| INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Felipe Korzenny
OFFICE: 336 DIF PHONE: 644-8766
OFFICE HOURS: Wednesdays and Thursdays 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm, and F: 10 a.m. – noon, and by appointment
EMAIL: fkorzenn@fsu.edu |
| CLASS MEETINGS: Thursdays 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm, Room 230 DIF |
| FORMAT: The course is designed for active participation. Most weeks there will be assignments due where individuals or groups will make presentations to the class. Thus, a combination of lectures, discussions, interaction, and presentation of assignments to the class will be common during most class sessions. Student presentation and papers are to be submitted electronically only via the Blackboard drop-box for the class, and at least 2 hours before class time the day they are due. |
| TEXTS and readings: IMC – The Next Generation by Don Schultz and Heidi Schultz, McGraw Hill 2003, is required. This book is a state of the art treaty on IMC placing emphasis on delivering value and measuring returns. How Customers Think by Gerald Zaltman, Harvard Business School Press, 2003, is an insightful complement to IMC – The Next Generation in that it explores, in depth, how to plan content based on consumer insights. The book Futuring: The Exploration of the Future by Edward Cornish, World Future Society, 2004, is recommended. This book is an insightful introduction to the art and science of studying the future. In many large organizations there is now the role of “Futurist” and marketers are frequently called upon to offer perspectives on the future. Brands are constantly scanning the environment in order to plan strategies and understand opportunities. Students are highly encouraged to become acquainted with the content of this book. Additional required readings may be placed as active links in the course schedule of topics. |
| Objectives: At the end of the semester the student will be able to: - Describe the evolution of IMC and the stages through which organizations evolve when adopting IMC practices.
- Describe and justify IMC guiding principles.
- Identify customers and prospects.
- Estimate the value of customers and prospects.
- Apply the notion of reciprocal marketer-consumer relationship.
- Plan message delivery and content.
- Estimate the return on customer investment.
- Conduct post-program analysis.
- Relate IMC efforts to brand equity and shareholder value.
- Estimate brand equity, and
- Describe and discuss challenges faced by IMC integration in organizations.
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| COURSE SCHEDULE, TOPICS, AND ASSIGNMENTS |
| Week 1, August 26 Introduction to the course Classroom technology Introductions Professor Students Review of the syllabus Touchpoints Origins of IMC | Assignment 1: The class will be divided into 5 groups of students and each group will choose or be assigned one of the following topics for development and presentation in class: - The marketing impact of moving from products to brands and branding.
- A shift away from the Four Ps.
- The role of technology in the evolution of marketing
- Stages of IMC development.
- Data inputs and outputs for leveraging Customer information.
Each group will make a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation and then encourage class discussion for another 15 minutes, or so. Each presentation should focus on bringing marketing examples and ideas to illustrate the concepts. Read: Schultz Chapters 1 and 2. Due on September 2. |
| Week 2, September 2 Origins and evolution of IMC A focus on brands and branding. Lesser importance of the classical 4 Ps. Technology and e-commerce. Customization vs. massification. Measurement and Accountabilityl Globalization. The role of super-retailers. The impact of new technology. Four stages of IMC development Databases and their utilization Data sources Facilitative mechanisms Data applications Example: Geoscape | Assignment 2: Eight dyads or small groups will be organized in class. Each group will research and prepare a presentation on one of the following topics: - A Customer-Centric Organization
- Use Outside-In Planning
- Focus on Total Customer Experience
- Alignment of Consumer Goals with Corporate Objectives
- Setting Customer behavior Objectives
- Treating Customers as Assets
- Streamlining Functional Activities
- Converge Marketing Communication Activities
Each presentation will be on PowerPoint to highlight the ideas in the readings and illustrate the concepts with examples. The presentation should be of a minimum of 5 and maximum of 10 slides and last about 10 to 15 minutes to be followed by class discussion. Readings: Schultz Chapter 3. Due September 9. |
| Week 3, September 9 The Principles of Value-Based IMC Aligning internal and external resources. Build a costumer-centric organization. Integrated and organic vs. top-down management. Outside-in marketing planning. Total customer experience is the focus. Customer needs and corporate objectives are aligned. Set customer behavior objectives. Customers are the company’s assets. Streamlining of functional activities. Converge Marketing Communication activities. | Assignment 3 consists of five parts: Groups of approximately 5 students will be formed to constitute and IMC organization that will go through each of five IMC steps to produce an IMC strategy. Each IMC step will be presented to the rest of the class in subsequent class sessions starting September 9. Five class sessions will cumulatively ad the formation of an IMC plan for a product or service of the students’ choice (the presentation of the parts of the plan will be interrupted by focus groups that will contribute to the plan and strategy). The product or service can be a real or fictional but the steps will be followed with the seriousness of a true enterprise. The five steps are: - Identifying Customers and Prospects.
- Valuation of Customers and Prospects.
