Last meeting, we were introduced to Dr. Robert Cialdini, a Psychology and Marketing professor at the Arizona State University and author of 1984 book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Influence has sold over 2 million copies and has been translated into twenty-six languages. It has been listed on the New York Times Business Best Seller List. Fortune Magazine lists Influence in their "75 Smartest Business Books."Harvard Business Review lists Dr. Cialdini's research in "Breakthrough Ideas for Today's Business Agenda" (Wikipedia)
We have covered 4 chapters so far (including the introduction), and the last 3 chapters (plus Epilogue) will be the subject of our class reporting on Saturday.
I have mentioned that your next TEST assignment will involve replicating one of the many social experiments (or anecdotes) conducted by Cialdini based on the 6 principles (Weapons of Influence) as narrated in his book, and test the result whether it applies to Filipino consumers (and if not, why not). Cialdini's principles are also summarized as the 6 Shortcuts to Persuasion:
Reciprocity
Commitment and Consistency
Social Proof
Authority
Liking
Scarcity
Please watch the 2 videos below for a summary of these 6 principles.
To make this exercise immediately useful, I encourage you to pick something that can help you with your Practicum (for Entrep students) in terms of sales and promotions. MM students should look at collaborating with other Entrep classes (or your Entrep groupmates) in conducting the exercise.
This particular TEST assignment is due on next Saturday, 21 February or until we have covered all 6 principles. I am giving you more time to prepare and perhaps adjust or improve your methods to suit your market. BUT- be prepared to propose an experiment on Feb 14.
You can do the experiment several times as long as you record the process and the results each time you do it.
Remember to do this FOR GOOD, and not for evil purpose. Remember to practice ethical behavior at all times.
Here is a personal example of a social experiment that I did back in 2009. It does not explicitly gave details of the 6 persuasion principles that I used but you can read them between the lines.
Group Assignments for Saturday, 14 February are as follows.
I have told you before that I volunteered as Community Ambassador for Hootsuite Media, Inc., a tech company that provides a social media management platform. Well, Hootsuite is recruiting for new ambassadors. There are many opportunities await you as an Ambassador for Hootsuite- free training, access to social media trends and strategies, and an opportunity to be part of a global community of social media users. This is also a good training ground for you if you plan on taking Social Media Marketing jobs in the future, or thinking of becoming a social media community manager yourself.
If you are a savvy online networker, enjoy sharing your social media knowledge and insight, or are simply passionate about social media, we invite you to apply to share your passion for Hootsuite by becoming a Hootsuite Ambassador.
If you are interested, follow me on Twitter @notty_romero and send a tweet stating why you want to be part of Hootsuite Ambassador program. I'll personally recommend the first 5 students to do so.
I have been asked last time in class what types of messages I am tweeting about. Well, here are my Top 7 topics:
Marketing (and school-related) stuff
Social Media stuff/ Hootsuite materials
Internship and Job Opportunities that I come across with
Here's something to motivate you. Let me share with you Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit 2 states, "Begin with the End in Mind".
Here's an excerpt, (in parentheses are mine):
So, what do you want to be when you grow up (or when you graduate)? That question may appear a little trite, but think about it for a moment. Are you--right now--who you want to be, what you dreamed you'd be, (capable of) doing what you always wanted to do? Be honest. Sometimes people find themselves achieving victories that are empty--successes that have come at the expense of things that were far more valuable to them. If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take gets you to the wrong place faster.
Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint.
If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It's about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself.
Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, a task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles (see Habit 1) to make things happen.
One of the best ways to incorporate Habit 2 into your life is to develop a Personal Mission Statement. It focuses on what you want to be and do. It is your plan for success. It reaffirms who you are, puts your goals in focus, and moves your ideas into the real world. Your mission statement makes you the leader of your own life. You create your own destiny and secure the future you envision.-
Surely, your future will not be defined solely by how well you did in school BUT mind you, the discipline you bring to your school work, the habits you formed in school, and the quality of work that you turn in - these are the things that you will bring with you AFTER college.
