Principles of Marketing

This comprehensive course on Marketing is divided into three units, each containing multiple chapters that delve into various aspects of marketing theory and practice:

Unit 1: Setting the Stage

1. Marketing and Customer Value: Introduces the marketing process, the 4Ps of marketing, factors affecting the marketing environment, the evolution of marketing, consumer needs and wants, customer relationship management (CRM), and ethical marketing.
2. Strategic Planning in Marketing: Covers developing a strategic plan, the role of marketing in strategic planning, the structure of a marketing plan, using metrics to track progress, and ethical issues in marketing strategy development.

Unit 2: Understanding the Marketplace

1. Consumer Markets and Purchasing Behavior: Discusses understanding consumer markets, factors influencing buying behavior, the consumer purchasing decision process, and ethical issues in consumer buying.
2. Business Markets and Purchasing Behavior: Explores the business-to-business market, buyers and buying situations, influences on B2B buyer behavior, stages in the B2B buying process, and ethical issues in B2B marketing.
3. Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning: Focuses on market segmentation in consumer and B2B markets, international market segmentation, effective segmentation factors, target market selection, product positioning, and ethical concerns in target marketing.
4. Marketing Research and Market Intelligence: Covers marketing research and big data, sources of marketing information, steps in a successful marketing research plan, and ethical issues in marketing research.
5. Marketing in a Global Environment: Discusses the global market, assessing global markets for opportunities, entering international markets, marketing in a global environment, and ethical issues in the global marketplace.
6. Marketing in a Diverse Marketplace: Explores strategic marketing decisions regarding standardization vs. adaptation, diversity and inclusion marketing, multicultural marketing, marketing to various consumer groups, and ethical issues in diversity marketing.

Unit 3: Product, Promotion, Price, and Place

1. Products: Consumer Offerings: Examines products, services, and experiences, product items, lines, and mixes, the product life cycle, marketing strategies at each stage, branding, packaging, labeling, and environmental and ethical concerns.
2. Maintaining a Competitive Edge with New Offerings: Focuses on new products from a customer perspective, stages of new product development, metrics for evaluating new products, factors in success or failure, consumer adoption processes, and ethical considerations.
3. Services: The Intangible Product: Discusses classification of services, the service-profit chain model, the service marketing triangle, the gap model of service quality, and ethical considerations in service provision.
4. Pricing Products and Services: Covers the role of pricing in the marketing mix, critical pricing strategies, establishing pricing policy, pricing strategies for new and existing products, and ethical considerations in pricing.
5. Integrated Marketing Communications: Explores the promotion mix, the communication process, integrated marketing communications, the IMC planning process, and ethical issues in marketing communication.
6. The Promotion Mix: Advertising and Public Relations: Discusses advertising in the promotion mix, developing an advertising plan, measuring advertising effectiveness, the role of public relations, advantages and disadvantages, and ethical concerns.
7. The Promotion Mix: Personal Selling and Sales Promotion: Examines personal selling, classifications of salespeople, the personal selling process, sales force management, sales promotion, types of sales promotion, and ethical issues.
8. Direct, Online, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing: Focuses on traditional direct marketing, social media and mobile marketing, metrics for online marketing success, and ethical issues in digital marketing and social media.
9. Distribution: Delivering Customer Value: Discusses marketing channels, types of channels, factors influencing channel choice, managing distribution channels, supply chain functions, logistics, and ethical issues in supply chain management.
10. Retailing and Wholesaling: Covers the role of retailers, types of retailers, retailing strategy decisions, trends in retailing, wholesaling, trends in wholesaling, and ethical issues in retailing and wholesaling.
11. Sustainable Marketing: The New Paradigm: Introduces sustainable marketing, differences from traditional marketing, benefits, sustainable marketing principles, and purpose-driven marketing.

Each chapter includes an introduction, key terms, a summary, discussion questions, critical thinking exercises, personal branding tips, practical marketing plan exercises, and closing company cases, providing a well-rounded understanding of modern marketing practices and strategies.