Course "Digital Marketing" (engl.)

As strategic partner institutions, the UC Davis and the University of Hamburg turn the challenges posed by the current Covid-19 Pandemic into an opportunity for a new digital format of student exchange.
 
This new course format enables students from different continents to learn
§   in an international environment
§   in internationally composed teams
§   working in cross-cultural teams
§   through digital media
§   at a higher level of international integration
§   at two world class institutions of higher education
at a new scale.
 
Partnering Institutions:
Graduate School of Management at UC Davis
Hamburg Business School at UHH

Course Description
 
The Internet and related technologies are profoundly changing the way people communicate. Subsequently, this has dramatic implications for the way firms communicate with their (prospective) customers. Accordingly, there is a lot of excitement and hype about the new possibilities new digital, and especially, social media provide to firms engaging with their customers. But as new means of communication emerge, the “old” media are expected to stay. Similarly, the foundations of communication engraved in human nature that are crucial to understanding the principles of communication are not expected to change. Taken together, the continuing emergence of new media and their proliferation on the one hand, and the perseverance of human communication fundamentals and traditional media on the other, create ever greater tensions in marketing that firms find ever harder to master. Hence, for creating appropriate management solutions firms require future C-Suite executives to master all three domains, a profound knowledge of communication fundamentals, traditional media, and a deep and systematic understanding of new media (from display, search to social), as well as their integration for synergy.
 

Course Objectives
 
This course emphasizes the need for preparing yourself and your business for Integrated Marketing Communications with an emphasis on Digital Marketing. It aims to teach the basic principles involved in managing integrated marketing communications issues, from TV to Social Media. The specific objectives are outlined below:

•  Understanding the Theoretical Foundations of Communications and
  Basic Concepts of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
• Understanding and managing the implications of Heterogeneity, Dynamics, and Interdependencies in offline-online marketing environments.
• How to develop and implement an IMC strategy
  (spanning the offline-online media continuum).
• With a special focus on Digital Media:
  Understanding and managing Display Advertising.
  Understanding and managing Search Engine Marketing (SEO & SEA).
  Understanding and managing Social Media Marketing.
   

Additionally, as an unprecedented international course, the new format should enable students from different continents to learn 
·      in an international environment
·      in internationally composed teams
·      working in cross-cultural teams
·      through digital media
·      at a higher level of international integration
 at a new scale.
 

Class Format and Administration
 
Classes are organized in the following way:
1.     In-class lectures
2.     In-class discussions
3.     In-class exercises
4.     Group case analysis, group case presentations, group project work, and discussions
 
Classes consist of lectures, exercises, discussions, case and group project work. Lectures provide the concepts and tools. In-class discussions are based on the assigned reading material, lectures, and case work. The cases will furnish real-world examples of how concepts and tools are applied in practice. Additional information will be given in the first class (do not miss it).

Class Rules

Academic Honor Code
There are several individual level assignments in this course. You are expected to complete the assignments on your own, without help from your peers – i.e., you are not permitted to work with others on any aspect of the individually graded coursework. In case you have questions regarding the material or assignments, I’m available either in my office, by phone or email and will be happy to answer your questions.
Please read http://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/cac.pdf for details.
 
Use of Electronics in Class
You are allowed to use your laptop/tablet in class – however this use is conditional. You cannot use your laptops for any other activity other than those pertaining to the class. Hence, surfing, emailing, chatting, facebook visits and other related activities are not allowed. If such activity is observed in class, then laptop privileges will be revoked – for the entire class. Smartphone/phone use is not allowed in class – you are welcome to step out of class, with my permission, if you need to answer a call.

Course Components

1.  Class Participation (15%)
Meaningful class interactions add a great deal to the learning experience. Hence, I consider class participation to be an important component of your education in this course. A lot of your learning about ideation and the creativity process will come from intensive class discussions – so, I expect that you have read all the articles assigned to each class prior to the class and come prepared to discuss your insights about and analysis of the articles. Additionally, feel free to go above and beyond just the class readings – bring articles that caught your attention, any prior experience you might have had with new product development also into the conversation. Conversations that enrich the class discussion are encouraged; at the same time I will discourage conversations that might veer the class off-track. Simply speaking in class without adding constructively to the class discussion will not merit any points. Finally, while I encourage you to voluntarily participate in the class discussion, also expect to be cold called from time to time.
Please miss no more than 1 class.

