Results for MKTG

The Marketing and Competition core variant will cover both marketing to consumers, using case studies and lectures, and marketing to businesses, using the INDUSTRAT competitive simulation. Class case discussions will focus on key concepts and marketing analyses as well as new perspectives on customer analysis and marketing strategies. The course will include three modules: (1) Analyzing Marketing Opportunities, (2) Developing Marketing Strategies, and (3) New Trends in Marketing Strategy Implementation. A major part of the course will employ the INDUSTRAT competitive simulation. In this simulation, each team, representing a company in 5-firm industry, will have to make a wide range of decisions, such as customer and segment selection, positioning, market research, sales force deployment, R&D, and whether to form alliances with other firms. During INDUSTRAT sessions, teams will discuss the previous period's results and marketing research data to make decisions for the next period.

The objectives of this course are to introduce students to the substantive and procedural aspects of marketing management and to sharpen skills for critical analytical thinking and effective communication. Specifically, the goals are to introduce students to marketing strategy and to the elements of marketing analysis: customer analysis, competitor analysis, and company analysis; to familiarize students with the elements of the marketing mix (product strategy, pricing, advertising and promotion, and distribution), and to enhance problem solving and decision-making abilities in these operational areas of marketing; and to provide students with a forum (both written and verbal) for presenting and defending their own recommendations, and for critically examining and discussing the recommendations of others.

The goal of marketing is to provide value to customers and to recapture some of that value for the firm in the form of profits. The objectives of this course are to introduce students to marketing strategy and to the elements of marketing analysis (customer analysis, competitor analysis, and company analysis); to familiarize students with elements of the marketing mix (product strategy, pricing, advertising and promotion, distribution); to examine the process of building, creating and managing two key firm assets (brand equity and customer equity); and to enhance problem solving and decision making abilities in these operational areas.

This course is designed for students who have had prior exposure (either through previous coursework or work experience) to the marketing process and to the basic principles of marketing management. Students enrolled in the class are responsible for filling any gaps in the prerequisite material through review and self study. The main difference between MKTG 340 and the entry-level foundation course in marketing will be the emphasis on application; i.e., the integration and use of marketing tools and frameworks to address problems of practice in marketing. The course will consist of a small number of project modules, where students work in teams over several class sessions to solve a complex marketing problem. During each project module, students will spend in-class time discussing relevant frameworks and related cases, participating in panel discussions with industry experts and practicing managers, and presenting and critiquing recommendations. Possible project modules include: devise a marketing plan for a broad line of consumer products; redesign a customer loyalty program; develop an integrated marketing communications campaign for a new product launch; re-launch a brand; plan and execute a channel expansion strategy.

The objective of this course is to understand customer preferences, perceptions, and behaviors for product planning (and, to some extent, pricing decisions). A dominant paradigm in the course is to conceptualize customers as choosing among products and services based on product positioning on multiple attributes/features. Methods for measuring customers' preference trade-offs, perceptions, and trial and repeat purchase behaviors are emphasized. Topics include: Conjoint Analysis (an approach to measuring the values customers place on various product features), and related methods; their use in determining benefit segments, and in evaluating alternative product and pricing decisions; methods for measuring and understanding customer perceptions and brand equity; simulated and real test markets for predicting the likely success of new products; and customer adoption of new product categories. This course is particularly appropriate for careers in marketing, management consulting, and product development and management. The course project is a critical part of the course requirement and is to be done by self-selected four-person teams. The project will involve "Conjoint Analysis" - an assessment of the values customers place on various attributes of a product or service. Each team will collect and analyze data from a sample of 40 respondents. The "product" can be industrial or consumer, durable or non-durable, product or service that is of interest to the team members. The course project teams will also participate in a brand competition.

This course is aimed at informing students of state-of-the-art marketing research. It aims to help students ask interesting and relevant marketing questions, search for the appropriate methodology, and make effective decisions based on the research output. The main objectives are to equip students with scientific methods to analyze marketing data and to develop an appreciation for the potential contributions and limitations of market research. Emphasis will be placed on both qualitative and quantitative aspects of marketing research. The research should help managers in addressing substantive marketing problems such as: market segmentation, estimating market potential, forecasting market demand, designing advertising and pricing practices policies, and developing new products.

