Course content can be roughly divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the concepts, tools, and analyses that underlie marketing decisions. We will examine marketing strategies, buyer behavior, and the information link between the environment and the decision maker. The second part of the course focuses on using these concepts, tools, and analyses to make marketing decisions. We will examine the elements of the marketing mix, namely product, price, place (distribution), and promotion (communication). The design of these elements should be consistent in order to reach consumers.

Every course in the business school is, in some sense, a strategy course; in other words, in everything you study as a business student and in all your decisions as a business person, you should have in mind a corporation’s overall plan, in particular its objectives and the advantages and corporate strengths it will use to achieve them. What distinguishes marketing (in terms of both strategy and execution) from, say, corporate strategy, can be summarized in a single word: CUSTOMERS. The primary task of marketing is to achieve the corporation’s overall business objective by creating and communicating value to the customer. So, throughout the course, we will have to keep both ends of the process in view at all times: What is the business trying to achieve? What does the customer want?

Course Objectives

• To develop knowledge of business terms and concepts associated with the marketing field.
• To understand the marketing environment, study customer needs and behavior, and comprehend the value of product, pricing, place, and promotion decisions in the planning process.
• To develop an ability to analyze marketing problems, and to apply marketing concepts, tools, and techniques to solve specific problems.
• To exhibit ethical and professional conduct in class, in preparation for the “real world.”