MKTG 260 - Marketing Essentials

Course Description:
Marketing Essentials is an introductory course offering you a solid foundation in marketing principles. Working individually
and in teams, you will make marketing decisions and develop sustainable marketing programs. Your research, content
application and teamwork skills will be developed and reinforced as you progress through the course.

3 credits

Time Guidelines:
The standard instructional time for the day-time course offering is 60 hours. Continuing Education and Distance Education
hours will vary.

Effective Year
2020/2021

Equivalent(s):
MKTG 1060

Additional Requisite Information:

Continuing Education Students

Required Materials: An eBook is required for this course; further instructions for accessing the eBook will be
provided by your instructor.
Distance Education Students
Required Materials: An eBook is required for this course; further instructions for accessing the eBook will be
provided by your instructor.
Software Requirements:
Microsoft Office 2007 or higher, and
One of:
Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox, or
Google Chrome.
Important Notes:
You begin on the listed start date. Your end date is based on the length of the course. You are required to
meet any assessment deadlines set by the instructor.
Due to the groupwork involved with this course, extensions are not available.
For more information about online learning, contact distance.education@sait.ca.

Course Assessment:

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Quizzes 10%
Team Projects 40%
Individual Assessments 20%
Comprehensive Final Exam 30%

Total 100%

Distance Education Course Assessment

Assignments 40%
Online Discussions 20%
Quizzes 10%
Final Exam 30%

Total 100%

To obtain a passing grade for the course, Distance Education students must achieve a mark of at least 50% on the final
examination and an overall course mark of at least 50%.

Other Course Information:

School of Business Information:

1. Students may be required to submit work in this course through plagiarism detection software. When this software is
used, students are required to submit their own assignments into the software by the due date provided by your
instructor and will be able to view the comparability report.
2. Recording (audio, image, video) is permitted only for individual private study and only with instructor approval prior
to the recording being done. Any other use of recording constitutes Non-academic Misconduct and will be dealt with in
accordance with the Student Code of Conduct procedure.
3. All communications regarding and within a course shall be considered confidential and solely for the use of the
intended recipient.
4. This 3 credit course requires 135 - 180 hours of total learning effort. The total learning effort includes a combination of
class contact time and independent study. Independent study is work outside of class, for example: reading, homework
assignments, group work, practice questions and exam preparation. The table below will help you plan your weekly
learning effort required to be successful in this course.

Weekly Learning Effort - based on a 15 week schedule

Delivery
Class Contact Independent Study Total Learning Effort

Hours Hours (outside of class) (contact + independent study)

On campus daytime 4 5-8 9 - 12

On campus continuing education 3 6-9 9 - 12
Distance education 0 9 - 12 9 - 12

SAIT Policies and Procedures:

For information on the SAIT Grading Scale, please visit policy AC 3.1.1 Grading Progression Procedure: http://www.sait.ca
/Documents/About SAIT/Administration/Policies and Procedures/AC.3.1.1 Grading and Progression Procedure.pdf

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For information on SAIT Academic Policies, please visit: www.sait.ca/about-sait/administration/policies-and-procedures
/academic-student

Required Course Publication(s):

Gaudet and Boivin, MindTap for Marketing (1st ed.).

Required - Supporting material: MindTap Access Code.

Please refer to the learning management system (LMS) to access resources for this course.

Course Material(s):

Bring Your Own Device - There are specific technology requirements for this course. Make sure you are aware of
these minimum requirements as you are bringing your own device (BYOD). Go to the Business Administration (BA)
program page, “Costs and Supplies” link on sait.ca for the BYOD specifications.

Course Learning Outcome(s):

1. Examine value as the key component of marketing.

Objectives:

1.1 Identify the importance of Marketing in organizations.

1.2 Outline the basic requirements for successful marketing to occur.

1.3 Analyze how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs and wants.

1.4 Differentiate between marketing mix elements and environmental forces.

1.5 Demonstrate how a marketing orientations have evolved from simply delivering value, to doing so with
focus on specific needs of customer ranging from product to societal responsibility.

1.6 Identify how the concepts of customer value and relationships play a role in marketing.

1.7 Outline the role that corporate social responsibility plays in marketing.

2. Assess how the business environment affects strategic planning.

Objectives:

2.1 Examine the strategic planning process as it applies to marketing.

2.2 Conduct a SWOT analysis and other ways of evaluating a company’s current market situation.

2.3 Validate the importance of environmental scanning in the development of a strategic marketing plan
through the use of research.

2.4 Work through Ansoff’s Opportunity Growth Matrix as an output of SWOT analysis.

2.5 Observe how a marketing program, consisting of the marketing mix, emerges from strategic planning
tools.

3. Evaluate the main elements of consumer and organizational buying behavior.

Objectives:

3.1 Identify the stages in the consumer purchase decision process.

3.2 Explain how marketers can use knowledge of consumer behaviour to better influence purchases.

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 3.3 Specify the key characteristics of organizational markets buying that make it different from consumer
market buying behavior.

3.4 Differentiate between industrial, reseller and government organizational markets.

3.5 Outline the importance of on-line buying in consumer and organizational markets.

4. Examine the processes of market segmentation, targeting and positioning.

Objectives:

4.1 Analyze market segmentation strategies.

4.2 Identify the steps involved in segmenting and targeting markets.

4.3 Translate the different factors used to segment consumer and organizational markets.

4.4 Specify how marketing managers position products in the marketplace.

4.5 Use a market product grid to recommend appropriate marketing actions.

5. Assess the importance of brand as a competitive advantage.

Objectives:

5.1 Define brand equity.

5.2 Explain how brands are built.

5.3 Identify and apply the 3 C’s of brand: compete, contribute, communicate.

6. Determine the methods of categorizing and marketing various forms of products in the marketing mix.

Objectives:

6.1 Classify consumer and business products.

6.2 Identify marketing strategies for each stage of the product life cycle.

6.3 Analyze why product life cycles may vary between different products.

6.4 Examine the factors contributing to the failure of a product in the marketplace.

6.5 Examine services and ideas as a product.

6.6 Specify the ways in which consumers’ purchase and evaluate services.

7. Evaluate the importance of Price in the marketing mix.

Objectives:

7.1 Identify the elements that make up “Price”.

7.2 List main pricing objectives.

7.3 Identify the main pro-active pricing strategies and their specific tactics.

7.4 Discover factors (internal and external) that lead to reactive pricing - changes to price after it has been
released to market.

8. Evaluate the importance of supply chain management and marketing channels in the marketing mix.

Objectives:

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 8.1 Characterize the importance of supply chain management.

8.2 Understand the overarching concept of a supply chain, within which marketing channels exist.

8.3 Distinguish between channel intermediaries, functions, structures, and arrangements as a marketing mix
choice.

8.4 Outline the factors to be considered when designing and managing a marketing channel (supply chain).

9. Evaluate the importance of integrated marketing communications in the marketing mix.

Objectives:

9.1 Outline the role of integrated Marketing Communications (promotion) within the marketing mix.

9.2 Identify the elements that make up Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).

9.3 Understand the AIDA process by which consumer and business markets become motivated to make
purchases.

9.4 Understand the many, and growing, number of social/digital tools available for IMC.

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