This course kicks off the specialization (SBWL) "Digital Marketing," by discussing how advances in information technology and digital media have already changed our understanding of marketing and will very likely continue to shape marketing in the future. As a core component of the SBWL, this course provides a basic framework for understanding digital marketing. We discuss the specific implications for brands when interacting and engaging with customers in digital environments and highlight fundamental differences between online and offline settings. Other topics covered include the marketing/technology-interface, specifics of the digital purchase funnel, customer-centricity, and metrics for managing customer value.

The course also covers the most important digital marketing instruments and aims to teach students the skills needed to analyze, build, and improve digital marketing campaigns using state-of-the-art tools with the aim to make better marketing and business decisions.

The aim of this course is to develop an understanding and appreciation of the challenges and opportunities that information technology and digital media offer for marketers. More specifically, the course will provide students with the following insights:

1. Understand the major differences between online and offline marketing settings and implications for business practice.

2. Understand how outbound and inbound marketing are integrated in a basic framework for digital marketing, and evaluate their significance in digital customer journeys.

3. Understand how the concept of customer centricity and related metrics can be utilized to manage acquisition and retention in online business settings.

4. Use digital marketing jargon (i.e., CPC, CPM, CPO, CTR, CR, etc.) and comfortably participate in discussions with digital marketing professionals.

5. Explain how digital marketing instruments work and how they differ in their mechanics and revenue models.

6. Understand how data is crucial to the success of digital marketing and know how to use it in order to make better marketing decisions.

According to WU rules, you have to attend 80% of the sessions in this course. This means you can miss one class.

The course integrates various teaching methods such as interactive lectures, class discussions, group work, short quizzes, and a digital marketing (DM) challenge. The DM challenge offers students the opportunity to put digital marketing into life and to translate the concepts and content discussed throughout the course into an operational marketing plan.

Substantial classroom discussion is encouraged and expected. Attendance and participation in class discussions are critical to the success of the course. Classes will begin on time, so do not arrive late. Students are required to turn in assignments at their scheduled times.

• To get prepared for in-class case discussions, a reading package will be provided.
• Student packages including reading assignments, course slides, datasets, case questions for the respective days will be provided via the Canvas platform in due course.

Workload:

The course has 4 ECTS, which translates into a workload of 100 hours, 22 hours of which are contact hours in the classroom. That means that you’ll need to work for about 78 hours outside the classroom. The workload (in hours) that you can anticipate for every grading component is approximately proportional to the weight that each grading component has for your final grade (i.e., expect a workload of approx. 7.5 hours for a case that has a 10% weight for your final grade).

Weights for each grading component used to compute your final grade:

• Final exam: 35%
• Digital marketing (DM) challenge: 25%
• Short presentation slide-deck (HW1) and write-up (HW2): 20%
• In-class participation (5%) and quizzes (15%): 20%

In-Class Participation:

We will record your attendance and participation in class discussions and also conduct short quizzes in class. Your participation is a combination of how often you’ve interacted with our questions and the quality of your comments. You will have multiple opportunities to contribute to in-class discussions.

Peer Grading on a Need-to-Implement Basis:

The course involves a significant amount of group work. We assume groups will coordinate the allocation of work. As a default, we allocate the same grading to all group members. If any group member feels that an unequal evaluation is justified, we will distribute an evaluation form of individual contributions to group work for the groups who wish to opt for the peer group assessment.

Overall             Points Grade

90-100             1.0
80-89               2.0
70-79               3.0
60-69               4.0
Below 60         5.0

This course is designed as a core component for students of WU's Bachelor program specialization (SBWL) "Digital Marketing." Admittance to the SBWL is a prerequisite for participation in the course. For more information on how to obtain admission to the SBWL, visit the program's website.

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We are happy to answer your questions, so feel free to send us a short email if you would like to talk to us in person. We will also try to be available in the classroom after each class or during the breaks of each class.

Note: Please do not expect that we answer long emails with numerous questions to topics of the class (or questions answered here)! Please always check the Syllabus first or the slides uploaded to Canvas.

Please make sure that you have access to all course materials via Canvas! Also, please monitor your WU email address regularly, as some (additional) information and your questions will be answered via email, every now and then. If NOT, please contact us via e-mail!