Fundamentals of Marketing Strategy (Coursera)

At the end of this course, learners will gain a deeper understanding of the nature of a rather dynamic marketing environment, and will have developed new skills to enable them to conduct audits of the macro and micro-marketing environments for an organisation and most importantly be able to design and implement an effective marketing strategy.

Course 1 of 4 in the Business and Marketing Strategies Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Week 1: The marketing environment audit

This week focuses on the marketing environment. In particular, we will examine its nature and scope, including the different elements of the micro- and macro-environments that affect the way businesses operate in order to survive in a dynamic context while simultaneously meeting organisational objectives. We will also explore the role of marketers in the marketing strategy development process, as well as the challenges faced.

WEEK 2

Week 2: Conducting audits of the macro- and micro-marketing environments for an organisation

Analysing the micro- and macro-environments in which a business operates is an important part of a successful marketing strategy. Consequently, the focus of this week is the micro- and macro-environments, including the conceptual tools used to assess them. We will also explore the role played by businesses in the macro-environment.

WEEK 3

Week 3: Implementation of an effective marketing strategy

This week, we will look at the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) marketing model, which is one of the most frequently applied models in practice. STP focuses on commercial effectiveness, enabling a business to select the most viable marketing segments before developing a marketing mix and product positioning strategy for them. The STP model is useful when creating marketing communications plans since it helps marketers to prioritise propositions and then to develop and deliver personalised and relevant messages to engage with different audiences. Importantly, the STP model helps marketers to evaluate the potential and commercial attractiveness of each segment.