont.
14
Oct 22
16
Oct 29
Customer
Analysis: Using
Social Media
Product
Management
Cont.
Product
Management
17
Oct 31
Pricing
Strategy
15
Oct 24
Short case
debates
Short Case
Debates
Quelech & Kenny, Extend Products
Not Lines
XM
satellite
Radio
Write on
Board Group
Position
Short Case
debates
E. Raymond Corey, Note on Pricing
Kodak
Write on
Board group
position
18
Nov 5
Pricing Cont.
19
Nov 7
Branding
Short case
debates
Scott Ward, Larry Light, & Jonathan
Goldstine, What High Tech
Managers Need to Know About
Brands
Black and
Decker
Write on
Board group
position on
Black and
Decker
Keller, The Brand Report Card
20
Nov 12
Short Case
Debates
21
Nov 14
Meetings
Dr. Finkelstein will be available to
advise on Sweet Dream
22
Nov 19
Branding Cont.
Catch up and questions. Dr.
Finkelstein will answer questions on
material and cover whatever lecture
material got cut short the past few
weeks.
23
Nov 21
Discussion of
Sweet Dream
Case
Promotion
Strategy
24
Nov 26
Nov 28
25
Dec 3
Promotion
Strategy Cont
26
Dec 5
Group Meeting
27
Dec 10
28
Dec 12
Due:
Individual
Analysis
Sweet Dream
Case
The
Medicines
Co
Group Write
up of
Medicine Co
Case Due
--
Abraham & Lodish, Getting the
Most Out of Advertising and
Promotion
No Class: Thanksgiving
Dr. Finkelstein will be available to
advise on Med Co.
Catch up and questions. Dr.
Finkelstein will answer questions on
material and cover whatever lecture
material got cut short the past few
weeks.
Discussion of
Med Co. Case
and Course
Wrap Up
The Case
of the Test
Market
Toss Up
(Sweet
Dream)
--
Students with Disabilities:
As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students with
disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Student responsibility primarily rests with
informing faculty at the beginning of the semester and in providing authorized documentation through
designated administrative channels.
Academic Dishonesty
Students are expected to know and adhere to the Baruch College Academic Honesty Policy, found at
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html. It states, inter alia, that
Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery,
plagiarism and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college's educational mission
and the students' personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to
bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that
underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the
rules is not an acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to
compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.
I take academic integrity seriously. I am familiar with a lot of the written materials and case write
ups available online that correspond to the cases I’ve assigned in class. Plagiarism is a serious
offense and will earn you an automatic score of “0” for that assignment, no exceptions. If you pull
any material from online, you need to put it in quotation marks (“x”) and cite it. If you have any
doubts as to whether what you’ve written is similar to what is online (i.e., you’ve paraphrased), cite
your source. If you have any questions as to what constitutes plagiarism, ask me BEFORE the
assignment is due. Better to be safe.
Preparation questions:
Preparation questions for BMW Case (Week 1):
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), included in the course packet. While analyzing the case, assume the
time line given in the case (1992). Use the following questions to guide your preparation:
1. What was BMW’s status in the market in 1986? Who was buying BMW? Why? What do you think of
BMW’s advertising?
2. What caused the sales decline from 1986-1991? Could BMW have prevented it given its position in
1986?
3. Evaluate Gerlinger’s performance. What has he accomplished to date? Can BMW compete effectively
against Lexus and Infiniti?
4. What advice would you give Gerlinger to help him achieve his 100,000 sales goal?
Preparation questions for C&C (Week 2):
The following questions should be of help in your case preparation:
What does the market for flower delivery look like?
What would be the appropriate segmentation variables for this market?
How would you then describe the segments?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the C & C formula?
Given C & C’s strengths and weaknesses, which segments would be the most attractive? How can C & C
develop and maintain its competitive advantage for these segments?
• How should C & C focus its resources in going after these segments?
•
•
•
•
•
Our discussion will not pay much attention to the Minneapolis experiment. Also, don’t get lost in the details
of the direct mail campaign. However, you should consider the effectiveness of the direct mail effort to help
you in choosing segments.
Preparation questions for Colgate (Weeks 3 and 4)
The following questions should be of help in your case preparation:
1. What changes are occurring in the toothbrush category? What is Colgate-Palmolive’s competitive
position?
2. How is the toothbrush market segmented? It may be instructive to contrast consumer behavior across the
toothpaste and toothbrush categories.
3. This will lead you to the key issue of the case. What should Precision’s positioning be? Should it be
launched as a mainstream brand or a niche product?
4. What marketing recommendation would you make to Steinberg?
Don’t worry as much about the numbers in the Colgate case but do think about how sensitive your
recommendations are to whatever assumptions you make to simplify your analysis.
Preparation questions for Old Spice (Group Case 1)
. You should address all of these questions in your write-up as you would in an examination. If you choose to
use bullet points, be careful; Bullet points/lists often lead students to discuss issues in a superficial way
without providing specific reasons/analyses for what you are recommending.
1. What are the problems Old Spice is facing? Should Old Spice keep the Glacial Falls scent,
discontinue the scent entirely, discontinue the scent and replace it with a new scent, attempt to
reposition the scent, or examine another course of action? What is the rationale for your
recommendation?
2. Should Old Spice change its target? If so, what segment of the market should Old Spice target? Why?
3. What is the brand’s position in the case? Create a positioning statement, “Old Spice is the brand of
deodorant for [target market] that [point of difference] because [reason to believe; provides x
benefits].
