Outcomes

There are 11 distinct learning outcomes specific to BUS 306. Listed below are each of these 11 outcomes and how I have met them both in class and through course material.

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• OUTCOME 1 – Use appropriate terminology to communicate with marketing specialists and others about marketing concepts

When I first began BUS 306 I had very little knowledge of the concept of marketing save for what I had experienced first hand in the form of advertisement and product promotion. The in-class text Principles of Marketing by Kotler & Armstong (2012), laid the groundwork in terms of learning definitions and concepts. The text was effective in introducing marketing ideas such as the customer-driven marketing strategy and the 4 P’s of marketing, but I can attribute most of my learning in this outcome to my team’s marketing plan for the iBrick, a new waterproof and damage-resistant smartphone by Apple. The marketing plan presented a realistic scenario in which I would use my knowledge of the concepts of marketing to create a potentially successful product.

This blog was also particularly helpful as it assisted me in identifying key areas of the text to go over in greater detail. My 10 reflection essays listed under the “Principles of Marketing” tab required me to take a very close, in-depth look at those particular sections of the text; by typing out my personal definitions of these concepts, I became very familiar with them and now I feel comfortable in using these concepts in everyday communication.

• OUTCOME 2 – Understand more clearly how marketing affects you as consumer and how you influence marketing practices

My team and I presented a practicum on chapter 7 of Principles of Marketing during which we outlined and described the customer-driven marketing strategy. This practicum was extremely beneficial of my understanding of how marketing affects and doesn’t affect certain customers. I think the most valuable thing I learned from our presentation is that mass marketing rarely exists anymore. In order for a product to be successful, its target market must be clearly outlined and defined in order to best ensure that the audience is receiving the message properly. Through segmentation and targeting, a company chooses exactly which customers it intends to affect; the consumers response to the message, or lack thereof, is how the consumer can affect a company’s marketing practices. My team’s practicum on the customer driven marketing strategy was helpful in showing these concepts to me, but my team’s marketing plan on the iBrick was truly beneficial as it gave me the opportunity to apply what I had learned from our practicum on segmentation and targeting.

• OUTCOME 3 – Identify and interpret changes in the environment which affect marketing activities

One of the most memorable lessons I took away from my time spent in lecture for BUS 306 was that competitors are often the least threatening external factor on a successful company or brand. Before I took this class, I had only thought of business in terms of economics, and I had believed that a company’s effectiveness was determined by the strength of size of its competitors. However, the in-class text, Principles of Marketing, showed me that there are a number of environmental factors that can affect a company, most of which are more threatening that any competitors or business rivals. These environmental factors: technological, social, cultural, political, legal were all gone over in detail during my teams marketing plan for the Apple’s new smartphone, the iBrick. During the development of our marketing plan, I had task of identifying all potential market trends and growths that could be potentially beneficial or threatening to our product. This gave me the opportunity to look at all factors, particularly technological and environmental, that could have a pertinent affect on sales for an Apple brand smartphone.

• OUTCOME 4 – Understand the costs and benefits of marketing on society and on those involved in the marketing process

This outcome is difficult to address, and I feel that is because I became most familiar with these  concepts in completely different ways. To start, I feel that I learned first-hand what the costs of marketing can be when my team and I created an expense forecast and a market analysis for our new smartphone, the iBrick. As for the benefits of marketing, I feel that was covered to its fullest extent in the many case studies we read and reviewed this semester. An example of this might be the Trap-Ease case study, which showed how improper targeting can cause a good product to fail. Conversely, in the Red Bull case study, we saw that good marketing can make up for a flawed product (Red Bull isn’t supposed to taste good). In terms of marketing’s effects on society, these were best addressed in the chapters about sustainability and marketing ethics from Principles of Marketing, which we covered early on. I address the ethical costs and benefits of marketing on society in greater detail later in outcome 11.

• OUTCOME 5 – Understand how marketing interacts with and is interdependent with other functional areas within a company

Shown on page 50 of Principles of Marketing by Kotler & Armstong (2012), is a diagram that outlines the processes and objectives of core marketing concepts. At the center is the objective to create customer value and forge profitable relationships. This is the core strategy of marketing concepts because this is the primary function of a marketing department. Marketing is that which creates value for the customer, and thereby the brand itself. During my team’s final marketing plan we were given the task of creating this value ourselves for the customers we chose to target. The marketing plan gave my team and I a realistic outlet to practice the art of creating customer value, an art which distinguishes marketing from other departments within an organization.