(FOCUS GROUPS OR IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WILL GO HERE) - Creating and Delivering Messages and Incentives
- Estimating returns on customer investments, and
- Post-Program Analysis and Future Planning
Each group will organize itself to reflect the IMC philosophy. Students will decide on the roles they choose to play in the group. The group has the right to fire group members who are not productive or engaged. To dismiss a group member, however, there must be consensus by the rest of the group members. Dismissed group members can be hired by other groups. If a group member does not find a work group s/he will have to develop an individual IMC strategy. Individuals not in groups will not make presentations and 2 points will be deducted from each of the five parts, below the score obtained. The reason for encouraging group work is that students will have to be in work groups most of their professional lives. The presentation of each step in subsequent class sessions will be in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. The class and the instructor will discuss each of the presentations about each of the steps by each group to promote feedback and collective learning. Assignment 3a consists in the “Identification of Customers and Prospects.” Read Schultz Chapter 4. Due September 16. |
Week 4, September 16 (Jewish New Year; Mexican and other Latin American Independence Celebrations) THERE WAS NO CLASS DUE TO UNIVERSITY CLOSING DUE TO WEATHER. Week 5, September 23 Identifying customers and prospects Customers aggregated in behavioral groups. Finding data for planning. Understanding customers and Prospects Databases for IMC Combining and Sharing Customer Data Generating Customer Insights | Assignment 3b. Presentations on “Estimating the value of customers and Prospects.” Read Schultz Chapters 5 and 6. Due September 23. |
| Week 6, September 30 The value of customers and prospects Customers are assets and communication an investment. Customer/prospect valuation. Creating customer and marketplace value. 5Rs: Recognition, Relevance, Receptivity, Response, Relationship. Marketer-customer reciprocal relationship. | Assignment 4a: Workgroups will conduct focus groups or in-depth interviews and report results in class starting October 21. The in-depth interviews and/or focus groups are to obtain customer insights to inform their communication delivery and content. Each group will conduct at least a 90 minute focus group or 5 in-depth interviews of 60 minutes each and will report results in class for discussion. Reporting to the class will include detail of verbatims and insights, and implications for the IMC strategy. IMPORTANT NOTICE: This presentation will include group assignment 3c: Presentations on “Planning Marketing Communications Delivery and Content” based on readings, IMC considerations, and the findings of the focus groups and/or in-depth interviews conducted. These presentations will take advantage of the data collected in the focus groups and/or in-depth interviews to elaborate a costumer oriented delivery approach and content strategy Each presentation will last approximately 50 minutes plus approximately 15 minutes of discussion. The planning for each focus group and or in-depth interviews will include: - Recruitment
- A discussion outline or interviewing guide
- Organize logistics
- Moderate the group and/or conduct in-depth interviews.
Assignment 4b: Each student will produce a 7 to 10 page report detailing the findings and implications of the focus group and/or in-depth interviews. This report is strictly individual and will be due in class two weeks after the focus group and/or interviews are reported to the class. The report will include the following parts: - Description of the Integrated Marketing Communication Problem (1 page)
- Executive summary with key findings and strategic implications (1 page)
- Objectives, methods, and limitations (1 page)
- Main findings (3 – 5 pages)
- Conclusions and implications for marketing communication delivery and content elaboration (1 – 2 pages)
Read Shultz Chapters 7 and 8, and become familiar with the content of How Consumers Think by Zaltman. Readings due October 7. |
| Weeks 7, and 8; October 7, and 14 Planning Marketing Communication Delivery Brand contacts Brand contact audits Alternative communication paths Brand networks Planning Marcom Content What are customer insights? How do customers think? How to obtain customer insights? Metaphor elicitation Response latency Consensus maps Memories, metaphors, stories and brands Matching organizational capabilities with costumer insights Message and incentive strategies Strategy development | Focus groups and/or in-depth interview reports are due October 21, 28, and November 4, as follows: Oct. 21st: Hot Spot Café Oct. 28th: Lancome, and Fresh Concepts Nov. 4th: Kataklysm, and Robin’s group |
| Week 9, 10, 11 October 21, 28, and Nov. 4. In class presentations of the findings of focus groups organized by workgroups followed by class discussion. | [Assignment 3c is now included in the report of the focus groups and/or in-depth interviews as detailed above.] Assignment 3d. Presentations on “Return on Customer Investment,” The analysis of return on customer investment will likely be a hypothetical scenario building exercise. It will provide a sense of strategic communication investment. In some cases groups will have some data to base their scenarios on, in other cases groups will use fictitious but credible data to persuade the organization about their approach. This should be a short and long term estimation. Read Schultz Chapter 9, 10, and 11. Due November 18. |
Week 12, November 11. No class session in honor of Veteran’s Day. Week 13, November 18. Presentations on “ Estimating Return on Customer Investment” Short term Long term | Assignment 3e: Presentations on “Post-Program analysis and Future Planning.” The post-program analysis and future planning presentation will be prescriptive as opposed to descriptive. The workgroup will state how they believe they will go about looking at their strategic effort after the plan is implemented. Read Schultz Chapter 12. Due December 2. |
| Week 14, November 25. No class session due to the Thanksgiving celebration. | |
| Week 15, December 2 Post-program analysis and future planning Closing the loop Measurement of returns Analysis of customer contribution, commitment, and championship Tracking of customer movement | Assignment 5. Final individual paper. This will be an individually crafted paper. In this paper each student will present, from his/her own perspective, the summary of the entire strategy including the five steps elaborated in the work groups. The narrative of the paper needs to be original to the individual student but tables and charts can be common to the group. The discussion of any tables or charts needs to reflect the individual writer’s own perspective. This paper will be due on Monday December 6 (electronically, via Blackboard’s drop box, as all other class assignments). To obtain full credit for this paper the student will demonstrate his/her knowledge of the content and will organize a paper that is self-explanatory, clear, and businesslike. This document should sell to upper management the IMC plan proposed. The document should be approximately 15 pages in length and should contain a one page executive summary upfront. |
| Week 16, December 9, Final exam meeting. (Remaining presentations of assignments 3d and 3e are likely to place during this period) | Florida State University mandates attendance at this final examination session regardless of whether or not there is a final exam for a course. There is no official final examination for this course due to the intense participation required during the semester but, as stated below, an exam may be given that day at the discretion of the instructor. |
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