Marketing Major

An investigation of the decision-making process of consumer and organizational buyers. The course considers the social, cultural, psychological, and economic dimensions of behavior as they apply to the acquisition of goods and services.

A study of the application of scientific method to the definition and solution of marketing problems with attention to research design, sampling theory, methods of data collection and the use of statistical techniques in the data analysis.

Increasingly, business firms approach advertising and promotion from an integrated marketing communications perspective which recognizes the importance of coordinating the various promotional mix elements to develop more effective marketing programs. In this course, the roles of advertising, consumer and trade promotions, sponsorships, branded entertainment and viral marketing will be examined within this broader framework. Emphasis will be placed on developing the key concepts and theories of marketing communications as well as the analytic skills needed to apply these concepts to managerial decision making. Although there will be much discussion about communication theory, the primary focus will be on the problems and tasks involved in the management of marketing communications. Ethical and regulatory issues related to unfairness and deception will also be examined.

Applied Digital Marketing will provide an experiential learning opportunity for students to elevate the brand equity and enrollment profile of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business by blending the theory of digital marketing with the practical demands of managing highly-targeted, data- driven digital marketing campaigns. Students will spearhead the design, build, and execution phases of a digital marketing campaign for COB (or appropriate client), focused on a particular channel (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), program (Graduate Business, Executive Ed, Non-Profit Admin, etc.), or target audience. Course objectives include developing a deep understanding and application of the art and science of a digital-first demand management system.

A review of the brands making the biggest impact in our lives today and why. Why they are strong, how they got that way and what it takes to keep them there. Why some brands are merely good and why some brands become great. Included too will be the “what if’s”: not only brands that tried and failed but a look at the differences inherent in competing brands within the same industry–some strong, some weak–and the strategic choices that yielded their success (or lack of it). The course will involve case studies and analysis, with guest lectures from some of the country’s top brand stewards. The goal is to give students a solid framework for understanding the thinking brought to bear in virtually every consumer business in America.

Business to business (B2B) markets are large, playing a pivotal role in generating well over half of total global economic activity. B2B markets are wide-ranging, including business, institutional, and government customers. While traditional Marketing texts concentrate on consumer markets, most marketers actually work for companies selling primarily into B2B markets. B2B marketers also face unique challenges because of the differences in customers’ buying criteria, purchasing processes, and the impact of B2B marketing choices on business strategy. This course focuses on theoretical frameworks, tools and techniques, as well as strategic and tactical options for successfully marketing products and services to organizational buyers rather than individual consumers or households. The topics discussed in this course include organizational buyer behavior, managing distribution channels, negotiations, salesforce management, and integrated marketing communications for B2B audiences. The course format includes lectures, case analyses, simulations, and classroom discussions.

A study of the role of the salesperson and the function of sales management in creating close and productive buyer-seller relationships in the business-to-business domain. Emphases in the course are placed on trends affecting the sales person’s role, the effects of the internal and external environment on the selling function, and the value of the salesperson to the firm and society.

The overarching principles of this course are: 1) estimating customer lifetime value (CLV) and managing customers based on their CLV, 2) deciding which customers to acquire and how to acquire them, 3) clarifying the importance of customer retention and developing ideas to increase retention, 4) expanding existing customer relationships and increasing share of wallet through cross-selling and up-selling, and 5) linking CLV to organizational-level concepts such as firm valuation. The course requirements and format include lectures, case analyses, simulations, student-led discussions, and short papers.

Marketing’s timeless responsibilities are being augmented by new imperatives, as strong market forces and enhanced customer expectations are requiring firms and institutions to reimagine and transform their customer engagement strategies in entirely new ways. How each of us live, work, interact and buy continue to fundamentally change. Digital Marketing is an essential and powerful component of modern marketing, and a driving force for how firms establish and strengthen customer relationships. This course will introduce Digital Marketing frameworks that enable firms to deeply understand and engage with each of their customers and prospects across their buyer’s journey. In this class, we will review and apply digital marketing strategies to build social media eminence, effectively engage customers and prospects, and successfully promote brands, products and services with data driven tools and techniques. Frameworks that enable firms to deploy a digital-first integrated marketing strategy with a measurement system to sense and respond to in-market performance indicators will be examined.

