Faculty
Professor John Fyfe Marshall
Objectives
“Web 2.0” is upon us. Digital channels are scooping up share, and marketers are wrestling with a whole new series of tools and challenges, whether it be blogs, social networking, user generated content, the transformation of video on the web, among many others.
In the face of this, the role of the CMO is fundamentally changing. Most organizations today are struggling to adapt to a fundamentally new paradigm in managing their brands, product portfolios and customer relationships. The implications on pricing, channels, advertising, media mix are undergoing real scrutiny inside the Fortune 500.
The objective of this survey course is to provide a strategic and analytical toolkit essential to the “new marketer” in managing through the complexity created by digital channels. The focus of the course will be on bricks and mortar companies and the challenges and opportunities faced by their marketing executives. Emphasis will be on consumer marketing although the principles will apply to B2B. We will review the implications of technologies – both consumer facing technologies (eg. broadband, search, IPTV/Tivo, blogging, podcasting) and internal (eg. analytic, research, data management & CRM) technologies – on both customer behavior and the marketer’s response. The course will be applicable to students entering marketing careers and consulting/marketing services organizations, as well as those interested in investment/entrepreneurial careers who wish a deeper immersion in the opportunities created by digital media.
Requirements
Readings. We will have three types of reading for this class: cases, journal articles, as well as a selection of short news stories and editorials which tee up the most current issues and developments in the field. The latter will be provided on a weekly basis on the Weekly "Tuck eMarketing Blog" – see below for details. Case questions will be distributed prior to the class.
Materials
Grading
Class Participation
40%
Class Participation: 40% of your grade will be based on classroom participation. You will be expected to come prepared to class having done the assigned readings and exercises and having thoroughly prepared for a spirited case analysis. You’ll be asked for your points of view, not simply reportage.
Individual Research Paper
30%
Individual Research Paper: 30% of your grade will be based on a short paper which explores how a particular company is using new technologies in its marketing strategy and tactics. Paper length should be 3-5 pages. You should select a topic within the first week of the course and submit your choice to me in writing. I’m also happy to meet with you individually to exchange ideas on topics. As examples, potential topics of interest might include:
- Zappos uses Twitter to build its brand
- Wells Fargo’s social media strategy
You will be evaluated on the clarity, persuasiveness and originality of your argument as well as the extent to which you leverage the frameworks of the class. You will also be expected to appropriately document your sources for the research.
Group Presentation on "New Marketing Frontiers"
30%
Group Presentation on Technology Frontiers: 30%. We will use the last class to explore the newest frontiers of marketing technology. In groups of 4-5, I would like you to present 10 minute overviews of “leading edge technologies” and what they might imply for marketers, eg. addressable cable advertising, web 3.0, etc.
Schedule
Monday, April 20
Session 1: Introduction: The Digital Marketing Revolution
FIRST HALF
Introductory Lecture and Moduale A: The Revolution in Marketing Communications
The first session will be an introductory lecture about the many changes brought about by the networked world. And then we will dive right in to the revolutionary tactics being employed today and discuss what works and what doesn’t.
Part 1: Burger King entertains us. In this session, we will begin our exploration of different models of communicating with customers with a discussion of Burger King’s branding efforts.
Case Discussion:
“Social Media and the Burger King Brand,” John F. Marshall and Andrew Schneller, [Center for Digital Strategies, Tuck School of Business 6-0025], Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007.
Required Readings:
Sawney, Mohanbir and Philip Kotler “Marketing in the Age of Information Democracy.” Kellogg on Marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., November 2000 edition, pp. 386-408 (Chapter 17).
Second Half
Module A: The Revolution in Marketing Communications (continued)
Part 2: Rethinking the Mix
With blogs, social media, search, and other tactics rapidly emerging, how much more complex can the marketing mix be? This session’s question will be how to think about the spend in a different way.
Case Discussion:
“UnME Jeans: Branding in Web 2.0,” Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery, [HBSP 9-509-035], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2008.
Required Reading:
“How Media Choices are Changing Online Advertising,” Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett, [HBSP 9-707-458], Harvard Business School Publishing, February 2007.
Optional: Optional Reading:
“Engagement: Ties that Bind – Leveraging Consumer Participation,” John A. Quelch and Katherine Jocz, [HBP 7856BC], Harvard Business Press, December 2007.
“Ad Lib: When Customers Create the Ad,” Pierre R. Berthon, Leyland Pitt, and Colin Campbell, [California Management Review by University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business CMR-401], Harvard Business School Publishing, August 2008.
“Facebook Platform,” Thomas R. Eisenmann and Brian Feinstein, [HBSP 9-808-128], Harvard Business School Publishing, March 2008.
Monday, April 27
Session 2
FIRST HALF:
Module A: The Revolution in Marketing Communications (continued)
Part 3: Contextual Marketing: The Opportunities and Challenges of Ubiquitous Access
In this session, we’ll discuss the future of marketing in light of 24/7 ubiquitous real-time access to customers and the broad strategic implications of multichannel/multidevice customer experiences and services.
Case Discussion:
“The Brand in the Hand: Mobile Marketing at Adidas,” Andy Rohm, Fareena Sultan, and David Wesley, [Northeastern University, Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, 905A24], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2005.
Required Readings:
“Contextual Marketing: The Real Business of the Internet,” David Kenny and John F. Marshall,
[HBR R00608], Harvard Business Review, November-December 2000.