• OUTCOME 6 – Describe the role and contribution that marketing plays in organizations and society

As mentioned above in outcome 5, a business relies on its marketing department because marketing is what creates value for the customer and forges profitable relationships for the business. Marketing can also contribute to society by raising awareness and garnering attention for new revolutionary products or ideas. During my team’s final market planning assignment for the iBrick, we had to gauge our marketing expenses based on the level of awareness in the market for our product. We knew that by working with Apple, it would not be difficult to gain consumer attention, however we knew that because we wanted to introduce a smartphone that fell out of line with the traditional iPhone models that there would have to be some form of expense increase to account for gap in consumer awareness.

• OUTCOME 7 – Develop a good understanding of current marketing concepts, strategies and techniques

The core strategies, techniques, and concepts of modern marketing were defined, reinforced, and exercised to their fullest extent in BUS 306 Marketing. At the surface level, reading the text and attending the lectures gave an introduction to each concept that was covered this semester. Through these means I learned to define and familiarize myself with the core concept of each chapter. By taking online quizzes and writing the occasional essay, my knowledge of these concepts was tested and reinforced. Any misconceptions I may have acquired during the introduction phase were stomped out and I became able to clearly distinguish each core concept from the next. Finally, through my team’s final marketing plan assignment on the iBrick, my knowledge of the core concepts was exercised into creating a tangible, professional result. I feel that reading the text and taking all of the quizzes were both very essential in preparing me to exercise the concepts I had learned and produce a final result, and I also feel that creating a final marketing plan was effective in training me to apply these concepts to a realistic scenario.

• OUTCOME 8 – Understand how marketing decisions are made

Before each new chapter was introduced in BUS 306, we were tasked with writing a case study analysis on the company case studies found at the end of each chapter of Principles of Marketing by Kotler & Armstrong (2012). Though the case studies could vary greatly, for the most part they described a company with a unique background or marketing strategy and then asked 5 questions about the company and its decisions and decision making processes. At the end of nearly every study was the question, “What should “insert company name here” do looking forward to ensure customer value”. These questions were interesting as they gave me, as an individual, the ability to make supposed decisions for this company. In that way, I become familiar with the marketing decision making process by become familiar with critical analysis of recent events and trends. Reviewing these case studies in class, and hearing the responses of my peers was helpful as it should how a marketing group functions in making decision. For the most part, everybody contributed an idea that was unique in some way, which I feel was helpful in outlining a group-based decision making process.

• OUTCOME 9 – Know how organizations search for new marketing opportunities and select target markets

As I mentioned above in outcome 2, my team and I created a practicum presentation on the concepts within chapter 7 of Principles of Marketing by Kotler & Armstrong (2012). This presentation highlighted the customer-driven marketing strategy, the first half of which consists of segmentation and targeting. This practicum analysis, coupled with the time spent working in class on the subject helped gain a very clear understanding of how segmentation and targeting is executed. When a company seeks to open up its product line to more opportunities, it tries to divide the existing market into groups with similar characteristics. Once groups of value have been distinguished from one another, the company can begin to select which areas it plans to target and how it intends to do so. Some companies may begin this analysis before the product is designed, while other companies use segmentation analysis to find a way to market existing products to new markets. During my teams marketing plan for the iBrick, we had the chance first-hand to apply our knowledge of segmentation and targeting as we tried to identify which markets would be most interested in purchasing our product. The marketing plan, as I am sure I have mentioned above, was very effective in showing me how to exercise the concepts I have learned.

• OUTCOME 10 – Explain how the marketing mix elements are blended into a cohesive marketing program

My team’s final marketing plan for the iBrick helped show me how the marketing mix elements work best when blended cohesively. The bulk of the work my team and I completed on the market planning assignment was done individually and then brought together and reviewed at a later point in time. Because we divided the work even into sections based on concept applied, we each took a part of the 4 core marketing mix elements (the 4 P’s). I found that our team functioned best when we were working together and in communication with each other. While we worked separately, the individual elements did not flow together when combined. However, when we worked as a team to develop each marketing mix element independently, but simultaneously, our team was much more cohesive and our marketing mix was much better defined and developed.

• OUTCOME 11 – Develop an understanding of the ethical and global issues facing people working in the marketing function

Among the very first topics covered in BUS 306 were social responsibility, sustainable marketing, globalization, and safe environmental marketing practices. Though these appeared as later chapter in the text Principles of Marketing by Kotler & Armstrong (2012), I feel that it was extremely helpful and important that these concepts were covered early. By first understanding the recent market trends of placing heavy importance on ethical practices and environmental sustainability, I was able to look at all subsequent lectures within that frame of mind. In some chapters, I went even further in-depth into the concepts of ethical and global marketing by writing essay responses to select marketing questions from the end of the chapter. These essay assignments required critical analysis of new marketing technologies or practices, and in many cases I enjoyed evaluating these advances on their ethical morality and potential sustainability. I look forward to my future career in business, and I feel that BUS 306 Marketing, along with the other courses I am taking at CSUMB will train me to make good business decisions that are also ethical business decisions.