This course is designed to sharpen students' grasp of the strategic and tactical avenues that lead to competitive advantages in the marketplace. The course will begin with a strong emphasis on marketing strategy and introduce students to powerful frameworks that will address two broad goals of any firm: (1) Establish a competitive advantage by offering a super customer value proposition and (2) Generate sustainable organic growth. Since any good strategy needs to be followed up by effective tactics, the course will then segue into marketing communication tactics that will enable the firm effectively accomplish its strategic objectives. Here, the concepts and frameworks will only be applicable to traditional approaches (such as the use of television, print, and point-of-purchase promotions) but also to emergent approaches (such as the use of the internet, mobile media, etc.). Designed from the perspective of executives who are often involved in making strategic as well as tactical marketing decisions to solve contemporary business problems, this course is intended for students whose career plans include consulting and new business ventures (especially those that are related to emerging media), apart from those thinking of careers in marketing.

Which brands do you love? Apple? IDEO? The Daily Show? Method? Google? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you cultivate a well-loved brand? These are the questions we will explore in Building Innovative Brands. The focus of the project-based class is to explore how to build innovative brands, where brand is defined as ¿a sensibility¿ - departing from traditional perspectives of brand. The reality is that most brands could be making a much stronger impact than they are today ¿ in terms of deeper purpose, social value, and greater inspiration for employees as well as customers. This seminar will dive into this potential by analyzing brands that excel at (a) strategic philanthropy (i.e., doing good and making money) (b) telling their (unique) story and (c) incorporating a strong design element into the brand ¿ which infects the company internally and customers externally.nnnThe class will encompass a broad ecosystem of contributors. Leaders from the world of brand¿both small entrepreneurial companies and large, global market-leaders¿will be incorporated into the class both as presenters as well as advisors to offer first-hand perspectives about the challenges and lessons along their varied paths to success. The class will integrate methods from the d.school, marketing courses, and psychology courses ¿ including a focus on Ideation Labs, rapid prototyping, and real-time feedback. It is created for individuals interested in building your own brands and/or immersing yourself in the enhancement of a brand of your choosing. The goal is to work on a brand that is or could be well-loved (defined as a brand that transcends practicality and makes a consumer feel gleefully satisfied, over-the-top excited, or incredibly peaceful). Your primary deliverable will be a Brand Audit, the result of an iterative process that should lead you to a powerful outcome: not only will you conceive of a financially quantifiable enhancement of brand equity, you will harness the power of inspiration to change the world¿at least in a small way.

This course focuses on the design and implementation of marketing strategies in developed and emerging international markets. It aims to provide future managers with the frameworks, knowledge and sensitivities to better formulate and effectively implement marketing plans in various countries and regions of the world. The course examines the added dimensions of opportunities and challenges faced by companies operating in the global marketplace. Operating in an international environment provides companies with access to new markets, additional resource supplies and new sources of ideas to stimulate innovation. However concomitant with these new opportunities come the challenges of formulating and managing marketing strategies in an innately more complex, diverse and changing socio-economic, cultural and competitive environment. Multinational corporations (MNCs) play a much more complex competitive strategic game on an international chessboard with options of fighting skirmishes in various countries or regions. The course will develop frameworks for selectively competing in the international arena by identifying comparative advantages and weaknesses across countries and regions. The course will examine the challenges faced by MNCs in managing global brands and new product introductions across regions where local cultural and market demands conflict with the need for global consistency and efficiency. A module in the course will cover the strategic decision MNCs face in selecting the sequence in which to enter foreign markets by evaluating macro-level country information with market focused customer and competitive information and their own strengths and weaknesses. Regions and countries will be analyzed and compared as markets to make decisions regarding appropriate marketing strategies and resource allocations. Regions and countries covered will include China, Japan, India, Russia, North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The course will also cover the added dimensions introduced in the marketing mix elements for companies operating beyond their national boundaries. This will include issues of standard versus adapted marketing programs, global versus local advertising, international pricing strategies, selecting and managing distribution channels in different regions of the world, international retailing, and managing international brands and product lines over the product life cycle. Cases in the course will also raise issues regarding selection and management of various types of strategic alliances between MNCs and local companies including how these partnerships evolve over time. The integration of international marketing strategies with other functional strategies to optimally configure and manage activities in the value chain for obtaining more effective synergies will also be covered. The course will also discuss international marketing organization and control issues including formulating and managing headquarter - subsidiary relationships to best leverage the potential advantages of global efficiency with localized responsiveness to achieve maximum sustainable competitive advantage. The course is primarily intended for those aiming for a marketing career in companies that operate internationally or compete with MNC's in their local markets. The course should also be of interest to those who wish to learn more about how differences in local market structure, as well as consumer behavior and culture impact the development and management of marketing strategy. To facilitate learning from each other, there are three take-home group assignments - two case write-ups and one exercise. One of the write-ups will be graded as the midterm. Class participation is the only component of the overall grade assigned individually.

