MBM436 Strategic Marketing Analytics for Digital Businesses

• Topics

  This course focuses on aspects related to using data analytic tools for making strategic marketing decisions. In particular, the course will be set in the backdrop of digital businesses, and organizations that are technology intensive in their product development or customer engagement processes. The course aims to develop an understanding of how digital and technology firms can harness data to a) understand consumer insights; and to b) develop competitive marketing strategies. To that extent, the course will highlight key consumer behavioral theories and leverage data gathered from consumers' digital footprints to develop consumer centric strategies.

  Strategic Marketing Analytics will be relevant to students aspiring for careers in consulting and marketing leadership roles. The course is most particularly useful to students interested in careers within technology intensive firms, as well as in marketing firms where advances in data based decisions are likely to be at the centerstage. The course will present an understanding of how customer value is created and delivered and is thus relevant to students interested in corporate valuations of technology and marketing firms.

  Topics:

  • Fundamentals of pricing-analytics
    • Applications in digital media
  • Advertising Effectiveness
    • Measuring ROI in digital advertising
    • Understanding how sponsored search advertising works
  • Scalable Targeting Strategies
    • A/B Testing
    • Algorithmic Bias in Marketing

• Learning outcome

  Knowledge

  Upon successful completion of the course, the candidate:

  • can understand how to analyze consumer level data in digital business setting.
  • knows the nuances of data collection, data-analysis and data interpretation in different marketing strategies.
  • has the awareness of how consumer behavioral nuances poses tough trade-offs for marketing leaders.
  • can understand how different metrics are used to measure the impact of a given strategic decision
  • has the knowledge of the targeting rules using observed and unobserved variables

  Skills:

  Upon successful completion of the course, the candidate:

  • can use consumer level data to analyze different marketing models
  • can analyze and evaluate advertising-response models in digital context.
  • is able to develop a perspective to disentangle causality from observed correlations in the data analysis
  • is able to communicate data insights in a way that highlights the consumer behavioral realities

  General Competence:

  Upon successful completion of the course, the candidate:

  • can develop strategic frameworks based on first principles rooted in consumer behavioral theories
  • is able to solve complex case studies
  • can understand the role of consumer insights in strategic marketing decisions
  • is able to integrate the role of ethics and bias in marketing.

• Teaching

  The course will consist of physical classes and group work. The classes will involve lectures and case discussions. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the classes, by contributing to the case discussions and group work. Students are expected to come prepared to the classes by reading the case, discussing the exercises with their group members, or watching relevant videos that would be shared on Canvas. There will be no video recording of the classes and students are kindly advised to take advantage of attending the classes on-campus and participate in the student active learning process.

• Recommended prerequisites

  Strategic Marketing Analytics will build upon the basics of Marketing Management and Data Analytics. Hence, a prior exposure to courses such as MBM401B or MBM428 for Marketing and courses such as BAN402 or for basics of Analytics might be helpful for students in getting a holistic learning experience.

• Required prerequisites

  None.

• Compulsory Activity

  Course participants will be required to complete a) one individual data-analysis assignment and b) one group-based case analysis (3-4 students) during the semester. The individual assignment will be a take-home assignment and participants will submit the assignments online. The groups will submit a case analysis report and will make an oral presentation in the class. This activity is a qualifying step for the final assessment.

  Grading Scale: Approved / Not approved

  Course participation during the group presentations is required. Participants are required to maintain a minimum of 80% attendance during the coursework.

• Assessment

  May 3 the assessment for this course was changed to:

  Group home exam, 6 hours.

  Original assessment :

  Group Case Analysis: 100%

  The final assessment for the course will be a group-based case study (3-4 students). The groups will work on the case study based on assigned questions and will submit their response in the form of a short report. The report must be completed in English.

  The groups will be given a final grade.

  The case study assigned for the final-exam will be different from the one assigned for the compulsory activity.

• Grading Scale

  AF

• Computer tools

  Microsoft Excel, R (with RStudio2)

• Literature

  A set of case studies and journal articles will be provided in the compendium.