Note: this document may be updated in the future. Please check back for the latest version.
Last Update: October 9, 2021

Instructor - Zsolt Katona

Class sessions: Saturdays, 9am-12:40pm and 2pm-5:40pm

Email: zskatona@berkeley.edu - please use [EWMBA206] in the subject.
Office hours: by appointment

GSI - Tomiwa Ajewole

Optional discussion sections (Zoom): Sundays, 1pm-2:30pm

Email: tomiwa@berkeley.edu - please use [EWMBA206] in the subject.
Office hours: by appointment

Introduction

As the core marketing course in the program, the class is designed to provide you with an understanding of the basic marketing management concepts and to expose you to strategic marketing decision making. Specifically, the course will cover topics relating to the marketing process, consumer analysis, segmentation, targeting and positioning, designing marketing strategy, and tactical implementation. The three main objectives are:

• To introduce you to the key elements of the marketing process and its role in modern corporations.
• To provide you with a sound framework for identifying, analyzing, and solving marketing problems.
• To prepare you for developing and implementing an integrated marketing strategy: Product, Price, Place/Channels of distribution, and Communication/Promotion.

Keep in mind that effective marketing management results not from simply learning marketing facts and institutional details, but from critical thinking and the reasoned application of the underlying principles. This is especially true in our highly dynamic business environment where technology plays an increasingly important role.

Class Format - Video Lectures

All class sessions will be conducted in person. To maximize the value of our time together, we will spend most of it on interactive discussions and group exercises. Most of the lecture style content has been pre-recorded. Please watch these videos before each meeting. For example, watch VL2.x before our second meeting, VL3.x before our third session, etc. The videos will average about 60-70 minutes per week, but the amount will vary week by week to some extent. Each video is about 5-10 minutes long

With some of the lectures pre-recorded, we will include generous breaks of about 40 minutes each week to make the long day more bearable.

Preparation and Participation

The success of this course depends on everybody's effort to prepare before class. Learning is the most effective when you are actively engaged in thinking about and doing marketing rather than passively absorbing the material. Everybody's contribution is important. It is rare that there is one right answer to a particular marketing issue. Do not expect one. Rather, you should expect to learn from seeing how others address the problem that you have thought seriously about. The better prepared you are the more you will learn. Due to the remote nature of the class, class participation will include some short questions and polls that you need to answer online (on bCourses) between two class meetings during the week. These are numbered as CP1.x, CP2.x, etc. You are expected to answer these as if I called on you in class: In fact, I might call on you in class based on your answers. Most of the time there is not a single correct answer, but some of them will be great discussion starters. Although your answers will not be graded question by question, our GSI and I will track your answers and your overall performance will determine your class participation grade. Your participation during our in-person sessions only contribute to your class participation grade to the extent that it relates to one of your answers to the online questions before class (i.e., you should be able to articulate or defend your position if called on). Note that these ungraded questions are different from the graded quizzes that you will also complete online.

Readings

Required and Supplementary Readings

For each session, please read the case study(ies) listed under session before class. These are required readings. You can access the case studies via study.net.

The syllabus also lists a set of other readings that are marked as optional and are either directly linked or are available through study.net. From time to time I will provide supplementary readings through bCourses. Some of these will give more details about a topic, others will reflect on recent events. Unless I indicate otherwise, these readings will also be optional.

If you want to keep up with recent developments in marketing, it is very useful to regularly check - among others - the following sites:

• http://adage.com/
• http://adweek.com/
• http://marketingweek.com/

Textbooks

We do not use a textbook in the class. However, if you are a big fan of books and want to have them for reference in the future, I recommend these two:

• Kotler, Philip and Kevin Keller (2015) Marketing Management (15/e). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Winer, Russell S. and Ravi Dhar (2010) Marketing Management (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Assignments

Class Participation

Your class participation grade will be determined by the short questions and polls (CPx.y) that you complete on bCourses between class meetings. Although your answers will not be graded question by question, we will track your answers and determine your overall performance. Your participation during our live sessions only contribute to your class participation grade to the extent that it relates to one of your answers to the online questions before class (i.e., you should be able to articulate or defend your position if called on). Note that these ungraded questions are different from the graded quizzes that you will complete online.

Online quizzes

There will be a series of graded quizzes (QZx.y) between each class that you will have to answer in a limited time. You can answer the quizzes anytime before the deadline, but once you open the question, the clock starts ticking. The questions will be accessible on bCourses, but an exact list of question numbers will be posted here to make sure you do not forget to complete any of them. Note that given the nature of the quiz format these questions tend to be a bit more on the quantitative side.