So there. I hope you'll find time to reflect on what you want to be in the near future, where you want to go, and what future you envision for yourself.
Now for the class assignments-
Here are the links:
Text and Tools - same reference material
Trends- this and this
Think-Piece topics below:
I understand that there are glitches in our class schedule and room assignments that I hope will be resolved when we get back to school in January 2015. Here is a quick recap of administrative matters:
My class schedule and room assignment is shown above. For irregular students, you may choose any of the MARK 110 class schedule above, and let me know which one you are joining.
For regular blocks, kindly make sure that our room assignement is the final one, and please let me know before our first class next year: January 10.
You need to form 5 groups per class.
You need to send me your class directory complete with mobile numbers, email addresses and listed according to your grouping.
Follow my on Twitter (@notty_romero) and/or Google+ so you can get regular updates about the class.
For those who missed the first meeting, here are 2 slide decks that I presented:
About Me: A brief introduction about myself, especially for Entre 4-1 and 4-2 classes.
Introduction to the Course and Class Requirements:
Due to time constraints, only MM 4-2 have completed the Class Activity on What type of consumer are you (family/individual). For Entre 4-1 and Entre 4-2, this is an outstanding assignment that you need to submit as a group. Some Entre 4-1 students have already submitted via email. For those who have not done so, you have until Saturday, December 20.
The next assignment is another group assignment- a write-up on the types of people (consumer profiling) you meet in a particular marketplace (restaurant, mall, supermarket,etc). See instructions and samples in the presentation above. MM 4-2 and Entre 4-1 have already submitted last Saturday. For Entre 4-2 and irregular students, this assignment is due on Saturday, December 20.
For everyone, please find time to read the books/ references for this class during the holidays. Give yourself the gift of READING.
There are more things to do, and so little time left. Watch out for more announcements. Happy Holidays!
Please see below the list of assignments for this week's session. I understand that the 8:30am class (MARK109-3) will also have their defense on Saturday, coinciding with our class. Therefore, MARK 109-3 will have no class on Saturday BUT reaction papers should be submitted as scheduled.
Here are the topics for your reaction paper. There are 6 videos to choose from. These are topics that are very much related to our previous topic: Channel Strategies. Avoid duplication of topics, unless there are 7 people in your group.
Everyone is encouraged to watch the videos or read the articles, even if it is not yet your turn to make a reaction paper.
How containerization shaped the modern world - Sir Harold Evans
Amazon. Facebook. Now Google drones?
Walmart Supply Chain
Inside FedEx's 'Superhub' During Christmas Rush
A Behind the Scenes Look at Starbucks Global Supply Chain
We are Maersk - We make change happen
I'm expecting a lively discussion on Saturday. See you then.
First, congratulations to the following students for getting a score of 1.00 (or equivalent to 98-110 points) in the Final Exam:
Jacklyn Maute
Jesa Alysa Pita
Patricia Ann Claridad
Joana Marie Desabille
Louie Ericson Pascual
Class cards and exam answer sheets for all sections will be distributed on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 at 8:00 in the morning. We can meet up first at the vicinity of CME office then look for any available room at the 3rd or 4th floor of Gusaling Lacson. Kindly spread the word.
There are some of you however who doesn't have grades yet from the Panel. These are the groups that were late in submitting their Strategic Marketing Plan. Hopefully I can get your grades from the panel by tomorrow (March 25).
Allow me to say that it was a great experience for me to be your instructor in this class, despite the limitations and shortcomings. Whatever your final grade will be, please always remember that learning does not stop in school, and grades are not the sole determinant to success- but it matters!
Finally, let me leave you with a few words from Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better
known by hispen
nameMark Twain- American
author andhumorist who wroteThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1876) and itssequel,Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1885),the latter often called "theGreat American Novel. See you around!
This is to inform everyone that the "mini-seminar" on Digital Marketing is already cancelled due to unavailability of a large room at the university.
