OME 651-STRATEGIC MARKETING

1. Course Description

As a result of accelerating technological change and the growth of international competition,

the discipline of strategic marketing has assumed primary importance in the shaping and
implementation of business strategy. Numerous studies confirm that marketing orientation with
its focus on customer needs and benefits is critical to the development of effective long- term
competitiveness and the creation of sustainable competitive advantage. The managers should
understand buyer’s needs and wants and effectively combine and direct their skills and
resources to provide high levels of customer satisfaction. The role of marketing is to enable
organizations to provide quality services to maintain customer loyalty. This can be achieved
through application of marketing strategies to overcome competition in the market place.

2. Objectives

The course in Strategic Marketing is intended to broaden your view on the role of Strategic
marketing in organization. It will also enable you understand how strategic marketing is
practiced in organization as well as equipping you with knowledge on strategic marketing issues
in organizations.

The course will enable you to apply strategic marketing to organizations in the private, public
and not for profit sectors. It will examine strategic marketing in service organization and the
issues that arise from the differences between the market of tangible products and the
marketing of services. It will address the need for understanding consumer behavior as it
applies to the strategic marketing.

3. Mode of Assessment
Discussion Forums 20%
Term Paper 30%

Final Examination 50%

Total 100%

4. Course Content

Lecture One: Definition of Basic Concepts and Marketing Philosophies

1.1 Overview
This lecture provides an introduction to all basic concepts of strategic marketing which are very
important to be familiar with before further lectures in this course

1.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Discuss the changing role of marketing actions and philosophies in contemporary

 business
 Appreciate the holistic role of marketing in a firm
 Discuss customers’ behavior in the market place
  Apply the new marketing concepts to solving marketing problems
 Develop market – driven strategies
 Implement and manage strategic marketing programs in organizations

1.3 Sub Lectures

  Definition of marketing, strategic marketing, tactical marketing

 Marketing philosophies – Production orientation/product/selling/marketing/societal
marketing/holistic concepts/other marketing concepts
 Market Orientation
  Operational Marketing
 Role of Marketing in the firm

Lecture Two: Environmental Analysis

2.1 Overview
The firm needs to study environmental analysis for the business unit to change with market and
competition

2.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Discuss opportunities and challenges of external environment

 Discuss the strength and weaknesses of internal environment
 Apply SWOC as a tool for environmental analysis

2.3 Sub Lectures

 External environment
 Internal environment
 SWOC, PEST, EPISTEL

Lecture Three: Corporate Strategies and Generic Business Strategies/ Growth

Strategies

3.1 Overview
A company chooses a particular strategy depending upon its strengths and goals set for the
business unit. Goal indicate what is to be achieved and strategy is a plan used to achieve these
goals

3.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Establishing strategic business unit

 Assigning resources to business unit
 Discuss Michael Porter’s three generic strategies
 Explain how situational analysis is conducted
 Explain steps involved in formulating and implementing various marketing strategies
3.3 Sub Lectures
-Corporate strategies
  Definition of basic concepts like corporate strategy/SBU etc
  BCG Growth Share Matrix
 GE by McKinsey
-Generic business strategies
  Cost leadership
  Differentiation
 Focus
-Growth strategies
 Ansoff growth share matrix

Lecture Four: Marketing Mix Variables

4.1 Overview
The marketer’s task is to devise marketing activities and assemble fully integrated marketing
programs to create, communicate and deliver value for customers. The use of a marketing mix
is A good avenue in facilitating this to happen. The marketing mix is an important tool to help
understand what the product or service can offer and how to plan for a successful product
offering

4.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

  Understand and identify the purpose of marketing mix

 Describe the issues associated with the strategic management of the individual elements
 of the mix
 Explain how marketing mix tools can be used in overall marketing strategy formulation
for an organization
 Highlight the need for an integrated approach to the management of the marketing mix

4.3 Sub Lectures

 Meaning of 7Ps
 Product and services classification
 Characteristics of services marketing
 Product, Branding and Customer service strategies
 Pricing Strategies
 Distribution Strategies
 Promotion Strategies
Lecture Five: Market Segmentation, Targeting and
Positioning 5.1 Overview
These three concepts have become very popular as the major strategic approach in
contemporary marketing field. Companies need to position themselves in order to maximize
their competitive advantages and serve their target markets in the most effective manner

5.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Understand the meaning of marketing segmentation, targeting and position

 Describe the nature of market segmentation
 Understand the contribution of segmentation to effective marketing planning
 Discuss the factors that can be used to evaluate market segments
 Explain the major target market strategies
 Describe the positioning and repositioning strategies

