SMM542 Marketing Fundamentals (Version 27.09.2021)
Bayes Business School
MSc in Marketing Strategy & Innovation
2021/ 22
A warm welcome to Marketing Fundamentals! This outline provides you with a
short overview of the main aims and structure of this course.
If you have any questions at all about this course, or any matters that you would
like to discuss, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.
Here are my contact details:
Dr Sabrina Gottschalk
sabrina.gottschalk@city.ac.uk
Adi Ghosh (teaching assistant for the Integrated Marketing Project)
adi.ghosh.2@bayes.city.ac.uk
I will always try to get back to you as quickly as possible, usually within 48 hours.
Please note that we do not answer emails on weekends, so please don’t wait until
the last minute before a deadline if you have a question.
There will be dedicated Q&A parts in the live sessions and you can post your
questions on the Moodle forum. We also offer office hours via Zoom. These office
hours are entirely voluntary and on a drop-in, first-come-first-serve basis.
Office Hours for Marketing Fundamentals: Tuesdays, 11:00-12:00
Exception in Week 5: My office hour in week 5 will take place on Wednesday (November
3rd, 11:00-12:00 pm).
Course Prerequisites
The course does not assume any knowledge of marketing.
Aims of the Course
Marketing is one of the most fundamental, most complex, and possibly also most
misunderstood functions of the firm.
To put it in the words of the famous Peter Drucker: “Because the purpose of
business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--
basic functions: marketing and innovation.”
The aim of this course is to provide you with a sound understanding of the
principles of marketing. In a nutshell, understanding marketing comes down to
understanding your customers. Thus, even if you have no interest in pursuing a
career in marketing per se, the knowledge and skills acquired in this course will
be essential to your success in business.
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, The course assumes no previous knowledge of marketing and will give you an
overview of the basic marketing planning process, including segmentation,
branding, pricing, distribution, and promotion. These concepts are brought to life
through interactive lectures, discussions, and guest lectures. Furthermore, you
will work on a marketing plan for a real-life start-up throughout the course.
Learning Outcomes
The intent of this course is to introduce, discuss, and analyze critical topics
associated with marketing. The course should help you to:
Develop an understanding of the basic concepts and issues in marketing;
Build a working marketing vocabulary such that you are better able to
understand and discuss marketing concepts in a business setting;
Develop an appreciation for the inherently strategic nature of contemporary
marketing and for the role marketing plays in business strategy and
performance;
Learn how different aspects of marketing integrate to deliver a coherent plan;
Enhance your understanding of what marketing managers actually do on a
day-to-day basis by taking on the role of a marketing manager who has to
develop a marketing plan for a new product;
Strengthen your ability to justify and support your decisions through detailed
analysis of given information;
Learn how to effectively work with others with an understanding of individual
and group dynamics in organizations; and
Enjoy yourself while accomplishing all of the above.
Course Structure
The course consists of nine lectures, including guest lectures, and a presentation
day.
In addition, in Week 2 (October 12, 13, 14), the start-up companies for which
you can choose to write your Marketing Plan will give an optional guest lecture.
More information on that can be found in the “Integrated Marketing Project
Guide” on Moodle on the MSI Page.
Course Material
Textbook
You can use any introductory marketing textbook, but because of its
conciseness, I recommend:
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