Strategic Marketing Analysis and Planning

Course Description
This is the core class for both the Strategic Marketing Analysis & Planning (SMAP), and the Marketing and Communication emphasis study programs. The focus of this course is strategic marketing analysis for making marketing decisions and marketing planning. It, therefore, integrates knowledge acquired in other subjects in marketing (e.g., analysis of consumer behavior, brand management, market research) and business administration subjects (management, finance, and accounting). Students develop analytical skills, acquire a strategic perspective of marketing, and learn to comprehend it as an integral part of the overall strategy of a company. Thus, the focus on the course is on the long-term planning and strategic vision of the company and the roleof marketing within that. The course emphasizes the role of the strategic marketing plan as the framework for the internal organization of the company’s marketing activities and decisions.
Students will further have an opportunity to put their knowledge into practice by working on a real-world project.The topics include (but are not limited to): Strategic Market Analysis (Strategic GAP Analysis, Porter's Five Forces Framework, PLEESTIC Environmental Analysis, SWOT, GE 9 Cell Model, BCG Matrix, and Ansoff’s Matrix), strategy development, planning and implementation, strategy evaluation and control.

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
–Practically apply knowledge from other BBA courses and link these various courses together into a coherent whole;
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of a selected (and approved) company's value-enhancing strategies;
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of the components and construction of a strategic marketing plan;
–Understand and analyze complex marketing decisions;
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of the investigation and application of marketing models and practices, outline the process required to develop marketing strategies;
–Place in context andlend perspective to the nature of key strategic decisions (i.e., value creation, communication, delivery, and extraction);
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of the role of the marketing manager / director and how to make complex marketingdecisions;
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of how to apply marketing strategy, models, and principles to a real company for which they will develop a strategic marketing plan;
–Comprehend and demonstrate a clear understanding of the strategic marketing planning process and how to complete an original strategic marketing plan;–Understand the difference between data, information, and customer insight;
–Understand how customer insight drives firm value;
–Understand the various methods to collect data and gain customer insight;
–Understand the value of using marketing metrics;]
–Know key marketing metrics and how to apply them;
–Understand how to analyze marketing metrics;
–Understand how to develop appropriate marketing analytics;
–Understand the connection between marketing metrics and financial performance;
–Know how to use and interpret key marketing/financial profitability ratios;–Interpret data and become adept at drawing appropriate conclusions to allocate marketing resources most effectively.