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MKT 320: Principles of Marketing

Spring 2018

Section 002

(MKT 320-02 on Canvas)

(Version: January 9, 2017)

Professor : S. Cem Bahadir, Ph.D.

Course Time & Location : Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Bryan 111

Office : 347, Bryan School of Business and Economics

Office Hours : Tuesday, 1:30 pm -2:30 pm; Thursday, 1:30 pm -2:30 pm,

and by appointment

Telephone : (336) 334-4472 (Office)

Email : scbahadi@uncg.edu (preferred method of communication)

Course documents : https://canvas.uncg.edu/

Pre-requisites: ISM 110, ECO 201, ACC 201 or 218, CST 105, and any one of the following: MAT 115,

120, 150, 151, 191, 292; or major in ACCT, BADM, CARS, ENTR, FINC, INTB, ISOM, MKTG, or

STHP

Required Course Material

D. Grewal and M. Levy, Marketing, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill Publishers

Catalog Course Description: Introduction to marketing with an emphasis on market

segmentation, targeting, and positioning for consumer and business markets in domestic and

international economics.

The Bryan School of Business and Economics’ Mission Statement

In the Bryan School of Business and Economics, we create and disseminate knowledge about the

theory and practice of business. In addition to our courses and research, we accomplish this

through hands-on projects, global experiences, and outreach to the community. Our work

produces principled leaders and exceptional problem solvers who have a global perspective, an

innovative mindset, a broad understanding of sustainability, and a commitment to improve the

organizations in which they work and the communities in which they live.

Bryan School Student Learning Goals

Each program within the Bryan school has separate learning goals as listed with the degree

program. The essential components of a professional education in business (excluding the B.S.

and B.A. in Economics, the B.S. in Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies and the B.A. in

Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality) include common courses for breadth and opportunities for

advanced work for depth in the various business disciplines. These core business programs share

the following common learning goals:

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1. Students will implement the various steps of the critical thinking process, supported by

the appropriate use of analytical and quantitative techniques, to formulate

recommendations for subsequent decision making.

2. Students will apply appropriate ethical standards when making recommendations for

business decision making.

3. Students will evaluate business decisions in the context of sustainability goals, balancing

environmental, social, and economic needs, conditions, and potential decision impacts.

4. Students will formulate appropriate strategies, in the context of global issues and forces,

to improve business performance in the world economy.

5. Students will explain the roles of innovation and innovation management in achieving

successful business strategies, decisions, and performance.

6. Students will be able to plan, schedule, contribute to, and lead projects.

Impact of this Course on the Program Student Learning Goals

Upon successful completion of Principles of Marketing (MKT320), students will have met the

various components of the Critical Decision-Making: (#1), Ethical Marketing practices (#2),

Role of innovation in creating new products (#5) and Team Collaboration, Communication, and

Knowledge-Integration in developing an implementable marketing plan (#6) Goals.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this course is to introduce the fundamental concepts of marketing.

Consequently, the course covers a wide range of topics and materials – giving you a broad view

of the many areas of marketing. All students - regardless of major - will benefit from this course

by gaining an appreciation of marketing's expanding role in society. Additionally, each student

should develop the ability to understand organizational decision-making from a marketing

perspective. This course will also make you a more knowledgeable consumer by heightening

your awareness of marketing activities and customer behavior.

This course begins to develop the core competencies of integrated business knowledge and

strategic thinking by guiding students towards accomplishing the following objectives:

• To understand the concepts and terminology of marketing, and the role within the

organization and society.

• To understand the consumer decision making process, and tactical and ethical issues that

marketers encounter relating to segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies.

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• To develop a framework for analyzing and understanding the organization’s marketing

mix (4P’s), positioning, branding, and its marketing resources, customers, and

competition.

• To apply this framework as the basis of decision-making and resource deployment (i.e.,

target market selection and marketing mix design) in developing an implementable

marketing plan.

Students will accomplish these objectives by participating in lecture discussions, experiential

activities both inside and outside of class and collaborating with classmates on a marketing

project.

