Module BUSI1271: Foundations of Effective Marketing

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI1271: Foundations of Effective Marketing

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• This module is designed to enable students to understand the key principles of marketing theory and its application in both commercial and non-commercial sectors.
• This module also aims to provide an introduction to marketing practices, where students will begin to appreciate a critical engagement with relevant academic research and case study material. We will go beyond the sole interest of developing knowledge that enables marketing practitioners to maximise the sales of products and services. Students will critically assess marketing principles and concepts in order to develop critical thinking in Marketing and a deeper engagement with Marketing studies. As such the module will provide a foundation for further study, and expose students to marketing concepts through the application of case studies as well as up-to-date academic research and practice.
• The module also aims to provide students with an understanding of how marketing works in practice, taking into account the context (domestic or international), culture, market characteristics and trends.

Content

• Consumer behaviour and decision-making
• Market segmentation, target marketing and consumer profiling
• Marketing strategy and planning
• Brands, branding, and positioning
• Marketing of products, services and experiences.
• Distribution channels, retailing, and the retail environment
• Marketing communications: Communications Theory; integrated marketing communications campaigns.
• Pricing
• Sustainability and ethics in marketing

Learning Outcomes

• Subject-specific Knowledge:
• Understanding of core marketing concepts and principles
• Gain knowledge and understanding of the relationship between marketing and consumer behaviour and evaluate how these are affected by new technology
• Gain knowledge and understanding of planning aspects of marketing and evaluate the effects of various contexts
• Development of critical perspective towards standard marketing concepts and principles, to be able to reappraise their effectiveness and relevance in the light of contemporary marketing issues, such as the digitisation of communications technology, the fragmentation of consumer markets, and the increasingly consumer-driven character of digital marketing activity.

• Ability to analyse market opportunities and select and justify appropriate marketing approaches.
• Ability to describe and evaluate marketing tools
• Ability to evaluate the role marketing plays in supporting a brand’s marketing objectives
• Ability to identify and analyse social and ethical issues relating to marketing policies, procedures and practices.

• Effective written and oral communication skills
• Planning, organising and time management skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• The ability to use initiative.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures are used to underpin the knowledge requirements of the module providing students with a sound conceptual and empirical base for further study and will follow a pre-planned syllabus.
• Workshops will allow students to experience a broader range of thinking on a topic. They will provide an opportunity for smaller-group discussion and exploration of selected topics in greater depth. They may include case studies and presentations and are intended to develop students’ discursive and interpersonal skills. They will also be used as a focus for student-led material to be provided to the module cohort.
• Independent study, research and analysis underpin students’ written and presented work and develop their ability to think independently, discriminate and use judgment, and assess the relevance and validity of others’ views.
• Structured reading, in conjunction with lectures, underpins the knowledge requirements of the programme.
• Case studies provide students with an opportunity to consider and apply what they have learnt in the context of a particular example. They are intended to develop students’ analytical skills.
• Reports (whether in written examinations or as assessed coursework) develop students’ ability to communicate clearly, in writing, a coherent argument based on relevant subject-specific knowledge under constraints of length and/or time and (in the case of written examinations) without access to study aids.
• Group presentations provide students with an opportunity to consider and apply what they have learnt in the context of a particular issue or problem. They are intended to develop students’ analytical, presentational and interpersonal skills, including working with others.
• The summative assessment is an individual assignment of 3000 words.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative group project.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University