Objectifs

Course Objective

This course focuses on the purpose and the function of marketing strategy, as well as its relationship to competitive advantage. The goal of this course is to develop knowledge and understanding of the marketing function within its strategic dimension and its connection with the corporate strategy. It involves both a B2C (“Business to Consumers”) and a B2B (“Business to Business”) modules that are both developed to provide students with a comprehensive overview of strategy in the marketing function.

We want our students to develop their strategic thinking skills by applying theoretical concepts to analyze real-world scenarios in both B2C and B2B contexts and hence practical and critical thinking will be necessary to succeed this class.

Concretely, students will learn to:

• Analyze the environment and its impact on firm marketing strategies.

• Analyze the consumer/customer behavior (from a B2C and B2B perspective).
• Analyze the factors (market/customer orientation) that make marketing a key strategic element in organizational performance.
• Make coherent choices about market segmentation and product positioning and to integrate the different variables in a strategic approach.
• Understand how to make strategic and coherent product- and brand management decisions.
• Evaluate the linkages with channel and sales force management.
• Understand how to develop a pricing strategy to capture value.

Course Format

We expect students in a MSc program to be familiar with and continuously improve academic thinking and problem-solving skills, including proper argumentation and an academically correct treatment of used sources, as well as critical thinking. Those skills will be practiced in class by the use of real-world case scenarios to which theoretical knowledge will be applied to understand and address the challenges behind designing and implementing a marketing strategy for a brand or business unit.

The in-class exercises and discussions are critical to achieving the required competences and understanding of the concepts. Though attendance of this class is not mandatory, students will need this knowledge in order to successfully complete the final exams. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that students are present for every class.

The course will be taught by two professors, Katharina Rege (BtoC - first 7 weeks) and Markus Christen (BtoB - last seven weeks).

Required Course Material

Cases & Articles will be posted on Moodle.

Contenus

ATTENTION: During the first 7 weeks of the semester, the class will take place on Thursday morning; for the second part of the semester (starting as of 08.11.2019) the class will take place on Friday morning!

Course Overview

1. 19.09.2019: Introduction to Strategic Marketing (Nespresso exercise)
2. 26.09.2019: Strategic Thinking in Marketing
3. 03.10.2019: From Segments to Personas
4. 10.10.2019: Positioning as Cornerstone of Marketing Strategy
5. 17.10.2019: Relationship Marketing
6. 24.10.2109: Branding
7. 31.10.2019: Exam B2C Part (presence is mandatory!)

1. 08.11.2019 B2B: What Changes When Your Customer Is an Organization?
2. 15.11.2019: Creating Value 1: Innovation in Business Markets
3. 22.11.2019: Creating Value 2: Competitive Positioning in Business Markets
4. 29.11.2019: Delivering Value: Distribution Channels
5. 06.12.2019: Communicating Value: Selling and Sales Management
6. 13.12.2019: Capturing Value: Pricing Strategies
7. 20.12.2019: Exam B2B Part (presence is mandatory!)

Class Time: 08h15 to 11h45

The course organisation and planning is (or will be!) available on Moodle.

MOODLE will be the communication channel for this course: kindly make sure you register on Moodle before the course starts.

Références

All articles and other bibliographic references are to be found on Moodle.

Pré-requis

Fundamentals of marketing

Evaluation

1ère tentative

Examen:

Sans examen (cf. modalités)  

Evaluation:

Two separate, in-class exams for the B2C and the B2B part (50% each) – no final exam during the official exam sessions.

B2C exam (K.Rege)

1. First attempt: In-class case study, 2,5h, open book
2. Retake: 1h written exam, closed book

B2B exam (M: Christen)

1. First Attempt: Written 2.5 hours; open book; no calculator.
2. Retake: 1h written exam, closed book.

Rattrapage

Examen:

Ecrit 3h00 heures

Documentation:

Autorisée

Calculatrice:

Autorisée

Evaluation:

RETAKE SESSION 2020

Exceptional due to coronavirus and on-line exams

Two in-class exams during the last session of the respective teaching block (BtoC & BtoB) - please see "Evaluation" section for detailed description.

In case of a necessary retake exam (2h B2C, 1h B2B), the grade of the retake exam will account for 100%.