Course Format & Responsibilities

The learning process will have several components: lectures, in-class discussion, and in-class

assignments. The topics covered in lectures, discussions and assignments are not limited by

required textbook. It is assumed that students will have completed assigned reading prior to

class. This is essential for productive discussion and successful completion of in-class activities.

An outline of topics and reading assignments is provided. However, time allocation to a

particular topic can be adjusted during the semester.

I will use Canvas to post assignments, make announcements (i.e. grades), and send reminders. It

is your responsibility to check Canvas course environment for announcements, assignments, and

any other information about the course.

Class E-Mail List

E-mails with important class-related information will be sent via Canvas. Please make sure that

your official e-mail address of record with the University is correct so that I can contact you

through the Canvas system.

Lecture Notes

• PowerPoint slides are posted on Canvas.

• Power Point slides on Canvas ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR CLASSROOM

ATTENDANCE. The posted slides are designed to alert you to the content discussed in

class.

• POWERPOINT SLIDES POSTED ON CANVAS MAY NOT BE IDENTICAL TO

THOSE SHOWN IN CLASS. The content reflects the topics discussed in class. They are

not a substitute for the textbook, and you will not do well on exams by studying solely

using the posted slides.

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Classroom Policy

Regardless of the career path you choose, you will be required to follow certain rules in the

organizations that you will join. The earlier you get used to following rules in classes, the faster

you will adapt to the organization you will join in future. The rules are usually established so that

members of the organization operate in certain ways to achieve the objectives of the organization

without inhibiting others’ capacity to contribute to the achievement of those objectives. The

fundamental objective of the class is for students to learn the subject matter in a civil learning

environment. Disruptive behavior dramatically hinders the class’ learning capacity. Any form of

disruptive behavior will not be tolerated in order to maintain a civil environment for learning.

Some examples of disruptive behavior are (but not limited to) coming to class late, having cell

phones ringing, talking to another student, making any form of noise, surfing the web, text

messaging etc. In sum, do not engage in behavior that will inhibit your peers’ learning capacity.

Laptop Policy. I reserve the right to restrict any and all laptop use at any time. Computer use is

not a necessity in class and often proves to be a distraction rather than an aid in the learning

process. Therefore, I strongly suggest no open laptops in class. However, if you use your laptop

for efficiency in taking notes, you must restrict use to this activity only. Surfing, IM and other

unrelated use of your laptop is not permitted in class. Please close your laptops during videos,

speaker presentations and experiential exercises where use is not necessary.

Inclement Weather Policy. If we experience snow, sleet, etc., the University’s decision will be

followed. Use your good judgment. Do not attempt to come to class if there is a high probability

that you will not do so safely.

Communication

All communications will be sent through the Canvas LMS. Communications being sent to all

registered students will address: “Class.” In your communications to me, you may address me as

Dr.B; Professor B; Dr. Bahadir; Professor Bahadir; Prof. B.

EVALUATION

The objective here is to learn, and your grades are a demonstration of that. I have designed this

course to provide you with numerous opportunities to demonstrate what you are learning. Your

final grade therefore will be determined by your actual performance on the combination of

“ALL” assignments. Personal issues or constraints ARE NOT considered under any

circumstance.

**Note: All submitted work may be checked for plagiarism. To avoid discrepancies, be sure to

cite appropriately works of others that you are referencing. For details on what constitutes

plagiarism, please visit http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/

Grades are comprised of following components:

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Component Points

Exams

Exam #1 10%

Exam #2 15%

Exam #3 15%

Exam #4 20%

Group Project

Project Milestone #1* 5%

Project Milestone #2* 10%

Project Report* 15%

Project Presentation* 10%

* NOTE: Individual grade for all the project milestones will be reflective of the peer evaluation.

I reserve the right to revise and reduce the scores of team members who do not contribute to the

group project based on the input of the other members of the team. An individual’s non-

performance will result in significant decrease from the team grade. A team member who does

not contribute to the teamwork at all will receive a score of ZERO (0) for the graded components

of the Group Project.