5.3 Sub Lectures

 Segmentation
 Target
 Positioning
 Strategies for Product Positioning

Lecture Six: Product Development and Product Life Cycle

6.1 Overview
This lecture introduces the concepts of product development and product life cycle which are
the crucial concepts in guiding the formulation of a marketing strategy. Product life cycle shows
is the stages which a product is in at that particular period or the stages which a product is
expected to pass through so as the firm remains in competitive position

6.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Differentiate product line and product mix

 Understand the steps of new product development
 Explain the product life cycle concept
 Discuss how the marketing mix can be applied at the various stages of the product life
cycle

6.3 Sub Lectures

 Product line and Product mix
 The development of new products
 Product strategies for growth
 Product Lifecycle
Lecture Seven: Analysis of Marketing and
Competitors 7.1 Overview
Organization today operates in a dynamic environment; the players of the environment are
called actors as they affect market decision. The interactive process that occurs in the market
place is known as competitive environment

7.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Describe the importance of marketing and competitor analysis

 Understand how firms can best identify against whom they are competing
 Discuss the key issues in marketing and competitors’ analysis
 Use Michael Porter’s approach to competitive structure analysis
 Evaluate competitive relationships
 Explain internal corporate analysis

7.3 Sub Lectures

 Marketing analysis
 Competitor analysis
 Corporate analysis
  Michael porters value chain
 Michael porter’s five forces

Lecture Eight: Marketing Audit and

Control 8.1 Overview
The marketing audit is designed to provide the strategist with the clear understanding of
organization current position, nature of environment opportunity and threats and organization’s
ability to cope with environmental demand

8.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

  Understand nature, structure and purpose of the market audit

 Explain nature of the contribution made by thee marketing audit to the overall
 management audit
 Demonstrate the need for a regular review of marketing effectiveness and how such a
 review might be conducted
 Explain why a regular review of strength, weakness, opportunities and threats is
 necessary
 Demonstrate how the marketing effectiveness review, SWOC analysis and the marketing
audit contribute to the marketing planning process

8.3 Sub Lectures

 The meaning, structure and focus of the audit
 The stages of auditing and its scope and frequency
  Reviewing marketing effectiveness
 The role of SWOC analysis
 Competitive advantage and the value chain

Lecture Nine: Strategic Marketing Planning

9.1 Overview
This lecture exemplifies strategic marketing planning as the process that the operational and
managerial staff of a company takes into account in order to implement effective marketing
strategies. Strategic marketing planning takes several aspects of company marketing and
promotion into consideration.

9.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Explain the meaning, nature and purpose of strategic marketing planning

 Discuss various benefits of strategic plan
 Describe the structure of the marketing plan
 Illustrate the strategic marketing process
 Discuss the importance of marketing planning

9.3 Sub Lectures

 Meaning, nature and purpose of strategic plan
 Dimensions of effective planning
 Structure of the marketing plan
 Strategic planning process
 Importance of a marketing planning

Lecture Ten: Marketing Research

10.1 Overview
Marketing researchers spend most of their time in marking decision, which influence survival
and growth of organizations. No decision is made without proper marketing information. There
is a need for marketing managers to collect analyze and evaluate information through
marketing research

10.2 Learning Objectives:

After the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

 Discuss the role of marketing research in making marketing decision

 Differentiate methods of marketing research
 Demonstrate conceptual framework for conducting marketing research
 Identify steps involved in marketing research process
10.3 Sub Lectures
 Marketing research
 Steps in marketing research
 Users of marketing research
 Problems in conducting marketing research
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5. References

rd
Cherne, A. (2011), The Marketing Plan Handbook. 3 edition Cerebellum, Chicago
th
Hooley, G et al (2009), Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. 4 edition,
India, Dorling Kindersley

Lovelock C. and Wirtz J.(2007), Services Marketing: People, Technology and Strategies,
6th edition, Pearson Education Inc.

Luck, D (2009) Assessing the Marketing Environment, London Metropolitan University, The
charted Institute of Marketing

rd
Keller, K. L. (2008) Strategic Brand Management. 3 edition. Peareson Prentice Hall

th
Kottler P. (2012), Strategic Marketing Management. 7 edition Cerebellum Press, Chicago.
th
Kottler, P.& Armstrong, G. (2010) Principles of Marketing. 13 edition. USA: Pearson
Prentice Hall

nd
Panda, T. K. (2007). Marketing Management, 2 edition, New Delhi