Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "MKT 320"
COURSE NAME: "Integrated Marketing Communications"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring Semester 2012

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Fuller Susan
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 10:00-11:15
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: MKT 301
OFFICE HOURS: Before or after class by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is designed for students who will be involved or concerned with consumer/customer communications including advertising, public relations, Internet and direct marketing at the brand level. The course begins with a foundation in the social reality of the consumer's behavior, especially cultural forces, which influence the need for message and touch point integration. The course provides a set of tools, practices, concepts and theories to understand, analyze and describe what goes on in marketing exchange and communication functions and why. Topics covered will include IMC and the role of brand equity, IMC from the customer's perspective, new product communication, advertising management, sales promotion including point-of-purchase and packaging and external relations and cause oriented sponsorship

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The orientation of this course is twofold:

I. It is descriptive in that it is designed to provide students with a basic grounding in and working knowledge of the language and major theories of communication as well as an improved knowledge of what managers need to do to achieve organizational communication goals and investment objectives in competitive European or US markets.

II. It is applications - oriented in that it provides students with the opportunity to actively gain practical experience in an integrated band experience. Through active participation, students will develop marketing skills by applying the knowledge that the course offers: Application areas include:

Secondary Research. Researching and presenting ideas and concepts in readings with examples.

Primary Research. Choosing a brand, individually or in groups and carrying out in-depth or focus group interviews to obtain customer insights that will be written up in report format and presented to the class.

Strategic IMC. Matching organizational capabilities with customer insights to develop message and an integrated communication strategy for the selected target markets consistent with recommended brand positioning strategy.

Value Creation. Forecasting returns on” customer communications investments” and their estimated delivered value for multiple stakeholder groups.

Knowledge and Skill Development

The basic purpose of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of marketing communication theories and tools. Specifically these are:

1. Develop an improved understanding and working knowledge of the theory and practice of value-based integrated marketing promotion.

2. Develop an ability to define customers and prospects according to their behavior and apply the marketing communication concepts and tools to market segmentation, product positioning, brand evaluation, stakeholder analysis, product life cycle and marketing mix strategies.

3. Develop proficiency in designing, implementing and reporting on secondary research using computers to search the library and online sources as inputs to IMC design.

4. Develop ability to design, implement, analyze and report on primary research into the opportunities to develop of improve marketer-customer reciprocal relationships.

5. Develop ability to estimate the value of customers and prospects

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Understand of the role of integrated marketing communications within organizations.

2. Able to justify the guiding principles of IMC.

3. Demonstrate an ability to identify customers’ brand expectations and estimate their value.

4. Able to plan message content and delivery.

5. Apply the notion of reciprocal marketer-consumer relationship.

6. Describe and discuss challenges faced by IMC integration in organization

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
IMC: the next generation	Schult and Schultz	McGraw-Hill,2003	100071416625

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
IMC Project (five assignments throughout term)	The IMC project (40% of course grade)  is a team/individual project that is made up of 5 assignments to be completed throughout the term. Assignments are both individual (15 % of grade) and team (15% of grade). Presentations account for 10% of grade.  Please note that all teams have the power, in consultation with the instructor, to fire an underperfoming group member. Dismissed members can be hired by another group. If a dismissed member does not find work with another group, s/he will be required to complete the work assigned on their own and will not make any final presentation (10 % of grade). Project guidelines will be available in the course MKT 320 MYJCU folder.	40%
Participation// attendance	This course is designed for active participation. Most weeks there will be assignments where individuals or groups will carry out exercises, report on read articles, or make presentations/reports on research progress to the class. A combination of class discussions, interaction and presentations of assignments to the class will be common. As a result, class attendance is mandatory an is worth ten percent of your grade. More than two unexcused absences will result in 0 points for attendance with two points taken off the final course grade for each additional absence. If you come to class with a "spectator" approach, than you may also expect to see your final course grade lowered by a minimum of 10%.	20%
Final exam	There will be one final exam. The exam will be in essay format. The exam may be based on text or suggested readings, lectures and project assignments.Full credit for essay questions will depend on the development and the quality of written arguments, the depth of the discussion of relevant marketing principles and theories, the ability to use marketing terminology appropriately, level of critical assessment and the inclusion of relevant examples from cases or exercise. The overall quality of written English and penmanship is also evaluated. Please note, student must receive a grade of 75% or higher on the final examination in order to earn credit for the course. Make-up exams will only be administered in accordance with established university police	40%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Assessment Guidelines for assigning main letter grades: A, B, C,D, and F.

A: Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensiveknowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.

B: This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.

There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.

C: This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.

D: This level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.

Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.

F: This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

No absence 100%; One absence 90% Two absences 60% Three or more absences -2% for each additional absence.

Please refer to the university catalog for the attendance and absence policy.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Integrated Marketing Communications Course Schedule [1]

MKT 320 Spring Semester 2012

Class/Date

Readings

Activities/Presentations

Topics

1. Tues.

Introduction to IMC

2. Thurs.

Text Chpt. 1

Value-Based IMC

3. Tues.

Text Chpt. 2.

Submit Names of Team Members

IMC Stages of Development

4. Thurs.

Identify/ Choose Client

Library session IMC Principles

5. Tues.

Text Chpt 3

Viewing Customers and Employees as Assets

6. Thurs.

Text Chpt. 4

Article: “Mapping the world of customer satisfaction”

Defining and Identifying Customers based on Behavior

7. Tues.

Project Report #1 Historical Overview of Client , Mission & Vision

Team PowerPoint Presentation

8. Thurs.

Text Chpt. 5

Estimating Customer Value

9. Tues.

Article” Consumption values and relationship”

Team Debates

Topic IMC can only really succed through understanding and effectively using Interactive Media and technology.

10. Thurs.

Text Chpt 6

Article “Convergence Marketing”

Partnership and Reciprocity

11. Tues.

Text Chpt 7

Article: “New Marketing Litany: Four Ps passe”

Brand Contacts and Networks

12. Thurs.

Project Report # 2a

13. Tues

Text Chpt 8

Article: “Keeping your existing customers loyal” MARCOM planning

Article: “The commitment trust theory of relationship marketing”

MARCOM content – Customer insights

14. Thurs

Project Report # 2b

15. Tues

Text Chapter 9

Project Report # 2c

Basics of IMC Measurement

16. Thurs

Project Report #3

Individual Presentations on Interview insights

17. Tues

Project Report # 3 cont.

Individual Presentations on Interview insights

Written report due 5 pm faculty support

18. Thurs

Text Chpt 10

Article: “How advertising can position a brand”

Article “After the sale is over”

Short term Returns

SPRING BREAK

19. Tues

Text Chpt 11

Article” How to profit from customer complaints”

Long term Customer Returns

20. Thurs

Text Chpt 12

Three C analysis

21. Tues

Article “Reversing the Value Chain”

22. Thurs

Text Chpt 13

Project Report # 4 submit written report by 6 pm to faculty support

Brand Equity

23. Tues

Text Chpt 14

Article: “Contextual Marketing: the Real Business of the Internet”

Mkt ROI Presentations

Computer lab

24. Thurs

Text Chpt 15 & 16

Report # 5 Present ROCI, ROBI, Life-time value analysis

Oral Presentations

25. Tues

Oral Presentations

26. Thurs.

Oral Presentations

27. Tues

Oral Presentations

28. Thurs

REVIEW Before Calss hand in Final, bound, revised written project report due 3 pm including a copy of final Power-point presentation

F I N A L E X A M W E E K

For complete and up-to-date information on assignments and their requirements, please refer to the”Course Assignments” link on the MKT 320 MYJCU Webpages on the JCU Intranet