Therefore, the final exam will take place on Saturday, 15 March 2014 during your regular class schedule. As I have mentioned last Saturday, you will be required to analyze a case and draw up a marketing plan for a fictitious company. This is an individual exam on various parts of a marketing plan with 10 bonus questions about your group marketing plan.
Each of you should bring at least 5 pages of writing paper and a ball pen.
Based on the submissions so far, I've noticed that you are having difficulty formatting a Table of Contents. There is an easy way and I'm sharing the video tutorial with you below.
Please be reminded of the following, as agreed in class last Saturday:
Each group needs to upload the most recent version of your paper to Google Drive. We need to make sure that all your papers are fit for final printing and submission to CME. Please also use new file naming convention: MARK 106[Section] [Company Name] [Final]. All updated files should be uploaded on or before Saturday, 1 March.
Deadline of submission is on Saturday, 8 March. Printed on a hard bound black cover.
It should have an Approval Sheet right after the cover page, and right before the Acknowledgment page. Your Page 1 is the Executive Summary. All pages before the Executive Summary, are counted as i, ii, iii, and so on. To illustrate:
Page A: Hard Cover (same with Title Page) Page B: Inside front cover (blank) Page C: False cover (blank) i. Title Page ii. Approval Sheet iii. Acknowledgment (optional) iv. Table of Contents
Page 1: Executive Summary ...and so on.
The Table of Contents (ToC) starts with Executive Summary. All the rest are preliminary pages and should not be included in the ToC.
A sample of an Approval Sheet is shown below (click to enlarge).
Online consultations continue especially for those who were required to revise their papers. My communication lines are always open to you. Just let me know in advance should you need real time feedback. I'll be on the road on a business trip most of the time this week so please bear with me.
Congratulations to each of you for surviving the panel
presentation last Monday and Tuesday. You all did a good job, really,
considering the limited time that was given to you to prepare and submit your
Strategic Marketing Management Plan. Good job!
Before we started the panel presentation last Monday, I gave
a short opening remarks addressed to you- my students- and to the members of
the panel to set the tone of the panel presentation. Here is a screenshot of my
notes (there might be some changes of a few words or phrases during actual
delivery but the essence remains the same) for those who were not there to hear it.
In summary, 9 groups passed the oral defense while 3 groups were not as lucky. For those who were less successful, don’t fret: we are here to learn, and failures are part of the learning process.
“Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results
of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out
your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and
intuition.”
Here are some of my observations from the
whole exercise, and I hope you’ll use these as valuable lessons (you may also
add your own list of ‘lessons learned’ in the comments section below):
Unfavorable comments from the panelists stem from your lack of understanding of your industry and even of your company.
Most papers were not supported by a simple consumer research, even as simple as asking your family or classmates about your chosen product.
People notice it when you Copy-Paste what you are writing in your paper. Stop that habit. Do not plagiarize.
Experience what you are writing about- see, feel, taste, smell it so you can have better credibility.
Read. The quality of your writing and speaking reveals your lack of grasp of what's happening around you.
Improve your presentation skills. You should learn to engage your audience, and not just read from the screen or from your notes.
Improve your writing skills.
Lastly, I’d like you to read Steve Jobs’ graduation speech at
the Stanford University given on 12 June 2005. I’m sure many of you have
encountered this before in one way or another, but it is important to be
reminded again by the powerful words of this one great man.
Or watch the video. (Better yet watch the video while reading the speech- or turn on the subtitle).
See you again on Saturday, 22 February. I'll post soon our agenda for the next meeting.
Here's to wish you good luck on your oral presentation tomorrow and Tuesday!
And for some useful tips to effective public speaking, remember these:
Know your material very well. Mastery of your topic- industry, market, company and strategy- is half the work done.
Practice. Practice. Practice. There might not be enough time to practice, but you may start thinking of what you will be saying by organizing your thoughts on every opportunity.