Second Half
Module A: The Revolution in Marketing Communications (continued)
Part 4: Search Marketing and Measuring Media
New approaches -- search, CRM and behavioral targeting -- have all ‘upped the ante” in terms of the marketer’s analytic tools and requirements. Here we will explore what new media implies for how to measure success, and how channels and spend shift as a consequence.
“MedNet.com Confronts “Click-Through” Competition,” Allegra Young, [HBSP 2066], Harvard Business School Publishing, April 2007.
Required Reading:
“Google Advertising,” Youngme Moon, [HBSP 9-507-038], Harvard Business School Publishing, Revised October 2007.
Monday, May 4
Session 3
Module B: Radical Transparency
Part 1: Brand Building in the Blogosphere: How Strategy Changes in a Transparent World
New media tools have put the power in the hands of consumers and give them unprecedented insight into the corporation. What does this mean to the brand manager’s strategy toolkit? Many argue that advertising is irrelevant and that the community plays a driving role in brand building. But does this “listen to the community” approach fly in the face of that tried and true marketing concept of “Positioning?” In this session, we will probe into the implications of transparency and discuss the opportunities and challenges of brand building in the digital world.
Case Discussion:
“A Blogger in Their Midst,” Halley Suitt, [HBR R0309X], Harvard Business Review, September 2003.
Required Readings:
Harnessing the Power of the Oh-So-Social Web. Sloan Management Review.
Optional: Optional Readings:
“The One Number You Need to Grow,” Frederick F. Reicheld, [HBR 5534], Harvard Business
Review, December 2003.
“Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan,” Tanuja Singh, Liza Veron-Jackson, Joe Cullinane, [Business Horizons by Indiana University, Kelley School of Business BH281], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2008.
“Torment Your Customers (They’ll Love It),” Stephen Brown, [HBR 7855], Harvard Business Review, October 2001.
Module B: Radical Transparency (continued)
Part 2: Pricing Strategies for a Transparent World
The internet provides dramatic potential (and necessity) to rethink pricing strategies. New pricing mechanisms abound. But the changes cut both ways. On one hand, consumers have unparalleled ability to gain cost information, shop around, and “name their own price” via auctions, reverse markets, aggregated buying. But doesn’t the seller also have the ability to customize pricing to what people will pay to exploit untapped precision pricing opportunities? We will discuss new pricing mechanisms, versioning, contextual pricing, and yield management, and the impact of the internet on both the consumer and the producer surplus.
Required Readings:
“Cost Transparency: The Net’s Real Threat to Prices and Brands,” Indrajit Sinha, [HBR R00210], Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000.
“A Dashboard for Online Pricing,” Michael R. Baye, J. Rupert J. Gatti, Paul Kattuman, John Morgan, [California Management Review by University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business CMR386], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2007.
Optional: Optional Reading:
“Price Smarter on the Net,” Walter Baker, Mike Marn, and Craig Zawada, [HBR R0102J], Harvard Business Review, February 2001
Monday, May 11
Session 4
Module C: Data and The Privacy Challenge: Marketing “By Invitation Only”
Part 1:
Each session to date has explored an inherent tradeoff in the move to digital marketing. But this one is perhaps the most difficult of all. The promise of digital marketing is dramatically enhanced relevance, but at what cost in terms of privacy? How far should companies go? To highlight this issue, we will discuss the Doubleclick Abacus furor as well as examine the stark contrast between American and European approaches.
Case Discussion:
“Doubleclick, Inc.: Gathering Customer Intelligence,” Scott Schneberger and Ken Mark, [Richard The University of Western Ontario, Ivey School of Business 901E05], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2001.
Required Reading:
“Information Privacy and Marketing: What the U.S. Should (And Shouldn’t) Learn From Europe,”
H. Jeff Smith, [California Management Review by University of California Berkeley Haas School
of Business CMR190], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2001.
Battelle, John “The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture.” CITY: The Penguin Group, 2005, pp 1-17 “The Database of Intentions” (Chapter 1) and pp 153-180 “The Search Economy” (Chapter 7) (ISBN 1-59184-088-0).
Module D: Bringing it Together: New Moves in Digital Strategy
Part 2:
Making the transition: it’s easier for some than others. With The Mary Kay case, we will summarize learnings from throughout the class and discuss several of the most common challenges “bricks and mortar” companies face in establishing marketing strategies relevant to the digital world. What I will ask you to do is both address the challenge of the case, as well as think through how to apply all of the different tools and approaches we have reviewed throughout the class. Let’s redesign Mary Kay together to become a true state-of-the-art digital marketer.
Case Discussion:
“Mary Kay Inc.: Direct Selling and the Challenge of Online Channels,” Anne Coughlan, [Kellogg School of Management KEL034], Harvard Business School Publishing, 2004.
Optional: Optional Readings:
“Strategy and the Internet,” Michael E. Porter, [Reprint R0103D], Harvard Business Review, March 2001.
“Changing Channels: The Impact of the Internet on Distribution Strategy,” Leyland Pitt, Pierre Berthon, and Jean-Paul Berthon, [Business Horizons by Indiana University Kelley School of Business BH036], Harvard Business School Publishing, March/April 1999.
Monday, May 18
Session 5
Module E: Rethinking Customer Research
Part 1:
New media turns research on its head. Perhaps instead of asking customers questions, we should be allowing them to ask us questions, And the suite of tools with which to listen to and learn from “the crowd” has gone up dramatically. We will have guest speakers from new and innovative companies join us in this session.
Module F: New Frontiers
Part 2:
In this final session we will review group presentations on the newest technology frontiers impacting the marketer.
Optional:
