Module Description
This module covers the core elements of marketing management, building on the fundamental marketing and broader business concepts taught during the first year, in particular BE400 Introduction to Management and Marketing. The module explores in depth the extended marketing mix (product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical environment); the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) process; and fundamental branding principles. The module aims to help students develop marketing knowledge and skills that are important for future modules as well as the workplace.
Weekly one-hour lectures present important theoretical concepts, which students are then asked to put into practice by playing a marketing simulation that takes them through the key stages of marketing planning and management. Students play this simulation as groups over an eight-week period, competing against each other for market share and profit, with seminars designed to facilitate group work.
The module is assessed via two individually-prepared coursework assignments that ask students to explain and reflect on the decisions that they made as a group in the marketing simulation. Thus, while group work is not assessed directly, it forms a crucial component of this module and its assessment.
Module Aims
1. Students will develop an understanding of the core components of marketing management.
2. Students will develop an understanding of the role and importance of market research in developing marketing strategies.
3. Students will learn how to identify and evaluate market segments through an exploration of the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) process.
4. Students will learn branding principles in order to be able to develop brand personalities that effectively position their brands vis-à-vis a target customer segments.
5. Students will learn about the Extended Marketing Mix to be able to develop a communications plan that succeeds in communicating their brand effectively to a target customer segment.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand the role of marketing management in helping products and services succeed in competitive environments.
2. Understand the key elements of marketing planning.
3. Understand the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) process.
4. Understand the role of branding in positioning products and services.
5. Understand the importance of managing the Extended Marketing Mix effectively in order to target specific customer segments.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
1. Important marketing skills as you play through a marketing simulation.
2. Research skills as you conduct research for your marketing strategy.
3. Skills related to innovativeness and curiosity as you turn your research findings into a marketing plan.
4. Teamwork skills as you play through the marketing simulation as group.
5. Skills related to creativity as you attempt to find strategies that will outperform your competitors.
6. Critical thinking skills as you work to solve the problems facing your company.
7. Reflection skills as you reflect on your decisions in the simulation.
- Module Supervisor: Erik Jacobi