Relax. This is part of your learning process. Your panel wants you to succeed. What can't kill you will make you stronger. But if you are not hurting, you are not growing. So pain is a friend.
Don't be defensive. Some of you call this exercise the "oral defense", but the best way to survive this is by NOT antagonizing your panel. Be friendly but not cutesy. Be serious but not snobby. Take all in, calmly. Thank your panel for each of their suggestions. Explain briefly and plainly.
Support each other. Speak as a team, work together as a team.
By now you have already gone through assessing the factors that affect you firm- from the general environment (PESTEL) to the market forces (5 Forces) to the firm level (SWOT, VCA, Competitive Advantage).
You have found out how your industry works, discovered what the industry is comprised of, learned of the level of competition within the market where you operate. You have also profiled your customer base- who buys your products, where are they from, when are they buying, why are they buying, and to some extent, why are they buying your competitor's products instead. More importantly, you have also identified the need that your product/service/company aims to satisfy. This is what you are trying to offer to the market. It is what you are trying to sell.
You have also dissected your firm's inner systems, and found out where you are best at and where you need to improve in order to survive.
Then you set your objectives or goals for the next 3 years. The goals are consistent with your company mission-vision and core values.
You are now ready to embark on the next chapters of your paper, in fact, the heart and soul of a marketing plan- the marketing strategy.
First, the definition: a marketing strategy is a game plan to reach target markets and the enumeration of value propositions that will be offered based on analysis of the best market opportunities (Kotler).
Here is an example of target segments and corresponding features/benefits for each segment (Kotler):
There are in fact several marketing strategies that you can employ. Your choice would be dependent on what you want to accomplish (objectives), what you are capable of doing (competitive advantage).
You may use the following frameworks to choose the most appropriate strategy.
1. The Product/Market Opportunity Mix
2. Segment-Target-Position
3. Market Positioning
For detailed discussions, read your textbook: Part 4 and Part 5.
Then proceed with specific strategies for each of the 4Ps in your marketing mix: Product, Price, Place (Channel/Distribution), and Promotion.
Here's how your class voted on the suggestion to cancel class tomorrow to give you more PRODUCTIVE time to write your paper and prepare for the oral presentation on Monday and Tuesday:
Class/Group
VOTE
MARK 106-1
Remington Hotel
A
Camella Homes, Inc.
D
Philippine Seven Corporation/ 7-11
D
Digitel Mobile Philippines/Sun Cellular
D
MARK 106-2
Honda Cars Philippines
A
Sun Life Financial Philippines
A
PLDT
A
RGC Foam Group/ Uratex
D
MARK 106-3
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc.
A
San Miguel Brewery
D
Island Overseas Transport Corporation
A
2Go Group, Inc.
A
For MARK106-1, since majority of your class wanted to hold a session, we shall meet tomorrow at the same time and same place.
For MARK106-2 and MARK106-3, I am available tomorrow from 10 a.m.-12 nn and from 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the PLM Library- both for online and offline (face-to-face) consultation.
The CME office has posted today the schedule of your oral presentation. Thanks to Candy Ignacio for sharing this photo. See below.
The oral presentation will be held at the TOP Room, according to Dean Gamus. You are also requested to prepare food, token for panel members and other arrangements. I am not familiar with this practice therefore I am requesting Block officers of the 3 sections to meet and agree on how to deliver this request from the Dean. Ask your seniors how they did it in the past year.
Lastly, each section/class/block would have to draw lots to determine the order of the presentations. I trust the class officers can also facilitate this process. Please let me know thru SMS the final order of presentations.
These are low scores, alright but don't get discouraged. Remember that your papers are works-in-progress. You can still get a good final grade if you do things right.
We have crossed the half-mark of the semester. In two weeks, you will be presenting your Strategic Marketing Management Paper to CBE Faculty for critiquing.
As I have previously emphasized, reading your textbook will certainly help you catch up with the lost class time. I do really hope that you are reading your reference book.
