Marketing Course

Lesson 1 • What Marketing Actually Does

Defines marketing beyond advertising to include value creation, exchange, and relationship management. Anchors all subsequent topics in a unified conceptual framework.

Lesson 2 • Core Marketing Concepts and Vocabulary

Introduces essential terminology including markets, segments, positioning, and the marketing mix. Provides shared language used throughout the entire course.

Lesson 3 • The Marketing Environment

Examines micro and macro forces that shape marketing decisions, including competitors, regulators, and cultural trends. Prepares students to conduct situational analysis.

Lesson 4 • Marketing Ethics and Social Responsibility

Establishes ethical standards and societal obligations that govern marketing practice. Sets a values-based foundation applied in every subsequent chapter.

Lesson 1 • Data Analysis and Insight Generation

Translates raw research data into strategic insights using analytical frameworks. Bridges data collection to the segmentation and targeting decisions that follow.

Lesson 2 • Business and Organisational Buying

Contrasts B2B purchasing dynamics with consumer behaviour, covering buying centres and procurement cycles. Enables students to tailor strategies for organisational clients.

Lesson 3 • Market Research Design

Covers the research process from problem definition to data collection method selection. Equips students to design studies that answer specific marketing questions.

Lesson 4 • Consumer Behaviour Fundamentals

Explains psychological, social, and cultural factors that drive purchase decisions. Directly informs targeting and messaging strategies covered later.

Lesson 1 • Targeting Strategies

Evaluates undifferentiated, differentiated, concentrated, and micromarketing approaches. Students select the optimal strategy based on resources and competitive context.

Lesson 2 • Segmentation Variables and Methods

Covers demographic, psychographic, behavioural, and geographic bases for dividing markets. Enables students to apply multiple lenses to real customer data.

Lesson 3 • Value Proposition Development

Synthesises STP outputs into a clear, differentiated value proposition for each target segment. Serves as the strategic brief for product, price, and communication decisions.

Lesson 4 • Market Segmentation Principles

Defines segmentation and explains why undifferentiated marketing fails in competitive markets. Establishes the rationale for all targeting and positioning work.

Lesson 1 • New Product Development Process

Walks through idea generation to launch using a stage-gate framework. Reduces failure risk by embedding customer validation at each stage.

Lesson 2 • Product Lifecycle Management

Applies the product lifecycle model to guide investment, marketing mix, and exit decisions. Connects product strategy to financial performance over time.

Lesson 3 • Product Levels and Classification

Distinguishes core, actual, and augmented product levels and classifies goods and services. Provides the vocabulary for all product strategy decisions.

Lesson 4 • Brand Equity and Architecture

Defines brand equity and explains how awareness, associations, and loyalty create financial value. Guides decisions on brand extensions and portfolio structure.

Lesson 1 • Pricing Strategies for New Products

Compares skimming and penetration strategies for market entry and their long-term implications. Connects new product launch decisions to lifecycle management.

Lesson 2 • Cost-Based and Competition-Based Pricing

Covers markup, target-return, and going-rate pricing methods with their trade-offs. Provides baseline approaches before introducing value-based alternatives.

Lesson 3 • Pricing Fundamentals and Objectives

Establishes pricing as a strategic lever tied to positioning, value, and profit goals. Frames all subsequent pricing decisions within business objectives.

Lesson 4 • Value-Based and Psychological Pricing

Shifts focus to customer-perceived value and behavioural pricing tactics. Enables premium pricing strategies aligned with strong positioning.

Lesson 1 • Channel Design and Selection

Guides the process of identifying, evaluating, and selecting channel partners aligned with target market needs. Connects channel decisions to positioning and customer experience.

Lesson 2 • Channel Conflict and Management

Identifies sources of horizontal and vertical channel conflict and resolution strategies. Ensures students can maintain productive channel relationships over time.

Lesson 3 • Omnichannel and E-Commerce Distribution

Addresses the integration of physical and digital channels to deliver seamless customer experiences. Reflects the dominant distribution reality in contemporary markets.

Lesson 4 • Channel Functions and Structure

Explains why intermediaries exist and what functions they perform in moving goods to buyers. Establishes the economic logic behind channel design choices.

Lesson 1 • IMC Foundations and the Communication Process

Explains the sender-message-receiver model and why message consistency across channels matters. Provides the theoretical base for all communication planning.

Lesson 2 • Building and Measuring the IMC Plan

Integrates all promotional tools into a unified plan with measurable objectives and KPIs. Closes the chapter by connecting communication investment to business outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Advertising Strategy and Execution

Covers advertising objectives, budgeting, message strategy, and media selection. Equips students to brief agencies and evaluate creative work.

Lesson 4 • Personal Selling and Direct Marketing

Covers the sales process, direct mail, telemarketing, and database-driven outreach. Addresses high-involvement and relationship-based communication contexts.

Lesson 1 • Marketing Budget and ROI Accountability

Covers budget allocation methods, ROI calculation, and marketing performance dashboards. Closes the course by connecting strategy to financial stewardship.

Lesson 2 • Strategic Marketing Planning Process

Maps the full planning cycle from mission to tactics and control mechanisms. Provides the overarching framework that organises all prior course concepts.

Lesson 3 • Setting Marketing Objectives and KPIs

Translates business goals into specific, measurable marketing objectives with leading indicators. Ensures accountability and alignment between marketing and finance.

Lesson 4 • Competitive Strategy and Growth Options

Applies Porter's generic strategies and Ansoff's growth matrix to select competitive postures. Equips students to make defensible strategic choices under resource constraints.