Seoul National University

Graduate School of Business

Digital Marketing
Spring 2019 (2018 3rd term)

Instructor: Jun B. Kim (junbkim@snu.ac.kr)

Teaching Assistant: Gayeon Yi(yeega1202@gmail.com)
Office Hours: By Appointment
Class Meetings: April 15 to 27 2:00pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: LG 301

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The key objective of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of digital
marketing and to discuss its main vehicles from theoretical and pragmatic perspectives. We focus on (1)
how digital technologies affect consumers in marketing framework, (2) key principles and features of
digital and social marketing vehicles, and (3) how firms adopt various digital and social strategies and
tactics for their competitive advantage. To this end, we will focus on key digital marketing vehicles of
online display advertising, search engine marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing. For
each topic, we will use the latest ideas from the business world and the findings from cutting-edge
research in marketing, economics, and psychology. We will pay special attention to return on marketing
investment. Therefore, some students may find the course material technical. Next, we will develop a
better understanding of digital marketing in the big picture of the marketing strategy. Lastly, students will
have an opportunity to get an exposure to the latest development such as machine learning and AI through
lectures, group work, and guest lectures. Students will have an opportunity to run very simple R codes at
a few occasions during the term.
At the end of this course, each student will have capabilities in developing and evaluating digital
marketing strategies and tactics for your organization. Upon completion of this course, you will

1. Develop a broader understanding of the digital and social marketing environment

2. Understand the principles, features, mechanisms, and effectiveness of key digital and social
marketing components
3. Understand the challenges and opportunities in digital marketing eco-system

COURSE GRADE/EVALUATION
The following is the list of major components for the final grades.

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1. Class attendance and participation (20%)
You come prepared and participate in class discussions. Because participation will be an important
part of your learning process, attendance is mandatory. I will circulate the attendance sign-up sheets
at the beginning of the lecture. In addition, you should expect cold calling. Lastly, you are expected to
distance yourself from all electronic devices. Any disruptive behaviors during the class could severely
affect your participation score.

2. Assignment (30%)
There will be two team assignments and one individual assignment. For each assignment, you will
work in a group of 3-4 people and submit one report per team.
• Team assignment I: Scoring activity. Due April 19
• Team assignment II: Answer all the questions in “Rocket Fuel” case. To finish the assignment, I
will hand out a half-finished R code which you need to complete and execute. In addition, one
selected team will present their answers during the class. Due Apr 23
• Individual assignment: Answer the case questions (which will be available on April 23rd) in
“Social Strategy at American Express”. Due Apr 25

3. Final exam (50%)

There will be a few essay questions. Most of the questions will be based on lecture materials that
include, but not limited to, reading materials and discussions during the class.

COURSE MATERIALS
There is no textbook for this course. Reading materials will be available online at the course web site.
Students are expected to secure case materials by themselves at Harvard business publishing website. The
course packet will be available for purchase at

https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/604922

COURSE REFERENCE
The digital marketing field is changing at a rapid pace. The following is a list of web resources where one
can find latest trends and news on digital marketing topics.
• http://adage.com
• http://techcrunch.com

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 • http://mashable.com
• http://www.fastcompany.com

COURSE FORMAT
Lecture. Each session will usually start with a lecture. Each lecture will cover general principles, features,
and mechanisms of the focal topic in the area of digital and social marketing.

Case Discussion. Multiple case discussions will be used to reinforce and supplement the lectures. All
students are expected to contribute to each case discussion. At minimum, one should be able to offer a
synopsis of the case and identify the main issues facing the management in the company. Some of the
assignments will be based on case preparations.

Guest Speakers. Subject to scheduling issues, three industry guest speakers generously agreed to speak to
us on various topics in digital marketing and digital transformation.

Dr. Kim Sung Hoon, CLAIR(CLover AI Research Laboratory) Leader, Naver Corporation.
Mr. Kim, Sunny, Head of Software, bespine Global
Ms. Cho Minsoo, Chief Marketing Officer, L’Oreal Korea

COURSE SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

The following is the schedule for the daily lectures and case discussion. Below, you will also find case
discussion questions. Be prepared to discuss them during the class.

Session 1 (Monday, April 15th)

Topic: Digital Marketing Landscape
Read: “The Consumer Decision Journey,” McKinsey Quarterly (Online)
“Facebook and Google build a duopoly,” Financial Times (Intranet)
Case: “Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google”

Case Discussion Questions:

1. Define contested boundaries among Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.
2. For each contested boundaries that you have identified, how is the contest likely to play out? How
many contests give rise to winner-take-all markets? How many to always-a-share market? How
will the complex ecosystems, in which online businesses are built on top of other online
businesses, and third party sellers that rely on platforms, evolve?
3. Identify a firm that you know something about, for example a media company, a retailer, or
manufacturing firm, with some involvement in the online economy. Which, if any, of the big four
firm does it currently rely on? Might that reliance change? How might that firm hedge the risks it
will face if there is a transition to one of the others?