This course is a discussion-based seminar investigating a series of “economic sins.” That is, we will explore differing perspectives on a series of controversies in economics and business, such as just or fair wages, collective action problems, exploitation, asymmetry in knowledge and leverage, inequality, sweatshops, sustainability, and cronyism. How does business in a market economy give rise to such problems? How does it, or can it, address them? What is the proper role of government with respect to such issues? Readings will draw from classical and contemporary sources in economics, philosophy, theology, political science, and business ethics, and will represent a range of perspectives. This course is part of the Business and the Common Good minor.

The overarching principle of this course is to understand and examine the strategic components of a broader, multichannel (Omni-channel) customer engagement approach. Multichannel customer engagement has become an imperative to preserving existing relationships and growing customer value across a broad spectrum of industries. In this course, we will examine customer acquisition, customer retention and customer expansion strategies using online and mobile marketing methods and tools currently in vogue. Students will work on hands on projects to develop an integrated marketing presence for firms with targeted and dynamic content to maximize customer engagement

Marketing is an increasingly analytical profession driven by the availability of data and analytical techniques to improve decision making. This undergraduate course will introduce decision models that rely on financial data, other marketing metrics including web based key performance indicators, as well as statistical analyses. This course seeks to integrate the various analytical techniques taught in the business school within a marketing context. This course is appropriate for individuals considering careers in brand management, product management, retail management, marketing research, or consulting.

Introduces students to some important activities and perspectives that can enhance innovativeness and improve the ability to influence and forecast the adoption and diffusion of innovations. These include: the application of techniques for understanding user needs; the use of creative problem solving techniques in idea generation; the application of scenario analysis; and the selection of appropriate organizational and marketing strategies and tactics in overcoming resistance to innovation.

This course will teach you how marketing managers make decisions about pricing and distribution, using data. We begin with understanding pricing and promoting to an individual customer, and use this foundation as we move to more aggregate decisions, such as setting regular and promoted prices at the product level and managing category pricing. A key part of the class is understanding the limitations of different types of data and how better planning can both simplify the analysis and increase your confidence in the findings. This class is designed to be very practical and hands-on. A working knowledge of statistics (e.g., t-test and regression analysis) is required and you will learn R for the analysis.

“Rapid technological development and the increasing transparency of information have changed the way marketers interact with current and potential customers. The rise of the ‘Internet Generation’ and the increasing popularity of social platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Foursquare, and Twitter, as well as the proliferation of customer and company blogs have forced companies to develop fundamentally new strategies and tactics for monitoring and reaching customers. In this class, we will look at what companies around the world are doing to leverage social media as a critically important marketing tool. The course will focus on the seller side of social media and depend heavily on outside experts and case examples. We will examine the dynamic strategies and tactics that leading companies are using to supplement their traditional marketing with a wide variety of social media platforms, blogs, dashboards, and the like. We will see how companies enhance their marketing by using social media to more closely monitor customers and competitors, to improve lead generation, to build more credible reference stories and contacts, to conduct low cost and quick customer surveys, to clarify market misperceptions, to guide market solution development and refinement, and many other uses.”

There are billions of fans of sports worldwide and the challenge for the increasingly competitive industry is to grow business. Thus the sports marketing industry is growing and those who practice sports marketing have become instrumental to the industry and their firms. Consequently, the current demand for employees that are both highly knowledgeable about sports and extremely prepared for an ever-challenging industry is high. Accordingly, the goals of this class are twofold. First, this course fulfills a need to address business and marketing issues pertinent to sports as observed by practitioners and scholars. Secondly, this course will actively involve and engage students in the process of presenting and addressing current information and challenges in the sports marketing business. Critical thinking exercises and current cases will be required in this course. These pedagogical methods will enable students to apply previously learned marketing knowledge and key concepts to business up to date situations faced by actual sports brands and executives. Sports are a global phenomenon that crosses all societal barriers. It is a very serious, growing, and challenging business. The demand for competent students entering into the field of sports marketing is very high but the delivery of graduates who are truly trained and prepared for successful careers in sports marketing is low. This course will assist in addressing that gap for those students interesting in the world of sports marketing.