Course Outline

MKT4628 Digital Marketing

2022/2023 Semester A

Instructor: Dr TAN Yong Chin, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Office: G10-221, 10th Floor, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building.
Email: yc.tan@cityu.edu.hk

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The development of new digital technologies has fundamentally changed how brands interact
with consumers. This course is designed to help you navigate the evolving digital marketing
landscape, and provide you with frameworks and tools to develop and implement digital
marketing strategies. We will cover key topics in digital marketing using a mixture of
lectures, case studies, group discussions, and in-class activities. You will have the
opportunity to apply what you learn throughout the course by developing a digital marketing
strategy for your group project.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
 Describe how advances in digital technology impact the marketing mix (i.e., Product,
Price, Place, Promotion), as well as segmenting, targeting, and positioning strategies.
 Explain the function of various digital marketing channels, and know when and how to
use them effectively.
 Evaluate the effectiveness of digital marketing initiatives.
 Develop a digital marketing strategy for an existing brand.

ASSESSMENT METHODS
Your final grade in the course will be based on the following components:

Group Project 40%

Final Examination 35%
In-class Activities 25%
Group Case Presentation 20%
In-class Participation 5%

*The grades provided by the instructor are subjected to the approval of the Assessment Panel
of the Department of Marketing or its delegates

The following sub-sections elaborate more on each of these components.

Group Project (40%)

The purpose of the group project is to give you an opportunity to apply what you learnt from
the course. You will work in teams to conduct a digital marketing audit for an existing brand
and identify business challenges or opportunities for the brand. Using your knowledge of

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digital marketing channels learnt from this course, your team will develop a digital marketing
strategy for the brand to address these challenges or opportunities. You should provide clear
reasons why the channels are selected, and explain how they will be used.

Your team will present the digital marketing strategy in Session 11 or 12 (maximum 15
minutes; 15 slides all inclusive). The slides (in ppt format) are due at 12 noon on the day
before Session 11. The order of presentations will be decided through a random draw and
will be announced by 6pm the day before Session 11.

The report is due by 30th November 2022, and should be no more than 5 pages (single-
spaced with Times New Roman font size 12, excluding cover and content page, appendixes
and references). Peer evaluation will be conducted by request. Further details will be shared
in Session 3.

Group Case Presentation (20%)

In addition to the group project, your team is required to evaluate a recent digital marketing
campaign in Hong Kong / China, and present it to the class (maximum 15 minutes; 15 slides
all inclusive). The presentation should include:
 Relevant brand background (max 1 slide; e.g., what do they sell? who are their target
customers?)
 Description of the campaign (e.g., what were the objectives? what did they do?)
 Evaluation (e.g., was the campaign effective? what did you like or dislike about it?)
 Recommendations (e.g., how can the campaign be improved? what would you do
differently?)

You do not need to create a buyer persona and customer journey map for the case
presentation. The campaign does not have to be in English, but videos used in the
presentation must be in English. Images with text that are not in English must be
accompanied by translations. Your team will have the opportunity to present the case study
from Session 4 to 10. Slots will be allocated randomly, and will be announced in Week 2.
You cannot present the same campaign that has been presented by other teams before.
The slides (in ppt format) are due on the day before your presentation. No report is
required.

Final Examination (35%)

The final examination will test content that is covered in the course, excluding student
presentations and optional readings. The exam will include multiple choice questions and a
case study. The case study will test your ability to take what you have learnt throughout the
course and apply it to a specific situation.

COURSE MATERIALS
Recommended Textbook
Stokes, Rob (2018), eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 6th
edition. *This is an open textbook and is free for use.

Additional Readings
The readings listed in the lesson plan are optional and will not be tested in the exam. You can
access the readings via the library website if you encounter a paywall.

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LESSON PLAN*
*Subject to change
Session Topic
1 Introduction to Digital  The Evolution of Digital Marketing: 30
Marketing
 Drivers of Digital
Transformation
 Why Marketers Are Returning to
 The New Marketing Normal
2 Digital Consumers
 Characteristics of Digital
Consumer
 Buyer Persona and
Consumer Journey Map
3 Digital Marketing Strategy
 Digital Marketing Audit
 Digital Marketing Channels
Futu Case Study
Group Project Instructions
4 Digital Marketing Channels
 Website
 Mobile Web & App
Group Case Presentations
5 Digital Marketing Channels
 Search Engine Optimization
 Content Marketing
Group Case Presentations
6 Digital Marketing Channels
 Email Marketing
 Social Media Marketing
Group Case Presentations
7 Digital Marketing Channels
 Influencer Marketing
 Affiliate Marketing
Group Case Presentations
Optional Readings
Years in the Past & Future, Digital
Marketing Institute
Traditional Advertising, Harvard Business
Review
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 2: Understanding Customer
Behaviour
 Customer Journey Maps and Buyer
Personas, IBM (uploaded on Canvas)
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 1: Strategy & Context
 Harvard Business Review Pivots To A
Digital-First Marketing Model, Forbes
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 5: User Experience Design
※ Chapter 6: Web Development & Design
※ Chapter 7: Mobile Channels & Apps
 UX Playbook for Retail, Google (uploaded
on Canvas)
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 8: Search Engine Optimization
※ Chapter 9: Digital Copywriting
※ Chapter 15: Content Marketing Strategy
 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter
Guide, Google
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 16: Social Media Platforms
※ Chapter 17: Social Media Strategy
※ Chapter 18: Direct Marketing
 The YouTube Creator Playbook for
Brands, YouTube (uploaded on Canvas)
 Investigating Instagram Fraud, ELLE
Magazine
 The Tricky Business of Managing Web
Advertising Affiliates, Harvard Business
School Working Knowledge
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Session Topic
8 Digital Marketing Channels
 Search Advertising
 Display Advertising
Group Case Presentations
9 Digital Marketing Channels
 User-Generated Content
 Viral Marketing
Group Case Presentations
10 Digital Marketing Analytics
 A/B Testing
 Attribution Modelling
Group Case Presentations
11, 12 Group Project Presentations
 Submit presentation slides
(in ppt format) via email the
day before Session 11.
 Submit report via email by
30th November 2022.
13 Digital Business Models
End of Term Review
Optional Readings
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 11: Search Advertising
※ Chapter 12: Online Advertising
※ Chapter 13: Social Media Advertising
 The (Non)Sense of Online Advertising:
When the Numbers Don’t Add Up, The
Correspondent
 Designing Better Online Review Systems,
Harvard Business Review
 Does BuzzFeed Know the Secret? New
York Magazine
 Stokes (2018)
※ Chapter 20: Conversion Optimization
※ Chapter 21: Data Analytics
 The Surprising Power of Online
Experiments, Harvard Business Review
 Making “Freemium” Work, Harvard
Business Review
 Why Some Platforms Are Better Than
Others, MIT Sloan Review