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 4. What skills will be the under-supplied in the future of digital economy that you envisage?

Session 2 (Tuesday, April 16th)

Topic: Online Display Advertising I
Read: “On the Near Impossibility of Measuring the Returns to Advertising” (“Introduction” section
only, Intranet)
“Advertisers trapped in an age of online obfuscation,” Financial Times (Intranet)

Case: “BBVA Compass: Marketing Resource Allocation”

Case Discussion Questions

1. What is the role of offline and online advertising for acquiring checking account customers for
the bank?
2. In 2010, the bank allocated $1.22 million or 21% of the total ad budget to online advertising for
acquiring checking account customers (see Tables B&C), while allocating the rest to offline
marketing efforts for this account. However, only 5% of new checking accounts came from
online channel, while offline branches accounted for 80% of the new checking accounts (page 3).
Is the offline and online media allocation appropriate?
3. Why did BBVA sign sponsorship deals with NBA and ESPN? Do you agree with their decision?
4. Are there differences in the quality of checking customers acquired through offline and online
channels? How do the customer lifetime value and acquisition costs differ across these two
channels?
5. What is the role of display and search advertising in acquiring new checking account customers?
Is the 2010 budget allocation between display and search reasonable?
6. Why is the bank spending money across various display ad networks? Which ad networks are
working better and would you change the budget allocation across them?
7. How would you allocate the bank's 2011 marketing budget across various media options?

Session 3 (Wednesday, April 17st)

Topic: Online Display Advertising II, Statistical Models
Read: “The A/B Test: Inside the Technology That’s Changing the Rules of Business”
Scoring Model (Intranet)

Case: We will have a small group exercise during the class. Please bring your laptop computer with Excel
and R and RStudio installed.

Session 4 (Thursday, April 18th)

Topic: Search Engine Marketing I
Read: TBA
Case: “Air France Internet Marketing: Optimizing Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Kayak Sponsored Search”

Case Discussion Questions

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 1. Which publishers produce the best marketing campaign results?
2. Which publishers should receive more marketing dollars? Which should receive less? Which
should be eliminated?
3. Which publishers would benefit from changing tactics, changing keywords, match type, and bid
strategy?
4. Which publishers benefit from improved copy, i.e., changing the wording in the search ad or
content on the landing page?
5. Kayak click data are not available through DoubleClick. How does Kayak compare to the other
search engines? Would you recommend more or less funding for the Kayak SEM campaign?

Session 5 (Friday, April 19th)

Topic: Search Engine Marketing II, Social Media Marketing I
Read: “Social Strategies That Work,” Harvard Business Review
Due: Team assignment I
Guest Speaker: Dr. Sung Hun Kim, CLAIR Leader, Naver Corporation

Session 6 (Monday, April 22nd)

Topic: Social Media Marketing II, Mobile Marketing I
Read: “Snapchat races Instagram to capture selfie ad sales”, Financial Times (Intranet)
“In Mobile Advertising, Timing Is Everything,” Harvard Business Review

Case: “Sephora Direct: Investing in Social Media, Video, and Mobile”

Case Discussion Questions
1. Assuming she receives the additional funding, how should Bornstein allocate her budget across
the various digital categories? Given that the additional funding requested must be shifted from
Sephora’s other marketing spending, where would you propose to cut? Why?
2. What do you make of Sephora’s digital and social media efforts as of the fall of 2010? Was it
wise in your opinion to create Beauty Talk as a separate social platform to Facebook?
3. As Sephora increasingly dabbles with digital marketing and social media, which competitors
should the company be most worried about?
4. What metrics do you propose Sephora Direct use to measure the success of its digital efforts
going forward?
5. What should be the strategic goal of Sephora’s digital & social marketing program? How can
Bornstein satisfy the CEO’s desire to win in the digital space?

Session 7 (Tuesday, April 23rd)

Topic: Mobile Marketing II
Read: TBA
Due: Team assignment II
Case: RocketFuel

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Case Discussion Questions
1. Questions are included in the case material.

Session 8 (Wednesday, April 24rd)

Topic: Emerging Topics in Digital Marketing
Read: “Storytelling Rules When Brands Woo Consumers”, Financial Times (Intranet)
“Attribution modeling overview”, Google Inc.

Guest Speaker: Ms. Minsoo Cho, Chief Marketing Officer, L’oreal Korea

Session 9 (Thursday, April 25th)

Topic: Advanced Topics: Marketing and Blockchain
Read: How Blockchain Can Help Marketers Build Better Relationships with Their Customers
Guest Speaker: Mr. Sunny Kim, Head of Software, Bespin Global

Session 10 (Friday, April 26th)

Final exam will start from 2:30pm until 5:00pm
Due: Individual assignment