Main topics of study:

Marketing’s Challenge:

• More Sophisticated and Demanding Customers
• Changes in Product Management
• The ‘Virtualisation’ of Distribution Channels
• The ‘Virtualisation’ of Payments
• The Increasing Globalisation of Markets
• Marketing’s Mid-Life Crisis

The Arrival of the Digital Age:

• The Digital Revolution
• Government & the Information Society
• Business & E-Commerce
• The Implications for Business

How Can Marketing Respond?:

• A New Marketing Model for the Digital Age
• The Marketing Potential of the Internet
• Marketing Tips & Pitfalls
• The Arrival of Digital Television & Interactive Services

Conducting Marketing Research:

• The Use of IT in Primary Data Collection
• The Use of IT in Secondary Data Collection
• Using IT to Analyse Information
• Continuous Marketing Research
• Advertising Research
• Other Research Applications

Creating Customer Insight:

• Increasing Sophistication of Customer Segmentation
• Using New Approaches to Customer Segmentation
• Warehousing Customer Data
• Mining Customer Data
• Creating a Knowledge Organisation

Creating the Customer Database:

• Marketing Information Systems
• The Central Role of the Customer Database
• Developing the Customer Database
• Treating the Customer Database as a Strategic Resource

Database Marketing & Direct Marketing:

• The Evolution of Database Marketing
• The Value of Database Marketing
• Direct Marketing
• Managing Data Privacy Issues in the Digital Age

Relationship Marketing:

• The Rise of Relationship Marketing
• Customer Relationship Management
• The Role of IT in Relationship Marketing

Product – More Variety, Faster:

• Using IT to Improve the Range of Viable Offerings
• Using IT to Increase Speed to Market
• Using IT to Support the Product Development Life Cycle
• Using Advanced Manufacturing Techniques in Product Commercialisation

Price – What Are You Prepared To Pay?:

• E-Business is Rewriting the Pricing Rules
• Establishing Accurate Costs
• Making Well-Informed & Rapid Pricing Decisions

Place – Your Place Or Mine?:

• The Increasing Importance of Direct Channels
• Indirect Channel Changes
• Managing Multiple Distribution Channels

Promotion – The Market of One:

• Fragmentation of Television Advertising
• Trends in Other Advertising Media
• The Increasingly Targeted Nature of Sales Promotions
• The Growth of the Internet as an Advertising Medium
• The Potential of Digital Television and Radio
• Growth of Public Relations on the Internet

Improving Sales Force Effectiveness:

• The Impact of the Digital Age on the Sales Function
• The Three Generations of Sales Force Automation
• Successful Technology-Enables Selling

Delivering Customer Service & Support:

• Growth in Telephone-Based Customer Service
• Call Centre Technology
• Principles of Good Call Centre Management

Developing Marketing Systems That Work:

• Common Management Issues with IT
• Specific Problems with IT in Marketing
• IT Trends in the Digital Age
• A Potential Way Forward

Reading List

Main Text:
Marketing in the Digital Age – J O’Connor & E Galvin (Prentice Hall)

Alternative Texts and Further Reading:
The Marketing Book – M J Baker (Butterworth/Heinemann)
Marketing Management & Information Technology – W Flehher (Prentice Hall)