GRA 6440 Marketing Innovation Management
GRA 6440 Marketing Innovation Management
The vast majority of new products fail when introduced to the market (around 80%). This course is about learning how to create innovative ideas that are likely to succeed in the market. It is also about learning how to make “smart bets”: developing a range of concepts for the innovative idea, and then deciding which one/s are worth investing in, and why.
Marketing innovation is defined as “the implementation of new marketing practices involving significant changes in the design, packaging, distribution, promotion or pricing of a product or service” (Purchase and Volery 2020). This course will focus on the product-related marketing activities involved in the marketing innovation process, and includes trends, understanding customer needs, creative idea generation, concept testing, as well as the design and advertising of a new product. Although the primary focus of the course is on physical products, much of the material is also relevant for the design of new services.
This course will focus the logic and structure of an innovation process, the way it typically takes place in organizations. It typically starts with an identification and description of a business problem/opportunity identified by trends in the market, which clarifies and defines the goal for a new marketing concept. The next stage is a creative idea generation process, wherein a number of concept ideas are identified, and a sub-selection of them selected for further development. The selected concepts are then shown to potential customers for estimating the market potential involved with the concept/s. The course culminates in a presentation of a business case there the financial potential of the new concept is estimated on the basis of estimated costs, sales, profit margin and revenue.
The objective of this course is to provide students with the capabilities to create innovative products concepts and to make “smart bets” with regards to them, i.e., knowing which product concepts are worth investing in, and why. The aim is to combine the insights provided by trends and market research with the strategic considerations involved in the development of a new product. The students will learn how to present and argue for their business case, both in oral presentations and in a written term paper.
Students will work on a project analyzing a specific opportunity (business case), performing the selected steps involved in the process of new product development, and develop a recommendation and product launch strategy for the product.
The learning goals of the course are:
- Discovering ideas for new products using trends and specific company problems/opportunities
- Creating an innovative product concept/set of concepts utilizing creativity techniques
- Developing a product concept and defending a strategy for a new product
- Integrating creativity and concept testing with financial data to demonstrate that the concept is a “smart bet”, i.e., a concept that would be worth investing in.
Students are expected to have basic communication and presentation skills so that they can successfully complete the oral presentations and the written term paper.
The course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the marketing innovation activities involved in launching a new product and hands-on experience of an innovation project by working in a team with other students.
More in detail, the course will provide students with:
- Insights about trends and their purpose in innovation projects
- An overview of the marketing innovation funnel, its advantages and challenges
- In-depth understanding of creativity and exposure to different idea generation techniques
- Knowledge concerning concept development and concept testing
- The ability to estimate the potential effects of new products using financial data
- Insights into how to create a marketing innovation strategy for a new product
The skills that will be required and honed in this course are:
- Analyzing and dealing critically with various sources of information (trends, existing literature, company information) and using them to structure and formulate a business case for the proposed concept
- Linking existing theories and methods to data collected in the field as well as financial data to see if the concept is a “smart bet”, i.e., worth investing in
- Setting up and run an independent, new product development project with concept testing under supervision and in accordance with applicable norms for research ethics
The general competences fostered by this course are as follows:
- Helping students become aware of their creative capabilities and how they can apply them to business problems
- Reflecting on what separates a successful new product from others
- Applying the knowledge learned in this course as well as prior courses for carrying out an innovation project
- Convincingly arguing for a business case
The course is divided into 4 sections:
- Trends and their role in innovation projects
- Creativity and idea generation in marketing innovation
- Concept development and concept testing
- Developing a business case
The lectures in the course are as follows:
1. Marketing Innovation defined. Deep-dive into trends. Course outline. Term paper.
2. Marketing innovation funnel. Identification and analysis of a business (marketing) problem
3. Creativity and idea generation
4. Student presentations of business problem and idea (5-10 minutes pitch)
5. Concept development
6. Concept testing
7. Effect estimation and business case. Planning.
Field work
Field work
8. Marketing innovation in practice. Company case or guest lecture.
9. Student presentation of innovation project – business style (15 minutes)
10. Student presentation of innovation project – business style (15 minutes)
This course is very interactive, allowing students to develop a common understanding of all concepts. This requires advance preparation of relevant materials. Students will work in groups with their marketing innovation project, and are expected to report, and discuss their projects during the semester. Please devote significant time to do so and come prepared.
If you have to miss class on a particular day, it is your responsibility to get notes from a classmate. Let me know as soon as possible if you have to miss a class. During the semester, if you experience any problem(s) with the class or any of the classmates I expect you to report any problem(s) that you are not able to resolve yourself to me as soon as possible.
For fulfilling the course assignments, you will need to conduct a real marketing innovation project. Students work in groups of 2-3 students. Grades are given to the group.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Specific information regarding student assessment will be provided in class. 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 components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the mapping scale in the student portal @bi. Candidates may be called in for an oral hearing as a verification/control of written assignments.
At re-sit all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
Honor code. Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and are values that are integral to BI's honor code system. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the honor code system, to which the faculty is deeply committed. Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for academic misconduct. Issues of academic integrity are taken seriously by everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.
The learning platform itslearning is used in the teaching of all courses at BI. All students are expected to make use of itslearning.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
This course and GRA 6428 New Product Development and Service Innovation both address various aspects of new product development and innovation management. Although learning goals and course substances intersect, the two courses offer differing theoretical approaches and practical applications, as well as teaching methods and assessments; further, GRA 6440 is taught in an intensive fashion whereas GRA 6428 follows the regular semester schedule. Students are only able to select one of these courses, and are advised to consult the entirety of the course descriptions before doing so.
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 spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Covid-19
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.
Teaching
Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.
This course require students to have acquired basic knowledge in marketing management, consumer behavior and marketing research. At a minimum this knowledge should be at the bachelor level.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation Weight: 20 Grouping: Group (2 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: A powerpoint presentation outlining the business case and the specific problem/need motivating the need for a marketing innovation concept Exam code: GRA 64401 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: 30 Grouping: Group (2 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: A short paper (2-5 pages) outlining the proposed concept, the creativity/idea generation process behind it, and why it would be likely to succeed in the market Exam code: GRA 64401 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: 50 Grouping: Group (2 - 4) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Term paper (15-25 pages) presenting the development of a marketing innovation concept and a plan for implementation Exam code: GRA 64401 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
GRA 6440 has overlapping content with the following course: GRA 6428 New Product Development and Service Innovation. Students can only choose one of these specialisation electives.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 20 Hour(s) | Lectures. Six of the lectures are devoted to student presentations. |
Prepare for teaching | 10 Hour(s) | Students will be working on a reflection diary. The diary will be provided to students at the start of the course. |
Group work / Assignments | 150 Hour(s) | Group work on business project. |
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.