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Assessments

3 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Business and Marketing Strategies Specialization

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There are 3 modules in this course

The ‘Fundamentals of Marketing Strategy’ course is very interactive and designed to offer learners the opportunity to share ideas and engage in discussions with their fellow students. Throughout this course, learners will be given the opportunity to explore key and relevant marketing models and concepts in the formulation of effective marketing strategy. Learners will also engage in research as well as the application of key models and concepts to gain further insights into the implementation of an effective marketing strategy in a competitive business environment. At the end of this course, learners will gain a deeper understanding of the nature of a rather dynamic marketing environment, and will have developed new skills to enable them to conduct audits of the macro and micro-marketing environments for an organisation and most importantly be able to design and implement an effective marketing strategy.

This week focuses on the marketing environment. In particular, we will examine its nature and scope, including the different elements of the micro- and macro-environments that affect the way businesses operate in order to survive in a dynamic context while simultaneously meeting organisational objectives. We will also explore the role of marketers in the marketing strategy development process, as well as the challenges faced.

What's included

1 video6 readings1 assignment3 discussion prompts

1 videoTotal 9 minutes

Week introduction – The marketing environment9 minutesPreview module

6 readingsTotal 160 minutes

Start a study journal15 minutes
Activity – Defining the market environment audit20 minutes
Model answer – Defining the market environment audit10 minutes
Activity – Reflection: the marketing environment45 minutes
Video – The nature and scope of the marketing environment60 minutes
Week 1 summary10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 5 minutes

The marketing environment audit5 minutes

3 discussion promptsTotal 155 minutes

Marketing environment terminology45 minutes
The benefits to businesses of marketing environment audits60 minutes
Reflecting on the biggest challenges facing organisations50 minutes

Analysing the micro- and macro-environments in which a business operates is an important part of a successful marketing strategy. Consequently, the focus of this week is the micro- and macro-environments, including the conceptual tools used to assess them. We will also explore the role played by businesses in the macro-environment.

What's included

9 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts

9 readingsTotal 235 minutes

Week 2 introduction10 minutes
SWOT analysis50 minutes
Model answer – SWOT analysis10 minutes
Porter’s five forces model50 minutes
Model answer – Porter’s five forces model10 minutes
Activity – Analysing the macro-environment45 minutes
Model answer – Analysing the macro-environment10 minutes
Activity – Reflection: the interactions between the micro- and macro-environments40 minutes
Week 2 summary10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 5 minutes

Conducting audits of the macro- and micro-marketing environments for an organisation5 minutes

2 discussion promptsTotal 150 minutes

Activity – Critical reflection45 minutes
The role of businesses in society and their impact on the macro-marketing environment105 minutes

This week, we will look at the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) marketing model, which is one of the most frequently applied models in practice. STP focuses on commercial effectiveness, enabling a business to select the most viable marketing segments before developing a marketing mix and product positioning strategy for them. The STP model is useful when creating marketing communications plans since it helps marketers to prioritise propositions and then to develop and deliver personalised and relevant messages to engage with different audiences. Importantly, the STP model helps marketers to evaluate the potential and commercial attractiveness of each segment.