Your midterm papers are way below my expectations. To be honest, most of the papers that were turned in are not 3rd year college level outputs. I'm sorry to tell you this but I think it is time to step up. I can see your potential to excel, or at least to submit a respectable output but I think most of you are not yet into this class. Papers like this one need time, effort, and a lot of brain work. There are 7-9 people in your group, use that to your advantage. More importantly, as what Steve Jobs said above, puso, kelangan may puso!
I shall be posting your scores soon. Meanwhile, you may check your Google Doc to see my comments. Some of you have seen it already, and has started asking questions. Let's get the ball rolling.
Here are my general observations on your submitted documents:
Many of you don't write in prose. This is an academic paper, so it is expected of you to discuss each of the assertions that you made. Do not write in bullets. You need to explain and expound. Use bullets, graphs and tables only to emphasize or to summarize an idea.
Be intellectually honest. Many of you do not cite your sources. It is not a point against you if your data comes from others as long as you use footnotes or end notes. Make original analysis from the data you have.
Use recent data, 2010-2013 are most helpful. Remember, you should be spotting a trend here for your market and industry. Data from 10 years ago is not as helpful as recent ones, especially if a recent one is available.
The Analysis of External Environment should be looking at current forces or factors that may affect your firm/industry. External means outside of the firm. Focus on the things, events, trends that are currently happening or will happen in the near future. Your analysis of external environment will help you predict the future. A correct prediction of the future scenario will help you come up with a more appropriate and responsive strategy. You should be able to identify your correct industry and get to know the factors that affect the firm: buyer power, supplier power, barriers to entry, power of substitutes, and extent of industry rivalry. To be able to do all these, you must know the size and characteristics of the industry where your firm belongs, the competitors, and the customers.
The Analysis of Internal Environment on the other hand looks at the present capability of the firm- on what is INTERNAL to the company. Look at the company's tangible and intangible assets, evaluate each one and identify whether it is a strength or a weakness. Look at the company's value chain- how they transform inputs into outputs- and what activities are supporting this transformation. Identify their strong and weak spots. Having done both SWOT and VCA, you may proceed with finding the competitive advantage of the firm.
Your papers will be rated based on what you have submitted so far. But I expect you to continue working on revising, improving, and adding more substance to these sections of your paper. On our next meeting, we will be discussing the rest of the sections moving towards submitting a draft document that is ready for presentation to the panel.
See you on Saturday!
PS. Please rename your Google docs using this protocol: Mark106-<section> <Company Name>
By now you should be ready to undertake an analysis of external and internal environments - the first step to any strategic management process.
Below is the topic outline that is due on Sunday, 26 January 2014, 12MN 11:30 p.m. or before midnight strikes. This should be prepared in a Google Doc/Google Drive document. All members of your group should have editing access to the document, including me. I will track your progress online and will give feedback as soon as I can. To better understand how Google Drive/ Google Doc works, you may view the tutorial video below, or click here for Part 1 (Introduction) and here for Part 2 (Composing Google Docs). Your group's output shall serve as your midterm examination.
Below is the topical outline and writing guide.
ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS
I.
Market
Situation & Analysis
External Audit or analysis
of the macro-environment.
Issues which may have
an indirect effect on your company. Some of the most significant opportunities
and threats for the business may be found through analysis of changes and
trends in the macro environment.
Tools: PEST: Political, Economic, Social & Technological; may
include other factors such as Ecological, Legal/Regulatory, Cultural depending
on the market that your company serves.
II.
Competitive
Environment & Market Analysis
Audit of the industry
and market environment.
Evaluation of the
competitive environment in order to develop and sustain competitive advantage
for the business. This section should identify where the main current
competition stems from and where it may come from in the future. In addition,
this section looks at likely actions from competitors in reaction to moves your
business may take.
Tools: Porter’s 5 Forces
III.
Situation
Analysis
Audit or analysis of
the firm’s internal environment.