Firms operate in an increasingly challenging business environment, with greater competition, more informed customers and rapidly changing market trends. Simultaneously, they also have access to more information about their customers, the marketplace and their competitors than ever before. In this environment, knowing how to use this information to make optimal business decisions is a crucial competitive advantage. Firms often have access to data that they do not know how to use. The objectives of this course are to introduce students to state-of-the-art marketing analytics and to teach them how to practically apply these analytics to real-world business decisions.nnnThe following are examples of the types of questions that the course will address: How should a firm determine the prices for its products and services? What is the effect of television advertising on a brand?s sales and how should advertising be optimized? What can a firm learn about its customers from online browsing behavior and how can this knowledge be used for targeted advertising and promotions? How should a firm allocate its sales force? How should a firm manage the allocation of its promotional budget in order to maximize its returns? How should the mailing of catalogs or direct mail be targeted to increase response rates?nnnThe course will use a mix of lectures, cases, homework assignments and a course project to learn the material. Students do not need to have an advanced statistical background to take this course. Familiarity with the material in an introductory marketing course and an introductory statistics course will be assumed, but necessary material will be reviewed during the course of the quarter as necessary.

Pricing right is fundamental to a firm's profitability in a competitive business environment. Yet firms in diverse industries implement ad-hoc rules and trial-and-error approaches to pricing that significantly reduce profits. This course will draw on strategy, marketing techniques, and principles from microeconomics to describe practical approaches that are useful for optimal pricing decision-making. The main objective is to help students develop a systematic framework to think about, analyze and develop strategies for pricing right. Some of the questions we will address in the course include: How does a firm determine the price of a new product? How does a firm assess whether the current price is appropriate? What is value pricing? How does one implement it? What is price segmentation? A combination of cases, lectures, and empirical applications will be used in the class. The course is aimed at students who will, in their careers, be involved with formulating, analyzing and/or recommending pricing polices in the context of an integrated business strategy for the firm. We will also emphasize how pricing goes hand in hand with other aspects of firm strategy. Students with an understanding of marketing and microeconomic principles will benefit most from the course.

Contemporary approaches to marketing emphasize the importance of adopting a consumer focus, from determining consumers' wants and needs to shaping their attitudes and ensuring post-purchase satisfaction. This course provides insight into consumer psychology and the means by which consumer behavior can be influenced or altered. The course has both theoretical and practical objectives in that will: (1) explore theoretical frameworks and research findings that are relevant to understanding consumer psychology and behavior, and (2) apply these frameworks and findings to show how they can be used to develop effective marketing techniques and tactics. By shedding light on the psychological underpinnings of consumers' thoughts, attitudes, preferences, needs, and decision making styles, this course will help students make more insightful and effective marketing decisions.

Need approval from sponsoring faculty member and GSB Registrar.

The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in environmental consciousness among customers, especially among the crucial 18-34 demographic. Going green for marketers is no longer a luxury, it is becoming a necessity. How should marketers think about initiating and sustaining green marketing? How can they differentiate themselves from competition, especially with every player wanting to jump onto the green bandwagon? More importantly, how can marketers exploit this rapidly growing trend in terms of monetizing such efforts? Where are such opportunities likely to arise in the future both in terms of technological and marketing innovations? The primary goal of this seminar is to address these questions across different domains and industries, thereby gaining insights in an area of marketing that is so green (pun intended).