2.  Individual Essay (2x15%)
Each student is expected to write up two (2) readings for a respective grade. Any student can pick two (2) different articles from the provided list. Essays should be in the form of an executive summary (template will be provided and explained in class). The essay should extract the top 3 most relevant insights from the article and must contain 2-3 original personal actions applying the 3 insights to your group project (the media campaign of your choice).
 
Format:
The essay is double-spaced;
Times Roman size 12 fonts;
and the essay does not exceed three (3) pages (plus appendices).
 
Please structure your essay as follows (see template provided):
1.     Executive Summary (1 para, 1/3 page max)
2.     Choice of Top3 most relevant insights from reading for your group project
        (media campaign), (bullet points, max 2/3 page)
3.     2-3 original actions for each chosen insight that apply to your group project – what should your team do? (≈2p)
4.     Summary of your writeup (1 para, 1/3p)
 
You will be provided with an outline (word doc) and I explain in class what the expectations are.

3.  Peer Group Evaluation on Case and Project (15%)
The four (4) cases and the group project are team work. Part of the overall individual grade for each student depends on an anonymous rating by his group peers at the end of class.

Your Group Performance (40%)
 
*** NEW ***
Your teams will be composed of students from both Universities, UC Davis and University of Hamburg, Germany. The course is strictly limited to 40 students, 20 from each University’s Master Program. We intend to have 8 internationally and culturally mixed teams of 5 students.
 
4.  Group Case Presentations (15%)
As the course aims to enable participants to analyze realistic scenarios and subsequently devise and implement appropriate solutions, team case work is key. Team memberships will be assigned in the first class and hold for the entire course. Grading will be based on the analytics as well as the suggested solution, their presentation, and the team’s contribution to class discussion.
 
Depending on the final size of the class, each group presentation will be limited to leave sufficient time for in-class discussion. All presentations (6-10 PPT slides) are due by email.
 
Each team selects 4 out of 5 cases – Assignments per Case will be allocated after selection
 
·     Case BBVA
     
·     Case Tripadvisor
    
·     Case Mekanism
     
·     Case L’Oreal
     
·     Case P&G
     
Your team chooses 4 out of 5 cases.
For each case, assignments will be distributed across teams to balance your work load.

5.  Group Project (25%)
The project for this course will be to design an integrated campaign for a company of your choice. It will be graded based on how well it incorporates the aspects that have been covered in the course. The readings from the course will also prove useful in formulating your ideas and concepts on the topic you intend to study.
 
Please note the following milestones for your group project:
 
Class 1:     Team Building; Topic Brainstorming
Class 2:     Teams, Discussion and Selection of Topics
 
Class 4:    1st Presentation     
Class 6:    2nd Presentation      
Class 8:    3rd Presentation        
Class 10:   4th Presentation     
 
Report:     Final Report   

Course IDs:             MGT 239 - CRN 54124 (UCD)             LV-Nr. 85-407 (UHH)
 
Responsible:          Prof. Dr. Kay Peters, UHH
Co-Instructor:       Prof. Dr. Ashwin Aravindakshan, UC Davis
 
Capacity:                 up to 20 students from each Business School (max. of 40 students in total)
 
Registration:

• The course is open for application to all Master students in business or related degrees at both partner institutions (see local details).
• If there are more applications than slots the respective registrar/student office will co-guide on the selection process according to existing rules.
• The course will be mutually acknowledged and accredited by both business schools.
• Students can choose to get their credits locally or from the partnering institution, but credits count towards their local degrees.
• UCD students register through RAPS
• UHH students register via STINE

Schedule:       

Fall Quarter (UCD)                             Winter Semester (UHH)

 
Structure & Content:

• The course consists of lecture parts, individual essays, and to a large extent of team work on case studies and a group project
  (designing and implementing a digital media campaign).
• Group work on case studies and the group project will be done in 8 teams of 5 students. These teams are comprise students from both schools.
• Instruction will be in English and online-only via Zoom.

Graded Course Deliverables for Students (excerpt, see local systems for details):
Individual Grades (60%)
       Participation Scores                                             15%
       2 Essays of 3 pages (2x 15%)                              30%
       Peer Group Evaluation (15%)                             15%
Group Grades (40%)
       Group Case Presentations (4 presentations)     15%
       Group Project Dig. Media Campaign (Report)   25%