Marketing management course

The Marketing Philosophy
• How marketing came about as a way of thinking as it went through different stages of development. Reasons behind these changes and trends affecting the discipline today.

• A definition for the discipline and its role within society and the economy as a whole, as well as its specific application in a business and non-profit environment.

The Strategic Approach
• The concept of controllable and uncontrollable variables that affect an organisation's
strategy and the practical development of some frameworks to help understand these factors.

• The introduction of the strategic management model as a proven vehicle to integrate results of the strategic analysis.

The Marketing Environment
• Trends shaping the consumer market internationally and in South Africa in particular.
• The implication of these trends on the organisation.
• Demographic and geographic influences and the effect of the economic, political and natural environments on marketing.

The Planning Process
• The planning process and some of the main strategies open to an organisation as it integrates the controllable environmental factors with the uncontrollable.
• How to distinguish between internal and external factors impacting on the planning process.

Marketing Research
• Marketing research as a link between the customer and the organisation.
• The gathering of market information as a key factor in determining market needs.
• The development of a marketing research plan and its implementation.
• Methods used to gather and interpret data and the development of criteria to assess the value of this information against objectives.
• The integration of marketing research findings into the overall marketing plan.

Finding Market Opportunities
• The process by which a market is broken down into distinct and meaningful segments and the mechanics of the market segmentation method.
• The basis for market segmentation.
• Criteria for evaluating market segments.
• The concept of positioning and product differentiation.

Understanding Consumers
• Characteristics of consumer behaviour.
• The factors that influence decision-making, ranging from broad issues (such as culture, society and the family), to personal ones (such as motivation, perception and the forming of attitudes).
• The difference between consumer buyer behaviour and business buyer behaviour.
• Identification of factors affecting decision-making in a business environment.

The Marketing Mix [Product, Price, Place/Distribution, Promotion]
Product Strategy
Product Decisions
• Definition of the term "product".
• Core, tangible and intangible levels at which the product should be described.
• Various marketing decisions that are made about a product during the course of its development and growth, including branding, packaging and design.

Product Innovation
• How new product ideas are generated, screened and evaluated.
• The strategic implications of the new product launch.

The Life Cycle
• The product life cycle - how products are born, grow, mature and finally die.
• Implications of the marketing mix at each stage.

Pricing Strategy
• Pricing objectives.
• Influencing price setting in a business and non-business organisation.
• Decisions that need to be made when changing prices as a result of a competitive reaction or as the result of a determined strategy.
• Pricing tactics and tools in common use.
• Relevant economic and financial accounting techniques.

Distribution Strategy
• The concept of a marketing channel and the various roles, risks and responsibilities of each "player" within the channel.
• The evolution and dynamics of various types of channels and tactics used in the management of these channels.
• Physical, logistics and distribution issues involved in the moving of goods from place of supply to place of consumption.
• Marketing channel decisions.

Promotional Strategy
Communication Mix Considerations
• Advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations are the main tools which an organisation
can use to communicate its offerings and promises to the market.
• An in-depth look at the effective use of the main tools to achieve the right marketing communication blend.
• The communication model and its applications.

Advertising and Promotions
• The process of planning a campaign and setting objectives.
• Deciding on the media and message approach and measuring their outputs.
• Tactics and best practices in the advertising, public relations and sales management domain and their integration into a cohesive marketing communication strategy.

Customer Relationship Management
• Customer service and customer service-driven marketing strategies as key issues in South Africa and internationally.
• The role of customer relationship management in achieving differentiation in the market place.
• Customer service quality and the principles of customer service: measurement, service recovery and
achieving customer service effectiveness.

Creating Competitive Advantage
• Competitor Analysis and Competitive Strategies.
Strategy Development
• Identification of different strategies and how to present these ideas as business plans.
• The role of marketing in the solution process.
• The development of marketing action plans.

Date: 29 May 2010
Venue: Varsity College, Rondebosch, Cape Town

Date: 31 May 2010
Venue: Varsity College Rondebosch