GRA 6433 Marketing Communication
GRA 6433 Marketing Communication
Communication is a key aspect of marketing. Marketers communicate with their customers and other stakeholders in order to influence perceptions, attitudes, and behavior, and to drive sales. To succeed, they must convey the right messages to the right audiences at the right times and navigate today's complex and rapidly evolving communication environment. This course prepares students for this challenge by equipping them with state-of-the-art knowledge and skills. It provides a deep understanding of marketing communication, both in terms of real-life application, and as a field of scientific research. Throughout the course, students will work in groups on a marketing communication project in collaboration with a real company and its agencies. The lectures will provide inspiration for the group project in two ways:
1) We will meet guest speakers holding various key functions in marketing communication (e.g., client, media agency, creative agency). These practitioners will provide insights into the daily business and current challenges of marketing communication and mentor the students in their group projects.
2) We will discuss concepts and theories in marketing and psychology that are relevant to marketing communication. These insights may be used in the project. We will also pay attention to theoretical and methodological challenges in these research areas.
Upon successful completion of this course, the students will have a sound platform of knowledge on:
- the practice of marketing communication: By working on an applied project in collaboration with a real firm and getting feedback from experienced communication professionals, students will learn first-hand about how the marketing communication landscape is structured, and get to know best practices in marketing communication.
- the theory of marketing communication: After completing the course, students will know about three relevant scientific literatures: First, theories of sensory perception, attention, memory, and emotion explain how consumers process marketing messages. Second, theories of attitude change and persuasion help us understand how consumers are influenced by marketing communication. Third, models of communication effectiveness and planning give insights on how to design communication strategies and allocate budgets. We will critically discuss these theories and their potential to guide managerial decision-making.
Upon successful completion of this course, the students will be able to
- address managerial challenges of marketing communication in an analytical manner
- tackle a real-life marketing communication project in a team and under pressure
- present a marketing communication project in a clear and convincing way (written and oral)
- critically evaluate and apply scientific insights in the field of marketing communication
After successfully completing this course, students should be able to
- appreciate key factors that affect the effectiveness of marketing communications
- critically assess marketing communication activities from the perspective of a marketer, but also in their role as consumers, and from an ethical perspective.
The topics below are exemplary and subject to change.
- The structure of marketing communications (client, agencies, media channels)
- How marketing communications work (psychological models of how marketing communications work, information processing, persuasion)
- Managing marketing communications (budgeting, measuring impact, integrating marketing communications)
- Message strategies and execution
- Multisensory marketing communication
- Persuasion tools
The course combines lectures, in-class discussions and exercises, and out-of-class project work.
Class attendance is expected. It is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
Come to class well prepared (i.e., make sure you have read the assigned readings and completed any assigned tasks).
Electronic devices: Out of respect for fellow students and faculty, please do not use laptops, tablets, cell phones, or other gadgets in class, unless requested by the instructor.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course starts.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
GRA 4145 Brand Management or equivalent.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Multimedia production Weight: 40 Grouping: Group (4 - 7) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Group project. Exam code: GRA 64331 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 40 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 2 Hour(s) Comment: Written examination under supervision. Exam code: GRA 64331 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Homeworks submitted throughout course Exam code: GRA 64331 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Group work / Assignments | 20 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 80 |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.