Marketing Research

Market Research Suggested Topics

Pick your own (find what interests you)

Innovative Marketing

Careers in marketing

Case studies in marketing

Innovations in market research

How market research is used in decision making

Select from Consumer Behavior Topics

Consumer Behavior Suggested Topics

Your summary should tie back to concepts related to the text book.

Pick your own (find what interests you)

Marketing and Subcultures

Social marketing

Social marketing and subcultures (e.g. Black Lives Matter)

Marketing in a time of change (marketers adapting to the Pandemic)

Business writing differs from other types of writing. Unless you capture the reader’s attention quickly, they may not continue.

Business writing should not contain “fluff” and use headlines, bullets and other formats to communicate the main ideas. If the reader is interested in the main ideas they will continue.

See an example of a before and after summary (note, this summary is shorter than recommended, but gives the idea of how to write it).

Notice, that the after version contains all of the relevant information in the before version, but in an easier to read format and in about half of the words.

BEFORE

This article discusses how Microsoft’s top marketer, Kathleen Hall, is trying to reshape Microsoft’s brand personality from a “Goliath of the tech world” to a “David, a challenger in the rapidly shifting space”. Hall wants to redirect Microsoft’s approach to marketing by humanizing their products so as to connect with customers much more effectively and make them feel more comfortable with those products. This is part of Microsoft’s broader approach under their new CEO, Satya Nadella, who has been making similar changes to the company’s strategic vision over the past few yea

One of Hall’s primary goals in this campaign is to involve more women in technology, programming, and sciences. She wants to make Microsoft as well as their partners more diverse because that diversity will bring in new and innovative ideas to reach and inspire more people. This ties in with the company’s new mission statement “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more” which will help unify the Microsoft brand. Hall’s team hopes to have a “lighthouse effect” which means “when you bring a diverse person in and they are successful it attracts other diverse people because they have someone to look up to.”

Hall also discusses Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn as a strategic move to acquire more data and analytics, and bridge the gap between enterprise and social media. She discusses how her marketing team uses these data points to see how effective their advertising and marketing is, and uses these metrics to gauge where they should focus on. She and her team “have forecasts for recall and brand metrics and we’ll show how the ad is performing.” She stays on top of the new age of digital marketing and metrics and understands how important these things are in the current age of technology

Words 302

AFTER

Microsoft’s top marketer, Kathleen Hall, is trying to reshape Microsoft’s brand personality from a “Goliath of the tech world” to a “David, a challenger in the rapidly shifting space”.

· The Strategy: humanizing their products so as to connect with customers much more effectively and make them feel more comfortable with those products
· Ties in with strategic vision and mission statement: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more”
· One goal is to hire more woman and increase diversity to bring new and innovative ideas to reach and inspire more people.
o Diversity creates “lighthouse effect” – “when you bring a diverse person in and they are successful it attracts other diverse people because they have someone to look up to.”

· Acquisition of Linkedin is a strategic move to acquire more data and analytics, and bridge the gap between enterprise and social media.

Course Rubric:

Criteria
A 93+
B 83+
C 73+
F

Quantity

The amount of information provided demonstrates an excellent ability for creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, and remembering the topics of the course.

The amount of information provided demonstrates a good ability for creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, and remembering the topics of the course.

The amount of information provided demonstrates only a fair ability for creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, and remembering the topics of the course.

Either the assignment was not submitted, or there is not enough detail to demonstrate an understanding of the concepts or the ability to apply the concepts or plagiarism is suspected and the
grade is a zero.

Quality

Demonstrates an excellent understanding of the chapter concepts, explains effectively and accurately the relevant concepts, applies the chapter concepts properly to the case, recommends specific action, and includes facts from the case to support a main idea. Citations and examples were included as necessary.

Demonstrates a good understanding of the chapter concepts and often accurately and effectively explains the concepts, applies chapter concepts to the case, recommends next steps, and includes facts from the case to support a main idea. Citations and examples were usually included as necessary.

Demonstrates only a fair understanding of the chapter concepts and only a fair ability to apply the concepts. Concepts are not fully or accurately explained. Citations and examples were generally not included as necessary.

Either the assignment was not submitted, or the posting does not demonstrate an understanding of the concepts or the ability to apply the concepts or plagiarism is suspected and the grade is a zero. No recommendations or solutions formulated.

Relevance

Directly related to the case or chapter and is integrated with other
postings.

Related to the case, but often not integrated well with other postings.

Somewhat related to the other postings and the case or chapter.

Not related to the assignment.

Manner

Very organized and has no spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors.

Organized and usually has no spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors

Disorganized and/or has many spelling and grammatical errors that makes it difficult to
understand.

Very disorganized and has numerous spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.