As business becomes increasingly competitive the strongest method for a company to achieve long term competitive advantage and profitability is through customer loyalty. Relationship marketing has emerged at the forefront of the academic marketing discipline with the practical application emerging in the direct marketing industry.

Aims

The aim of this module is to identify a conceptual framework, which will build on the general principles of marketing and will focus on the developments in direct, interactive and internet marketing theory and practice.

Module Format

The teaching and learning philosophy of this course is action-based learning and the assignment work in this module reflects the learning strategy. The unusual nature of this topic means that this learning environment will be different from traditional classes. The internet is developing at a rapid pace, thus much of the class material is not in any text books. In this class we will all learn and teach each other, as no one person can possibly keep up with all the key topics in this fast-moving field.

Lectures

Lectures will address the key academic themes and provide students with the knowledge base of the topic areas. The seminar programme will focus on practical applications of the academic concepts and will be based around workshops and case studies. The majority of the seminar sessions will be based around prepared student exercises.

Indicative Lecture Schedule

Timing

Lectures will take place every Monday from 10:50 until 12:35. It is intended to cover many of the following topic areas throughout the semester.

Content

Week Topic

1. Introduction to the Digital Business Environment; Introduction to Direct Marketing

2. Relationship Marketing; Acquisition, Retention & Loyalty

3. Direct Marketing Strategies

4. Retention & Loyalty

5. Database Strategies - CRM

6. Integrated Marketing Communications

7. Introduction to E-Commerce

8. Assignment Week

9. Market Structure & Economic Issues in E.C

10. Customer Behaviour

11. Product & Branding Strategy

12. Pricing on The Internet

All lectures are subject to change.

Assessment Outline

Breakdown

Assessed Coursework (Module Project) 60 %

End of Module Exam 40 %

Module Project - Industry Analysis Portfolio

Workshop Presentations and Exercises 30 %

Industry Analysis Portfolio

Case Study Assignment 30 %

During Week 1 students will form groups of 3 or 4 for the module project. Students will be allocated an industry sector which will be the basis for their presentation work.

Part 1

The first part of the assessment requires each group to conduct a workshop to the rest of the class on their industry sector. This workshop must include a briefing presentation, [minimum length 20 minutes] and then may take the form of any learning activity. Learning activities could include case studies, articles, videos, exercises.

The presentation must include an analysis of the industry sector and a detailed analysis of the strategies of 3 companies from the sector. Your presentation must be of a professional standard with some form of visual aids. A written summary of your findings must be prepared to hand in to the lecturer which must include a copy of all the workshop activities.

Seminar sessions will run on Friday from 09:00 until 10:45 starting in Week 5. All groups are required to have a preliminary briefing with me on the Monday prior to their workshop session.

Part 2

The second part of the assignment is the submission of a case study assignment which will becan be found on the course website at: http://www.kitto.co.uk/internet_dm

Your assignment may then be submitted to the Institute of Direct Marketing National Student Competition in which you may win glamorous and exciting prizes. Please see http://www.theidm.com/studentcomp for details of the Institute of Direct Marketing and the competition.

Submission Date

Week 11 – Wednesday 23^rd April, 2002

All portfolios must be submitted to Courses Office.

EBS regulations for late submission of assignments will be applied.

Links to Professional Practice

Institute of Direct Marketing Student Competition

Your case study assignment can be submitted to the Institute of Direct Marketing National Student Competition in which you may win glamorous and exciting prizes. Please see http://www.theidm.com for details of the Institute of Direct Marketing.

Undergraduate Certificate in Direct Marketing

Succesful completion of MKT359 entitles you to sit one further case study based examination to qualify for the Institute of Direct Marketing Undergraduate Certificate in addition to your degree from EBS.

The exam can be sat on one of two dates in June 2002 and is held in a number of London locations. Further information will be provided by the Institute in due course.

There is a charge to sit the exam of £50.00 plus VAT (i.e. £58.75).

Acquisition of a professional qualification in addition to you degree is a valuable asset in today’s job market.

Reading List

There are a number of sources of information and the essential texts are a starting point, which should be supplemented by the growing number of textbooks and articles in this developing area. There are numerous contemporary sources of information. Students are strongly recommended to use the electronic sources of information that are available through the Regent’s College Library Website. Please check the course website for useful links.