Marketing Plan Project (Group)

In this project you play the role of a marketing manager/entrepreneur whose task is to study the market and the strategy for a new product or service idea that your company is considering and develop a marketing plan. You must choose a new product, or service idea that your group is interested in. Ideally, the chosen product concept must not be a “me-too” business opportunity which copies some existing product. I encourage you to choose a product or service that is relevant to the company or industry that one or several of the group members are interested in. Or it could be a business concept that you have been considering.

Click here for a detailed description of the project

Due date: 10/22 11pm: Submit a document containing

1. Names of the members of your group
2. The Title of your project (you can change this later if needed)
3. A brief, one-paragraph description of the product/service idea that your group wishes to pursue

Due date: 12/8 11pm: Submit the final report.

Rocket Fuel Case Analysis (Group)

Analyzing the Rocket Fuel case is a great way to learn about the challenges of measuring the effectiveness of online advertising. The case presents some data on an Internet ad campaign. Two weeks before the due date, you will receive the case text and detailed questions that will allow you to apply some of the statistical tools that you are learning in parallel in the Data & Decisions class. We will discuss the conclusions of the analysis in class.

Due date: 12/3 11pm

Project Groups

We will use the study groups that are already formed through Teams@Haas and which you used in Fall A. These groups will be used for the purposes of the Marketing Plan Project and the Rocket Fuel case analysis assignment.

Submission of Documents

Submit all the assignments on bcourses in .docx, .pptx or .pdf format, no paper submission is necessary. If there is a problem with bCourses, email me a copy before the deadline. The grades and our comments will be added to the file electronically which look better in Office, so .docx or .pptx are preferred to .pdf if you use Word. Your powerpoint slides should be self-explanatory as much as possible, but you can add presentation notes if you need to explain something in more detail. Once project groups are assigned bCourses will have a feature for groups to submit assignments. Until then, one submission per group is enough. If multiple members submit from a group, the last submission will be graded.

Final Exam

The final exam will be open book and will consist of questions related to the course material we cover throughout the class and the quizzes. There will also be questions based on a short case that you read during the exam.

Date: 12/11

Grading

Your grade will be based on the number of points you get from the following assignments. The maximum total score is 100 points.

• Class Participation: 15 points
• Online Quizzes: 10 points
• Rocket Fuel Case Analysis: 15 points
• Marketing Plan Project: 30 points
• Final Exam: 30 points

Note that Haas policies require the average GPA in core classes to not exceed 3.45.

Session Details

10/16 - Week 1. Introduction: The Brand and the Marketing Process.

Video Lecture: None

Class Participation: CP1.1, CP1.2

Topics:

1. What is marketing?
2. Marketing and Strategy
3. Course Introduction
4. Customer Lifetime Value
5. The Brand

Optional Reading

• BrandZ Top 100 Global Brands
• Elie Ofek: "Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value" (HBS 9-503-109)
• Spotlight on the Trouble with CMOs (For HBR links try incognito mode if you don't have a subscription)
• Robert J. Dolan: "Framework for Marketing Strategy Formation" (HBS 8153)
• Lodish and Mela: "If Brands Are Built over Years, Why Are They Managed over Quarters?" (HBR), July 2007

10/23 - Week 2. Creating Value: Segmentation Targeting and Positioning

Assignment Due: Submit Company Information for Marketing Plan Project

Quiz: QZ2.1 (20 min)

Video Lecture: VL2.1-VL2.3 (Optional CLV Recap ~28 min)

Video Lecture: VL2.4-VL2.10 (STP ~58 min)

Class Participation: CP2.1, CP2.2, CP2.3, CP2.4

Case Discussion: "Chase Sapphire"

Topics:

1. Segmentation
2. Targeting
3. Positioning
4. Perceptual Maps
5. Vertical vs Horizontal Differentiation

Optional Reading

• Sarvary and Elberse: "Market Segmentation, Target Market Selection and Positioning" (HBS 9-506-019)
• What You Need to Know About Segmentation
• Designing Smart-Home Products That People Will Actually Use
• Big Data’s Dangerous New Era of Discrimination
• Burns, Veeck Bush: "Marketing Research", Chapter 8: "Understanding Measurement, Developing Questions, and Designing the Questionnaire"