Grading

Grading in this course will be assigned as follows:

A+ : 98-100%

A : 93-97%

A- : 90-92%

B+ : 88-89%

B : 83-87%

B- : 80-82%

C+ : 78-79%

C : 73-77%

C- : 70-72%

D+ : 68-69%

D : 63-67%

D- : 60-62%

F : Below 60%

Although the course is graded on a curve, grading standards will never exceed those listed. Thus,

any student accumulating 90% will always earn an A- grade and so forth. However, the cut-off

for each letter grade may fall below the listed standard depending on the aggregate performance

of all the students in the section.

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Exams

A laptop computer is required to take all exams. All exams are taken in the CLASSROOM.

Exams consist of multiple choice questions. These questions will cover material from class

activities, lectures, and the textbook.

All exams will be taken on your laptops IN THE CLASSROOM. If you do not have a laptop,

you can borrow/rent one from the library and from the Technology Service Center in Forney

Building, Floor 1, on a first-come, first-served basis. You cannot take the exams without a

computer. There are no paper exams. No extra computers available. No other means of

completing the exams.

Tablets typically do not work effectively for taking exams. Be sure your computer can connect

Canvas before exam day.

I design exams to include material from textbook, lectures, and in-class assignments. Therefore,

if you do not read the book and attend class, it will be difficult to pass the class.

NO MAKE UP EXAM WILL BE GIVEN WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION IN WRITING

OF DIRE OR UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTANCES (**being sleep deprived or unprepared is

not dire or unavoidable**). A DAY AND TIME WILL BE ARRANGED FOR YOU TO

COMPLETE THE EXAM. The specified time may be before or after the exam date.

Documentation substantiating your circumstance will be required.

SPECIAL NOTE: No special arrangements will be made for any student to take exams

earlier than the scheduled date, in order to accommodate travel for any holiday. Please

plan accordingly.

GROUP PROJECT

Objective. To integrate and practice the various components of marketing strategy, teams will

analyze the marketing strategy of a corporation. The objective is to simulate real world

marketing situations requiring consideration of customers/consumers, competition, marketplace

changes, micro and macro environmental changes and the marketing mix elements.

Summary of Project Deadlines

1. Team formation : Thursday, January 18th, 2018

2. List of potential firms : Thursday, January 30th, 2018

3. Milestone #1 : Thursday, February 22nd , 2018

4. Milestone #2 : Friday, March 30th, 2018

5. Presentation : One of the dates reserved for project presentations

6. Final Project Report : Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

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Below I provide the summary of milestone requirements. I will post the data template files on

Canvas. More importantly, I will discuss how to search EDGAR website in class. While I will

post some guidelines about the project on Canvas, I will discuss the details of the project

milestones in class. If you choose not to attend class, you will have to learn how to search for

financial statements and the type of information you need to collect on your own.

Team Formation – Due 11:30 pm on Thursday, January 18th, 2018

Due: Excel (XLS) file that lists the full names (the first, middle, and the last names) and the

university email addresses of the team members. Upload the Excel file on Canvas latest by

11:30 pm on Thursday, January 18th, 2018.

The group project will be done in groups of 5 students. You will be forming your own groups.

Form your group, give your group a name that you like, and email the first and the last names of

your group members to me as soon as possible. If you are not a member of a team by

Thursday, January 18th, I will RANDOMLY assign you to a team. For this project, you will

collect financial data for a public firm, analyze the marketing strategy of one of the firm’s

products and present it in class. Detailed instructions for the Group Project are posted on Canvas

and will also be discussed in detail in class. Once the team is formed, it is your responsibility to

get organized for the project. In order to help you get organized as a team, I will create a group

environment on Canvas.

Identification of the Firm for the Project- Due: 11:30 pm on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018

Due: Excel file with the list of potential firms you would like to work on. The list should

have the names of FIVE firms whose shares are publicly traded.

