| Unit name | Issues in Consumer Marketing and Innovation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EFIM20045 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Simon Blyth |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Markets and Marketing (EFIM10017) |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Management - Business School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
In this unit you will explore the changing marketing environment and the challenges this poses for marketers. You will explore the processes associated with innovation and new proposition development and apply what you learn through a specific case study.
This unit is designed around three propositions:
1) that marketing managers constantly face ethical, moral, political and social dilemmas as they go about their business. And that they, more any other business professional have to make sense of, interpret and intervene in the world outside of their organisation
2) that ‘consumers’ now play a central role in the innovation rhetoric, practice and processes of marketing-led organisations
3) that marketing managers need to hold and develop a complex set of knowledge, skills, competencies and behaviours which allows them to be both analytical and creative
This unit will focus on the ‘fuzzy front end’ or early concept stage. We will draw on several different disciplines - including marketing management, innovation studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology and design. We will organise our learning around a particular current brand for which we will develop a proposal for a new products and/or services for the brand, whilst critically reflecting on the process and thinking, shaping and informing our innovation.
This is a fast-changing field. You are encouraged to contribute by raising contemporary issues of particular interest to you, or by bringing in examples of latest developments or trends you have noticed.
On completion of this unit, students will be able:
LO1: Select appropriate methods in order to undertake a situational analysis of a given market.
LO2: Critically analyse the marketing environment that leads organisations to innovate and develop new propositions.
LO3: Understand the complex relations between innovation and consuming, consumers and consumption.
LO 4: Formulate an appropriate marketing response given a set of environmental opportunities and challenges and changing market needs.
LO 5: Demonstrate the capacity to implement the required processes needed to develop a new proposition service in response to an identified challenge or opportunity in the market.
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions including lectures, tutorials, drop-in sessions, discussion boards and other online learning opportunities.
Assessment on this unit is comprised of two components: A situation analysis in the form of an individual report (30%) and a portfolio that contains a new product development proposal and supporting evidence. (70%)
Situation Analysis (30%)
Students will be required to analyse a selected market environment, in the context of a given organisation, to identify opportunities for new proposition development - 1500 words (LO1, LO2)
Reflective essay documenting their New Proposition Development (70%)
Based on their situation analysis, students will then develop and work through a new proposition development process. They will write a critical and reflective essay on their experience of developing and using the process. 2500 words. (LO3,LO4,LO5)
Throughout the unit the students will be working in groups to deliver a shared proposal for the development of a new proposition. The presentation of this proposition is the formative assessment for this unit. Students will receive verbal feedback from course lecturers (and peers) on their group proposal and individual contributions in preparation for their assessed reflective essays.
Students are encouraged to read extensively around their subject to inform their knowledge. Students should draw from a range of sources which may include academic texts and papers, practitioner books and journals, market reports and online sources.
Core Texts for this Unit
Trott, P, 2017, Innovation Management and New product Development. Harloe: Pearson
Parson, E and MacLaran, P. 2017, (2nd edition) Contemporary Issues in Marketing Consumer Behaviour. Oxford: Roultedge.
Supplementary Texts for this Unit
Brownlie, D., & Tadajewski, M. (2008). Critical Marketing: Issues in Contemporary Marketing. New Jersey: Wiley.