Process of internal
appraisal, examining elements of the business and their effect on the
organisation. This should include appraisal of all functions of the business
and also includes the profit-making potential of the company and the facility
to exploit identified opportunities.
Tools: SWOT, Value Chain Analysis, Sources of Competitive Advantage, BCG
Send me a message on Twitter or Google+ if you have questions/ clarifications. We can also have a Google Hangout if you wish to have a live online consultation. Just let me know in advance.
Good luck!
PS. The presentation materials used in our last lecture can now be accessed in Google Drive or by clicking this link. I divided the slides into 3 parts.
Hello! Welcome to your virtual Strategic Marketing Class. This blog
aims to provide you a summary of our class discussions, and shall serve as
additional channel for posting announcements and other class assignments. This space is also open for everyone to discuss class topics, and other related topics.
Last meeting I had the opportunity to meet all of you. We did not have the luxury of time so I dispense of the usual individual introductions. But since you very well know each one of your block mate (except for the irregulars), I don’t see any real need for introductions anymore. Your individual performance in class will help define who you are.
As for me, I presented an interactive biography that I created through Vizify. You should try making one yourself, and track your progress as you graduate from university and enter the “real world”. But first, you have to start creating your own presence in multiple social media platforms. (Apologies to the morning class, in as much as I want to, there were no way we can use the multi-media projector as there was no adopter available at that time. But you may click the link above to see the online bio).
There was also a video that I wanted to share to the class but only one section was able to see it. Again, due to tech limitations. Click play to see the video.
I wanted to show this to class as a way to start our strategic marketing study. I'd like you to remember that this world is both old and young, and the opportunities out there is vast and limitless. It is also to remind you that our world started from nothing, that from various "goldilocks conditions" came "threshold moments". Now look at your world, here we are trying to understand and respond to people's various needs and wants. From nothing, this world, the humans specifically, now want a lot of things in order to live a comfortable life. As a marketer, we must find these "goldilocks conditions" in order to create a breakthrough. We are also being reminded that our world is on a crossroad- we can either contribute to its progress or cause its demise.
In summary, what we did on our first meeting are the
following:
Preliminaries, which include the introductions,
collection of class cards, formation of groups, introducing the course (read:
syllabus), and leveling up on the requirements of the course.
Review of your Principles of Marketing course, and as I noted, you need to read
back your notes from this class and re-familiarize yourselves with the basics of marketing.
Introduce Strategic
Marketing Management.
Preliminaries
Those who were not present during our first day
of class (11 January) should have a very valid and compelling excuse for your
absence.
We already divided the class into work groups,
for classwork and for the Strategic Marketing
Plan. The Strategic Marketing Plan is tentatively set to be presented to the CBE panel on the first or
second week of February.
You have also chosen a team leader for each
group. The primary task of the team leader is to be the focal person of the
group for the Marketing Plan, and other class assignments. Your team leader may
also assign 1 or 2 members of the team as focal persons for a specific class
assignment or specific chapter of the marketing plan. In principle, the output
of the group will determine the grade of the group members. BUT- at the end of
the class, each one of you will have the chance to rate your group members’
contributions to class assignments, including the Marketing Plan. This peer
rating process aims to discourage you from being a freeloader of the group.
We will be using Marketing Management by Philip
Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (14th edition) as main reference of
this course. Any previous edition of the book is also acceptable.
I also asked your class secretary to create a
Google Doc of the class directory. This should be completed by next meeting,
with everyone’s required information completely filled out.
To further systematize class communications, I
also required everyone to create a Gmail account. Our class will heavily rely
on web and social media technologies- because they are there, and because these
technologies should be making our lives better, right? Once we all have our
Gmail account, each class can then get connected as a circle in Google+. I know you all have your own Facebook Group. Let
us keep that your own exclusive social
network while the Google+ circle will
serve as our virtual classroom. That means I should be part of that circle. Add
me up notty79@gmail.com.