Upload the Excel file on Canvas latest by 11:30 pm on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018.

You need to identify FIVE firms whose shares are publicly traded. You need to check the list of

firms you CANNOT choose on Canvas. You will be tasked to work on one of these firms for the

group project. The earlier you submit your list of potential firms, it is more likely that you will be

tasked to work on your top choice. Keep in mind, the matching of firms to the teams will be on

first come, first serve basis. Each team will analyze a different firm. In sum, it is in your best

interest to form a team and submit the list of firms you would like to work on. Once you submit

the list of five firms, I will let you know which firm you will work on as a team.

When identifying a firm to work on, my suggestion would be to select firms that have ONE or

FEW product lines. For example, if you were to choose a firm such as General Electric, then you

would have to select a particular business or product line to analyze as General Electric has a

wide range of offerings. In contrast, if you were to choose a firm such as Netflix, then it will be

easier for you to analyze the marketing strategy of the firm as the firm has only one type of

service offering.

Late submission of the list of potential firms will lead to point reduction in the first project

milestone score.

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Project Milestones

Project Milestone #1 (5%)

Due: Load the XLS files into Canvas by 11:30 pm on Thursday, February 22nd, 2018.

Delivarables:

1. Identify TWO publicly traded competitors of the firm you will analyze

2. An XLS spreadsheet with the financial information of YOUR FIRM and its TWO publicly

traded competitors.

Data file: The data file template (“GroupProject_DataTemplate”) is posted on Canvas. The file

contains certain balance sheet and income statement information of the firm that you will work

on. You need to collect QUARTERLY data for the 2011-2017 period. You can access the firm’s

financial statements at:

https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

Project Milestone #2 (10%) – Due by 11:30 pm on Friday, March 30th 2018

Due: Upload the first draft of the project report, your presentation, corrected data file (if

correction requested) on Canvas by 11:30 pm on Friday, March 30th 2018.

Delivarables:

1. First draft of the project report

2. Presentation file in Power Point format

3. If I request corrections/revisions for the XLS file for Milestone #1, then you need to

submit the corrected/revised file.

Deliverable #1: First Draft of the Project Report

You need to follow the project report template posted on Canvas. The SUMMARY of the

required project report content is provided below.

The project report should provide the following content:

- Resource allocation to marketing

o The profit, revenue and the marketing spending trend of the firm

o Present a chart that tracks the following ratio over time: Marketing

Spending/Revenues

o Do you observe a particular trend? Is the marketing spending as a percentage

of revenues increasing or decreasing?

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o Is the firm’s marketing spending more or less than its competitors?

- Marketing mix strategy of the firm (If the firm has multiple product lines, pick one

product line to work with.)

o What are target markets of the firm?

o Which set of firms is the focal firm competing with?

o What is the value proposition of the firm?

o What are the product/service features?

o What kind of marketing channels is the firm using to market its products

(e.g.,online, physical stores) ?

o What is the integrated communications strategy of the firm?

o What is the pricing strategy of the firm?

- Recommendations

o What should the firm do in order to improve its marketing mix strategy? Do

you observe any specific problems in the marketing mix strategy of the firm?

o If the firm currently does not have any major issues with its marketing

strategy, what should the firm change in its marketing mix strategy to achieve

higher growth rates?

The report will be graded based on the breadth and rigor of the analysis, the relevance of the

recommendations, and structure and readability of the report. Typos and poor grammar will hurt

your ability to get a high grade. Please read and edit the report before it is submitted.

Suggestions and guidelines for the project report

- The better reports are the ones that clearly analyze the marketing mix strategy of the

product and present areas of weaknesses or opportunities. Understanding what the

firm does with respect to its marketing mix is one part of the picture. The other, more

important part is about identifying the problem or opportunity areas.

- Copying others’ ideas is the worst form of stealing because it is free-riding on other

people’s creativity. So, if you rely on an article, report or any other resource in

writing your report, you need to clearly and honestly reference that source in your

report. I reserve the right to assign a score of zero (0%) to all members of the team if I

detect plagiarism in any part of your report.