10/30 - Week 3. Promotion: Reaching Customers

Quiz: QZ3.1

Video Lecture: VL3.1-VL3.9 (Promotion 6Ms ~62 min)

Class Participation: CP3.1, CP3.2

Case Discussion: "Purple Innovation, Inc: The Online to Offline Marketing Challenge"

Topics:

1. Marketing Communications: The 6Ms
2. Mission
3. Market
4. Message
5. Media
6. Money
7. Measurement

Optional Reading

• Creativity in Advertising: When It Works and When It Doesn’t
• How to Market a Product’s Unexpected Benefit
• Do Influencers Need to Tell Audiences They’re Getting Paid?
• Neuromarketing: What You Need to Know

11/6 - Week 4. Product and Distribution

Quiz: QZ4.1

Video Lecture: VL4.1-VL4.11 (Product+Place ~81min)

Class Participation: CP4.1, CP4.2

Case Discussion: "Formlabs: Selling a New 3D Printer"

Topics:

1. Product and Service Benefits
2. Product Life Cycle
3. Conjoint Analysis
4. Channel Choice
5. Channel Conflict
6. Vertical vs Horizontal Conflict

Optional Reading

• Dolan: "Analyzing Consumer Preferences" (HBS 9-599-112)
• John R. Hauser: "Note on Conjoint Analysis"
• Kasturi Rangan: "Developing and Managing Channels of Distribution" (HBS 8149)
• "Food Distribution Channel Overview"

11/13 - Week 5. Capturing Value: Pricing

Quiz: QZ5.1

Video Lecture: VL5.1-VL5.10 (Pricing ~73min)

Class Participation: TBD

Case Discussion: "Basecamp: Pricing"

Topics:

1. Pricing Basics, Willingness to Pay
2. Economic Value to Customer
3. Physcological Factors
4. Price Discrimination
5. Dynamic and Personalized Pricing

Mini Case Discussion: "Coca-Cola's New Vending Machine (A): Pricing to Capture Value, or Not?"

Optional Reading

• Dolan and Gourville, “Pricing Strategy” (HBS 8203)
• Airlines’ New Basic Economy Fares Show the Power of No-Frills Pricing
• A Survey of 1,700 Companies Reveals Common B2B Pricing Mistakes
• When Cost-Plus Pricing Is a Good Idea
• Why Businesses Should Lower Prices During Natural Disasters
• When Customers Are — and Aren’t — OK with Personalized Prices

11/20 - Week 6. Ecommerce and Data-Driven Marketing

Quiz: QZ6.1

Video Lecture: VL6.1-VL6.10 (Data-Driven Marketing ~74min)

Class Participation: CP6.1, CP6.2, CP6.3

Case Discussion: "Jumia"

Topics:

1. Network Effects and Two-Sided Markets
2. Platform Economics
3. Data-Driven Marketing
4. Consumer Analytics
5. Machine Learning and Marketing

Optional Reading

• Eisenmann, Parker, Alstyne: "Strategies for Two-Sided Markets" (HBR, October 2006)
• Dolan: "Analyzing Consumer Perceptions" (HBS 9-599-110)
• Why Marketing Analytics Hasn’t Lived Up to Its Promise
• A Look into Microsoft’s Data-Driven Approach to Improving Sales
• How Vineyard Vines Uses Analytics to Win Over Customers
• Using Analytics to Align Sales and Marketing Teams

12/4- Week 7. Digital Marketing and Privacy

Assignment Due: Rocket Fuel Case Analysis

Quiz: QZ7.1

Video Lecture: VL7.1-VL7.10 (Digital Advertising ~62min)

Class Participation: CP7.1, CP7.2

Case Discussion: "Rocket Fuel"

Topics:

1. Digital Ads: How They Work
2. A/B Testing
3. Targeting and Privacy
4. Social Media, Influencer Marketing

Optional Reading

• Inefficiencies in Digital Advertising Markets
• Jerath, Sarvary "A Primer on Programmatic Advertising" (CU180)
• The Surprising Power of Online Experiments
• The Basic Social Media Mistakes Companies Still Make
• Social Media Works for B2B Sales, Too
• To Regain Consumers’ Trust, Marketers Need Transparent Data Practices
• What You Need to Know About California’s New Data Privacy Law

12/8 11pm - Assignment Due: Marketing Plan Project Final Report

12/11 - Online Final Exam: Time TBD