Orthodox and Critical Perspectives in Marketing A

PART I.   THE EVOLVING MEANING OF CUSTOMER CENTRICITY 

• From orthodox to cultural marketing
• Customer centricity

PART II.  STRATEGIC MARKETING:  A LIFE-LONG JOURNEY

• Customer lifetime value 
• The customer journey
• Customer and their roles
• Customer experience and experiential value
• Consumer trends

PART III.   ANALYTICAL AND STRATEGIC MARKETING:  LEARNING FROM THE FIELD 

• Research methods supporting innovation and creative thinking
• From segmentation to fragmentation

 PART IV.    OPERATIONAL MARKETING: PRODUCT, CHANNEL, RETAIL, PLACE & COMMUNICATION

• New products and product strategy
• Cultural innovation
• Go to market strategy: Channel and retailing
• Marketing communication
• Servicescape
• Price and value

The course assumes students’ familiarity with the notion of marketing and what a marketing plan is about. Typically, these notions are acquired in any Principles of Marketing course or during the Marketing tutorial, which we offer before our Master programmes’ formal start.

Said marketing background is however too narrow, since: (1) it conceives of marketing as a science, leading to (2) normative and (3) merely profit-oriented implications, both in theoretical and managerial terms.

In order to overcome such a limited marketing vision, the course aims at:

• contrasting established (i.e. orthodox) and emerging (i.e. critical) perspectives on marketing, which helps problematize marketing objectives, outcomes, and publics,
• questioning the sense and the implications of companies’ customer orientation in times of digitalisation, complexification, and intensification of company-stakeholders relationships,
• complementing the typical marketing funnel approach (as illustrated by the marketing plan) with a customer journey approach, and
• providing students with hands-on marketing experience, by means of a live case with a company.

In presenza

Classes will provide rich opportunity for critical discussion, analysis of examples and real-life cases. 
Students are invited to actively participate. An in-company project will accompany students along the semester.

Students are requested to attend at least 60% of the in-presence classes to validate the course. In case of personal impediments, students are expected to reach out to professors to discuss with them the best way to proceed.

• Assessment is based on both an individual written exam (50% of the final grade) and group assignments (50%).
• Detailed evaluation criteria are set at the beginning of the course.
• Peer evaluation will be granted upon request.