Start working on the project as soon as possible. You do not need to wait for us to cover certain

topics in order to make progress in your project.

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Deliverable #2: Presentation file

For the firm you selected, you will analyze the elements of the marketing strategy. If you

selected a firm that has multiple products, then you need to select one product to work on. For

example, for s company like General Electric, you would have to pick one of their product lines

such as refrigerators, or light bulbs for marketing strategy analysis.

1. Target markets of the product (1 slide)

2. What is the value proposition of the firm? (1 Slide)

3. What are the product/service features? (1 Slide)

4. Which companies is the firm competing with? (1 Slide)

5. What kind of marketing channels is the firm using to market its products

(e.g.,online, stores, brick&mortar) ? (1 Slide)

6. What is the integrated communications strategy of the firm? (1 Slide)

7. What is the pricing strategy of the firm? (1 Slide)

8. Is the firm’s marketing spending more or less than its competitors? (1 Slide)

9. Recommendations (1 Slide)

In total, there should be NINE slides in the PowerPoint file.

Recommendations section should address the following questions:

o What should the firm do in order to improve its marketing mix strategy? Do

you observe any specific problems in the marketing mix strategy of the firm?

o If the firm currently does not have any major issues with its marketing

strategy, what should the firm change in its marketing mix strategy to achieve

higher growth rates?

Deliverable #3: Corrected/Revised Data Files

After reviewing your Milestone #1 data file, if I request a revision to your data file, then you

need to submit that as part of your Milestone #2.

In-Class Project Presentation (10%) – Final version of the Presentation File Due before class

on the day of scheduled presentation date

Due: Each team will be randomly assigned a presentation date. UPLOAD the FINAL

version of your presentation on Canvas on the day of your presentation before class begins.

Each team will present their work in class. All members of the team are expected to present some

portion of the project. All students are expected to attend all the presentations. Absence on the

presentation dates will lead to reduction in your project score.

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Please note that one of the reasons for you to present your work is to practice presentation skills

which are extremely valuable in all the careers. So, the goal should be to capture the attention of

the audience as much as possible. For example, reading all of your presentation cards is NOT a

good method of presenting. The notes are there for you to remind the content if you need to use

that. Therefore, I will deduct points from presenters who read significant portion of their

presentation content.

Your presentation should have 9 slides in total.

Final Project Report (15%) – Due by 11:30 pm on Tuesday, April 24th 2018

Due: Upload the final version of your project report into Canvas by 11:30 pm on Tuesday,

April 24th 2018.

Your team should revise the report based on my feedback after project milestone #2. It is

important that you think about my comments and how to address them.

As part of evaluation of your final report, I will assess whether you made an effort to

address my questions and/or concerns regarding your analysis.

Peer Evaluation

It is critical that each group member contributes equally to the effort for group project. All of us

have busy schedules juggling personal life, school work, outside work, etc. I take a dim view of

“free-riding”. At each milestone, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback on your team

mates. This will enable me to know the contribution of each member to the project report. I may

adjust the grade of a team member for a milestone based on the input of the other team members.

If a team member does not contribute to the team effort at all, then you need to let me know of

the situation early in the semester. This will allow me to remind the team member of his/her

responsibilities.

Firing Non-Performers

The team has the right to fire any member who is not carrying his or her share of the work. The

decision to fire an individual can occur at anytime, must be unanimous, and the reasons must be

documented in writing. The final decision to fire a team member will be based on my approval.

I expect the teams to address these issues as quickly as possible. For example, if a team member

does not contribute to the first milestone at all, then my preference would be that the team makes

a decision about that team member after Milestone #1 evaluation. The fired individual cannot be

re-hired. There is no cost (no charge) to the team for firing a team member.

The fired individual will be assigned to a different team or s/he may have to work on the project

on his/her own depending on the availability of another team. The fired individual will have to

analyze a different firm than the initial team’s firm. If the individual does not complete a

particular milestone, then the individual will be assigned a score of Zero (0).

