Strategic Marketing

Cover the concepts and tools you need to successfully develop a marketing strategy for a business, product or service. Begin by understanding consumers and the main market research techniques, then learn how to correctly segment, target and position your product to achieve success. Continue by analyzing the four critical areas in marketing, the famous four Ps of Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Finally, get the backing your ideas deserve and communicate the actions through a Marketing Plan.

In the final test capstone project, you will develop a Marketing Plan for a product or service.

Goal:

Identify and create efficient and interactive Marketing Strategies.
Learn the different types of strategies that adapt to your product or business.
Understanding the customers’ needs
Market Research
Analyzing the strategies
Course Content:

WEEK 1: Market Research and Consumer Behavior

Your marketing quest begins here! The first course in this specialization lays the necessary groundwork for an overall successful marketing strategy. It is separated into two sections: Market Research and Consumer Behavior. Gain the tools and techniques to translate a decision problem into a research question in the Market Research module. Learn how to design a research plan, analyze the data gathered and accurately interpret and communicate survey reports, translating the results into practical recommendations. You will then focus in on the consumer decision-making process, highlighting the key moments from identifying a need to buying and consuming a product. Adopt a true “consumer focus” in your managerial decisions by analyzing how consumers make decisions, what happens (in their hearts and minds) at different stages of the decision-making process, and the variables that influence those decisions. This course will equip you with the knowledge required to understand the state of your product before approaching the market strategy. There’s no better place to build the foundations of your marketing journey!

WEEK 2: Positioning: What you need for a successful Marketing Strategy

Positioning is the heart of any Marketing Strategy, the core that you must get right. It does not matter whether you start with a clearly defined target group or with a differential value proposition: you will need end up with a clear segment or segments upon which we build our Marketing Plan. The course progresses to examine the key market trends that you will encounter and will provide you with a handy practical toolbox of skills. After this course you will be in no doubt of where to position your product and which segment you are going to attempt to attract.

WEEK 3: Marketing Mix Fundamentals

Marketing Mix Fundamentals prepares you for arguably the most important stage of bring your product to market – how and where are you going to market it? It sets out a detailed introduction to the four P’s of Marketing (Product, Pricing, Place and Promotion), this course forces you to strategically analyze your product and/or service. The Product session is designed to provide you with the knowledge to understand and manage the strategic role of brands and products in generating business results, whilst the focus on Pricing will cover the main concepts and techniques to formulate prices. Compliment this with skills from the “P” session Place, where you consider channels and retail strategies with the overriding objective of defining a distribution strategy for your product or service. Finally, through the Promotional activities (Communication) session, explore the different communication channels available and understand the importance of the media plan, dealing specifically with social media and omni-channel strategy. After this course you will be ready to decide where and how you want to market your product.

WEEK 4: The Marketing Plan

Create your own Marketing Plan for your own product or service idea. In this course you will learn how to produce arguably the most important marketing tool for any business. Rather than simply learning the stages of The Marketing Plan, you will be asked each week to complete a peer graded assignment which will help you complete a simplified version of the plan. You will be required either to map the four crucial stages for your own product or service idea or use the Nissan Leaf case study (attached in the additional readings) in order to produce a professional example. This excellent and unique course allows you not only to learn the essential parts of The Marketing Plan but also map out the future of your own business and take the first steps on the path to launching your own product.

Bibliography:

Chernev, A., & Kotler, P. (2012). Strategic Marketing Management. Cerebellum Press.