Download MANAGEMENT 687: Marketing Strategy

MANAGEMENT 687: Marketing Strategy
(Class Starting Date: March 8, 2014)
Adjunct Professor:
Robert J Grant
Office:
Room 316
Meeting Time:
By appointment on weekends or Friday afternoon
Phone & E-mail:
713-899-9394; [email protected]
Course Objectives: Can a business survive the pitfalls that spell trouble or worse for such
established companies as Kodak, General Motors, Baldwin Piano & Organ Company, the
Tribune Group and the majority of the “dotcoms”? While challenges are inevitable, developing,
adhering to and refreshing a well-structured marketing strategy will help avoid many of the
pitfalls that can spell trouble – or the end-- for any business. This course is designed to provide
students a thorough understanding of what marketing strategy is all about. In so doing one will
come to understand why no less than Peter Drucker called it one of the two the most important
elements for a businesses’ success. Students will be provided with a framework for developing
a marketing strategy for any business, whether in the B2C or B2B world, as well as for profit and
not-for-profit enterprises.
Teaching method: Case studies from a variety of industries and business situations, together
with examples from today’s business literature will be used to illustrate the critical elements that
comprise a sound marketing strategy and contribute to long term success. Class discussions
will focus on these cases along with topical reading materials. Students will also have the
opportunity to work in class on identifying marketing strategies for businesses in the news.
Class 1 Learning Objectives -- The evolution of marketing strategy and the marketing strategy
framework. How the various elements are linked together (Marketing Strategy Pyramid).
Develop an understanding as to why the marketing strategy is one of the most critically
important elements of any business or organization whose goal is to CCDVPT. Marketing
Strategy Stage I: customer needs and product innovation.

Case Study 1 (Prepared in advance of class): Trouble Brewing at Starbucks
(specialty retailer: coffee shop/restaurant) -- The intended versus the unintended
consequences of decision-making through the eye of the marketing strategy. Students
will have an opportunity to go beyond the case and apply the Marketing Strategy prism
to recent company moves

Pre-Reading for first class: “Marketing Strategy: How it fits with business Strategy”.
Harvard Business School Press and “Marketing Strategy” Robert T. Davis, Stanford
University

Business Examples: Listerine (consumer health products) -- marketing strategy relaunch for a 100-year old business, past the mature phase of its lifecycle
Class 2 Learning Objectives -- Marketing Strategy Stage II: how targeting/segmenting
customers forms the foundation of a sound marketing strategy. Stage III: leveraging one’s
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resources to drive competitive advantage; and translating that competitive advantage into
differentiation in a way that gives life to the marketing strategy.

Case Study 2: The Clorox Company: Leveraging Green for Growth -- The
challenges involved in developing marketing strategies for products designed
around today’s megatrends of natural, organic and sustainable (“green”)
products. What are the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) options
and do any justify the financial investment for non-traditional go-to-market
business platforms.

Business Example: Puffs Facial Tissue (consumer household products) – strategic ways of
differentiating a business

Readings for class: “Customer Segmentation in Business to Business Markets” by Spekman
and Stein and “The Great Repeatable Business Model” by Zook and Allen
Class 3 Learning Objectives -- Marketing Strategy Stage IV: understanding the value
proposition, the heart of the marketing strategy. Quantifying and measuring the effectiveness of
a marketing strategy: identify the various means of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness
of a given marketing strategy, including perceptual mapping. Quiz on learning through first two
classes and readings for first three classes.

Quiz to be taken individually by each student on learning through first two classes and
readings for first three classes.

Case Study: Indraprastha Cold Storage Ltd: Value Added Strategy in an Emerging Market
(B2B international business) – Case explores how this B2B Company in India can best
balance short-term challenges and long-term opportunities in an economy where old ways
of doing business are firmly engrained. A number of marketing strategy issues come into
play as the company seeks to address questions around its differentiation, positioning and
the economic value to its customers in what has become a highly competitive marketplace.

Business Example: Leading Seed Company (B2B: agriculture) -- quantifying the value
proposition

Readings for class: “Customer Value Propositions in Business Markets” by Anderson,
Narus and Van Rossum and “Fundamentals of Global Strategy: Globalizing the Value
Proposition” by Cornelis A. De Kluyver
Class 4 Learning Objectives – Marketing Strategy Stage V: translating the value proposition
into an overall marketing plan, starting with the product positioning. The strategic versus the
tactical side of the four P’s and how they fit within Marketing Strategy in communicating the
value proposition. Final review of the Marketing Strategy Pyramid.

Case Study 4: Independent Case Study: Putting it all together -- In this final class students,
working in teams of 2 to 3, will have the opportunity to apply the Marketing Strategy
principles learned throughout the course to a business or not-for-profit organization of their
choosing, using all the elements presented in the course, especially those contained in the
Marketing Strategy Pyramid. Solution will include financial projections for business.
3

Business Examples: Bank One (financial services) -- Translating the value proposition into a
differentiated positioning.

Reading for class: “The Seven Questions of Marketing Strategy”; Farris, Parry, et.al.;
“Positioning: The Essence of Marketing Strategy” by Moore and Helstein
Course Grade: Final grades will be determined by student’s performance on the following
requirements:
Class participation
25%
One quiz (Class 4) on the key marketing strategy elements 20%
Team write-ups and individual classroom discussion of
25%
case studies
Final marketing strategy presentation and recommendation 30%
Total
100%
Team activities will factor in half the grade which is in keeping with how most marketing
organizations typically function. 50% of the grade will be based upon individual performance,
comprised of the quiz, class participation, and the first case study (Starbucks) which is to be
completed and brought to the first class. The remaining three case study write-ups, including the
final presentation, will be completed by teams. The largest part of one’s grade will be comprised
of the final presentation and accompanying write-up.
All work turned in for a grade has the applicable Rice Honor Code and should have the
statement and your ID code included. All assignments are due in hard copy before the start
of each class. Please do not submit assignments electronically.
Any student with a disability requiring special accommodations in this course is encouraged to
contact me and I will make every effort to help. Additionally, I suggest such students contact
Disability Support Services in the Allen Center.
Cell Phone Classroom Policy -- It is the policy of the Jones School for students to turn their cell
phones off during class.
Laptop Classroom Policy – Students may utilize their laptop computers to take notes or refer to
cases they have downloaded. Otherwise they should be left in the closed position during class.