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Special Accommodations

Students with disabilities may be eligible for accommodations in this course. Please let me know

early in the semester or as soon as you are eligible. You will first need to provide documentation

of the disability to the Student Disability Services. Contact the Director of Services for Students

with Disabilities http://ods.dept.uncg.edu/services/. Confidentiality is guaranteed.

Honor Code & Pledge

Students are expected to know and abide by the UNCG Honor Code in all matters pertaining to

this course. Violations of the Code will be pursued in accordance with set code. All written work

submitted is subject to “plagiarism check.” Violations include: using oral or written materials

previously prepared by former students in this or other marketing classes. Cheating is

dishonorable and the repercussions are severe and final. (http://bae.uncg.edu/wp-

content/uploads/2012/08/faculty_student_guidelines.pdf

Keep in mind:

- I reserve the right to modify any of the material in the Syllabus and Class

Schedule.

- Each student is responsible for obtaining all handouts, assignments, and

schedule changes.

- Important class announcements may be communicated by email or on Canvas.

You are responsible for checking both regularly.

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Tentative Course Outline – Spring 2018

Date Day Topic Reading

Assignment

Assignment Due

1/9 T Course Overview

Overview of Marketing

1/11 Th Overview of Marketing (Cont’d)

Developing Marketing Strategies & A Marketing Plan Chapter 1

Chapter 2

1/16 T Developing Marketing Strategies & A Marketing Plan

(Cont’d)

Social and Mobile Marketing

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

1/18 Th Social and Mobile Marketing (Cont’d)

Marketing Ethics

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Due: UPLOAD the information

of all group members on Canvas

1/23 T Marketing Ethics (Cont’d) Chapter 4

1/25 Th EXAM #1 Ch.1, 2, 3, 4 BRING YOUR LAPTOPS

1/30 T Analyzing the Marketing Environment Chapter 5 Due: UPLOAD the list of the

candidate firms you would like to

work on.

2/1 Th Consumer Behavior Chapter 6

2/6 T Consumer Behavior (Cont’d)

Business-to-Business Marketing

Chapter 7

2/8 Th Business-to-Business Marketing (Cont’d)

Market Segmentation and Targeting

Chapter 9

2/13 T Market Segmentation and Targeting (Cont’d)

2/15 Th EXAM #2 Ch.5, 6, 7, 9 BRING YOUR LAPTOPS

2/20 T Marketing Research Chapter 10

2/22 Th Product and Branding Decisions Chapter 11 Due: Project Milestone #1

Upload the XLS file on CANVAS

2/27 T Product and Branding Decisions (Cont’d)

Marketing Services

Chapter 13

3/1 Th Strategic Pricing Methods / Project Q&A Chapter 15

3/5-7 T/R SPRING BREAK – NO CLASSES

3/13 T Strategic Pricing Methods (Cont’d)

3/15 Th EXAM #3 Ch. 10,11,13,15 BRING YOUR LAPTOPS

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Date Day Topic Reading

Assignment

Assignment Due

3/20 T Supply Chain Management

Retailing and Multi-Channel Marketing

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

3/22 Th Retailing and Multi-Channel Marketing (Cont’d) Chapter 17

3/27 T Integrated Marketing Communications Chapter 18

3/29 Th Integrated Marketing Communications(Cont’d)

Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales Promotions

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

3/30 F Project Milestone Deadline Due: Project Milestone #2

Upload the file on CANVAS

4/3 T Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales Promotions Chapter 19

4/5 Th EXAM #4 Ch.16, 17, 18,

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BRING YOUR LAPTOPS

4/10 T Project Meeting with the Professor All team members must be present.

4/12 Th Project Meeting with the Professor All team members must be present.

4/17 T Project Presentations Upload your presentation

4/19 Th Project Presentations Upload your presentation

4/24 T Project Presentations

Group Project Report Submission Deadline

Upload your presentation

Due: Group Project Report.

Upload your final project report on

CANVAS