4. How should the brand allocate its advertising dollars with respect to Glacial Falls? Should it continue
to spend at the level of category brand (Old Spice), move to an individual product (Red Zone), or
focus on a specific scent (Glacial Falls)?
Note: your answers to all of these questions should be no more than 2 pages, 11 point font, double spaced, at
least one-inch margins.
Preparation questions for Barco (weeks 5 and 6)
The following questions should be of help in your case preparation:
1. How has the market and the BARCO product line evolved? Evaluate BARCO’s and Sony’s choice of
marketing strategies in the light of their corporate resources and competencies.
2. On page 11 of the case, Dejonghe comments that, “all of our projections, however, were based on the
assumption that Sony would respect our ‘vision’ of the marketplace”. What does this mean? What
was Barco’s vision of the market?
3. Why did Sony choose to reject BARCO’s ‘vision’ of the market in August 1989? How serious a
threat is the Sony 1270? What are Sony’s objectives?
4. Did BARCO make a mistake somewhere along the way – or do things like this ‘just happen’ when a
firm competes in a high technology business on a global scale?
5. What should BARCO do now with respect to its pricing and product development plans?
Preparation questions for XM Satellite (Week 8)
The following questions should be of help in your case preparation:
1. What is the value proposition of XM to different consumer segments? Who should be the primary
target market for XM?
2. What aspects need to be considered in pricing the radio receiver and subscription fee? What is the
optimal price for monthly subscription? Assume a five-year lifetime for a customer. How would your
answer change if the lifetime was longer or shorter?
3. How should the price of the service change over time? Should you price high initially and then
decrease it over time? Should you price low initially and then increase it over time?
4. What aspects need to be considered in allowing advertising to run on XM’s service? How does the
fact that the firm could also earn money on advertising affect the optimal subscription price?
5. What are the implications of the expected launch plans for XM’s rival Sirius?
6. What revenue model should Robert Acker recommend that XM pursue to capture value from satellite
radio?
Given the business model selected, what should the marketing plan for launching the XM service be?
(Communication strategy, channel design, pricing and incentives).
Preparation Questions for Kodak (Week 9):
1. Should the firm introduce Funtime film?
2. What is competitive behavior like? What is consumer behavior like?
Preparation Questions for Black and Decker (Week 10):
1. What is the cause of B&D’s 9% share vs. Makita’s 50%?
2. How does the buying behavior of the tradesman impact the situation?
3. What is Makita’s competitive strategy and what role does Milwaukee (the #2 brand in the segment)
play?
4. Which action alternative should B&D pursue? Should they invest heavily in this segment to try and
improve performance or should they restrict investment or even exit?
Preparation Questions for Sweet Dream (Individual Write-Up; Week 11):
Read “The Case of the Test Market Toss-Up”: Sweet Dream and answer the questions below. For this
assignment, do not use case format but instead answer the questions in order, much as you would an
examination. Support all your decisions. You can use bullet points (though make sure that you provide the
logic behind your recommendations if you use bullet points). Note: You should NOT answer the “Case
Question” that is presented at the end of the case text.
1. Imagine that Paradise Foods did not launch any new products in the ice cream category (neither a line
extension of La Treat nor a new product like Sweet Dream). What do you predict would happen to the
current La Treat line if the current marketing tactics were maintained? In answering this question,
consider a) product life cycle issues, b) the positioning of the product and the benefits offered to
consumers, c) the role and effect of promotions, and d) competitive activity. Consider both outright
losses and opportunity costs. Include your positioning statement in answering this question.
2. Managers at Paradise Foods are worried about cannibalization. Cannibalization occurs when some
proportion of sales of a new product come at the expense of an existing product by the same firm.
Cannibalization can be justified, however, in some circumstances. Consider the cannibalization risk
for Sweet Dream if it positioned much like La Treat, as it largely was in the Midland/Pittsfield test
markets. Would you recommend against Sweet Dream because of this risk or would you accept this
risk? Another way of thinking about this question is to note that Sweet Dream is largely being killed
in the organization because of the cannibalization argument. Do you think this argument is valid or
flawed? As a secondary question, do you consider a La Treat extension (e.g., a new flavor) to be more
or less of a cannibalization risk?
3. Evaluate the option of positioning Sweet Dream in the ice-cream novelty market, which it likely
reached in the Marion/Corvallis test markets. Do you recommend this course of action?
Note: your answers to all of these questions should be no more than 2 pages, 11 point font, double spaced, at
least one-inch margins.
Preparation Questions for The Medicines Company (Group Write-up; Week 13):
The Medicines Company case, set in the complex pharmaceutical industry, requires you to develop a go-to
market plan for Angiomax. For this assignment, do not use case format but instead answer the questions in
order, much as you would an examination. Support all your decisions. You can use bullet points (though
make sure that you provide the logic behind your recommendations if you use bullet points).
1. What is the value created by Angiomax? How much is the product worth? Write a positioning
statement for Angiomax.
2. What is your assessment of a hospital’s “willingness to pay” and what are the drivers of this
assessment?
3. What will be the process of adoption for Angiomax? How could you influence this adoption?
4. More generally, what is the overall business model of the Medicines Company? How viable is this
model? How does Angiomax fit in this model?
Formatting: Your write-up is not to exceed 3 pages (including figures). As usual, 11 point font, double
spaced, at least 1-inch margins are required.