Lastly, I encourage you to create and manage
your own Twitter account. This is not required, but desirable. I already
explained why marketing students should be present in social media platforms.
You will gain more understanding of this as we go along. If you are on Twitter,
you may follow me (@notty_romero) and tag me a message using hashtag #MARK106
(+ your Strategic Marketing Class section) so I’d know which section you belong.
Review of Principles
of Marketing
In a group activity, I asked you to answer the
following questions:
What is Marketing
What is Strategic Marketing
What are the competencies of an effective
Marketer
Most of you gave satisfactory answers to these 3
questions. The first question asked you to go back to your previous class in Principles of Marketing while the second
question asked you to remind yourselves of the attributes that you should have,
as future marketers. These two questions asked you of what you think is the ideal. You
should always remember your answers to these questions.
The last question is actually a jump off to the
core topic of the semester: Strategic
Marketing Management. Many of you provided a good answer, but only a few actually
hit the mark.
Introduction to
Strategic Marketing Management
So here we are. But first, the definitions:
“Marketing is an organizational function
and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the
organization and its stakeholders. Marketing
management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting,
keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating
superior customer value.” - Philip Kotler, Marketing Management 14E
But what makes marketing management strategic? We defined strategic
as a game plan for the future. We said that it should be both outward-oriented and introspective, looking at the external environments (market, industry, global) for trends and projections of future scenarios. Strategic also means looking at a future desired state while assessing its past performance (historical) and internal capabilities (tangible and intangible assets, internal business processes, human resources, etc).
In our next class, we will discuss the strategic planning
process (Chapter 2 of our textbook) and the outline of a strategic marketing
plan.
Class Assignments (All due next meeting - 18 January 2014)
Assignment #1- Group:
As a group, I asked you to read the case study on Google, and answer the following questions:
With a portfolio as diverse as Google’s, what are the company’s core brand values?
What’s next for Google? Is it doing the right thing taking on Microsoft with the concept of cloud computing, and Apple in the fight for smart phones?
What is Google’s corporate mission, vision and values?
Identify Google’s strengths and weaknesses (internal capabilities)
Identify threats and opportunities to Google (external forces)
Identify and describe Google’s competitors
Assignment #2- Group:
Submit the name of the company (your client)
that your group will work on in developing the company’s strategic marketing
plan. In choosing your client, you should
make sure that your group will have easy access to company information of at
least 5 years (2009-2013). Second, as much as possible, choose a Manila City-based
business.
If choosing a company becomes very
difficult, I am widening your options by allowing you to choose a subject
matter (client) based on any of the following:
Institutional Marketing – these are non-profit entities like a
museum, a school, a park (Manila Zoo), or a hospital. It could also be a
tourist attraction (Intramuros) or a business district (Ermita/
Malate/Binondo). As scholars, what best way to pay it forward than by applying what you have learned in class to your immediate community!
Social Marketing- marketing a cause, an advocacy, or a social good
Marketing for Start- ups- these are small or medium enterprises founded and operated by entrepreneurs with less than 5 years of operating experience
Assignment #3- Individual:
Each of you will have to review your notes in Principles of Marketing. Plus, start reading Chapter 1-4 of your textbook (see above).
Assignment #4- Individual:
To keep ourselves abreast with what is happening around us, we will start each class session with a roundup of Marketing News from around the world. You must pick one that interests you and tell the class of its marketing implications. As I said, everything in the world should be of interest to a marketer. That is how we can find the "goldilocks condition".
I will randomly call 2-3 students to share your news to the class. For everyone else, share that story in your social media feeds- Twitter, Facebook, what-have-you.
See you on Saturday!
Postscript: Thank you for agreeing to abide by my 2 rules: respect everyone and be responsible. Let these 2 rules guide us throughout our learning process, both online and offline. I also encourage you to call me by my first name (Arnold) or nickname (Notty). If you feel uncomfortable, Teacher will do. This article from Rappler partially explains why.