Channels Management: The design and management of channels of distribution are critical components of business strategy and key elements in organizing and implementing marketing strategy. The course aims to introduce frameworks and develop practical managerial learnings for effective design, implementation and management of channel networks and systems. The course begins by identifying and analyzing some fundamental decisions to be made regarding the design and governance of direct, indirect and dual channel structures and systems. Issues discussed will include selection of types of channel intermediaries, number of tiers of resellers to be used, targeted intensity of market coverage, channel length and breadth, and metrics to evaluate performance of direct and indirect channels. The merits and demerits of using various forms of resellers at each level of marketing channels will be evaluated. Types of channel members discussed include wholesalers, dealers, distributors and retailers. The course also covers franchise systems, issues relating to multiple and hybrid channel systems, and the impact of electronic I-media channels on channel structures. The latter part of the course identifies the linkages of channel management with other elements of the marketing mix, and covers issues regarding ongoing management and coordination of channels as markets evolve, including how channel conflict and channel power influence behavior of channel members and affect channel function and performance. B2B and B2C case studies are used to exemplify how, over the channel life cycle, firms have grappled with the challenge of building channel cooperation and working relationships among channel members to improve the productivity and efficiency of channels in national and international markets. The course will be extremely useful for students intending to pursue a career in marketing or corporate strategy development since effective channels are a key source of competitive advantage. The midterm and exercise are both take-home group assignments. Class participation grade will be assigned individually.

This course prepares the student to do empirical behavioral research on consumer and managerial behavior and other behavioral issues. It will cover some of the key concepts, principles, and techniques of behavioral research, with emphasis on experimental and non-experimental design.

The major goals of this seminar is to (1) provide Ph.D.-level coverage of the major research work carried out in consumer behavior, (2) expose students to the cutting edge in consumer behavior, psychology and neuroscience and (3) give students a good grasp of what it takes to be a successful academic in the field of consumer behavior.

This course will focus on empirical tools for analyzing dynamic decision contexts, wherein current actions of firms or consumers have effects on future payoffs, profits and/or competitive conduct. The course will build the relevant material generally, but our applications will be mostly focused on empirical marketing and industrial organization problems. We will have an applied focus overall, emphasizing the practical aspects of implementation, especially programming. The overall aim of the class is to help students obtain the skills to implement these methods in their research. By the end of the class, students are expected to be able to formulate a dynamic decision problem, program it in a language such as Matlab or C, and to estimate the model from data. The course starts with an overview of consumer theory and static models of consumer choice. We build on this material and introduce discrete choice markovian decision problems, and continuous markovian decision problems, and focus on building the computational toolkit for the numerical analysis of these problems. We then move on to specific applications, and discuss multi-agent dynamic equilibrium models. Finally, we discuss recently proposed advanced methods for alleviating computational burden in dynamic models.

The course aims to develop a thorough understanding of Bayesian inference, with a special focus on empirical applications in marketing. The course will start with a brief theoretical foundation to Bayesian inference and will subsequently focus on empirical methods. Initial topics would include Bayesian linear regression, multivariate regression, importance sampling and its applications. Subsequently, the course will focus on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods including the Gibbs Sampler and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm and their applications. The overall focus of the course will be on applying these methods for empirical research using a programming language such as R or Matlab.

This course will provide an overview of recent research on attitudes and persuasion. Content will include broad coverage of the issues of major importance to attitude theory, but will focus on more recent issues and controversies that have captured the interest of researchers in the field. The class will cover recent research areas such as attitude change and resistance processes, automatic attitude activation, attitude measurement, dissonance and attitudinal ambivalence, selective exposure, metacognition, and dual and implicit attitudes. Students who take this course will become familiar with research methods and major issues in attitudes research and will have a better understanding of how individuals form, use, and maintain their evaluations. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to critique existing research and formulate new research ideas.

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.

This course is designed to prepare new marketing PhD students for conducting rigorous, independent research. In this course, the student will work closely with a faculty member in collaborative research activities and will become familiar with various aspects of the research process, including developing hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments and/or analyses, and reporting results.

This seminar will review major contributions and recent developments in marketing with a particular emphasis on the strategic interactions between firms. We will examine how firms craft their product, pricing, advertisting, salesforce, and channel strategies to create and sustain competitive advantage. A main purpose of the course is to generate new ideas, new research topics, and new applications for existing concepts and theories.