Courses

• QST MK 476: Machine Learning for Business Analytics
  This course introduces students to machine learning techniques that can be used to analyze business data. Through a series of lectures and projects, students will learn about modern machine learning algorithms, how to use these algorithms in the R programming language, derive actionable insights from data, and effectively communicate their findings to a business audience. The goal of the course is to bridge the gap between managers and data-scientists by creating an understanding of modern analytics methods, and the types of business problems to which they can be applied. No prior programming skill are required.
• QST MK 487: Branding
  Explores the art and science of branding, and the strategies through which companies can create, capture, and sustain shareholder value through brands. Through a mixture of theory and real-world cases, the course examines brands from the perspectives of the cultures and consumers who help create them, and the companies who manage them over time. Basic branding disciplines including positioning and repositioning, brand equity measurement, brand leverage, integrated brand communications, brand stewardship, and brand architecture are considered, as are more contemporary topics such as brand parodies, brand community, and branded entertainment. Particular attention is paid to branding challenges associated with today's interconnected, consumer-empowered, and transparent web-enabled world. 4 cr.
• QST MK 498: Directed Study: Marketing
  Directed study in Marketing. 2 or 4 cr. Application available on Undergraduate Program website.
• QST MK 713: Topics in Marketing Management
  This course provides students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the ever-changing world of marketing. Designed to build on previous undergraduate Marketing coursework, the course presents advanced concepts marketers in all companies are dealing with to grow their business. We will cover multiple business contexts including B2C, B2B, products vs. services, global vs. domestic. Students will analyze market challenges and opportunities and together the class will make decisions for the implementation of successful and sustainable marketing programs.
• QST MK 723: Marketing Management
  This course provides a practical understanding of how business strategies and tactics are driven by marketing's dual focus on customers and competition. Students will learn how to leverage marketing tools and emerging technologies in the creation (e.g., customer insight, product and service design, branding), delivery (e.g., communication and distribution), and capture (e.g., pricing, customer life time value) of marketplace value. Across business contexts including B2C, B2B, products versus services, global versus domestic markets, small/medium/large organizations, for-profit versus social enterprises, the course builds the fundamental skills involved in analyzing market challenges and opportunities and making decisions for the formulation and implementation of successful and sustainable marketing programs.
• QST MK 724: Marketing Management
  This course provides a practical understanding of how business strategies and tactics are driven by marketing's dual focus on customers and competition. Students will learn how to leverage marketing tools and emerging technologies in the creation (e.g., customer insight, product and service design, branding), delivery (e.g., communication and distribution), and capture (e.g., pricing, customer life time value) of marketplace value. Across business contexts including B2C, B2B, products versus services, global versus domestic markets, small/medium/large organizations, for-profit versus social enterprises, the course builds the fundamental skills involved in analyzing market challenges and opportunities and making decisions for the formulation and implementation of successful and sustainable marketing programs.
• QST MK 838: Behavior Change Practicum
  Every organization -- be it government, private company or welfare agency -- is in the business of changing behavior. In this course, students will learn to apply insights from behavioral economics to effectively produce it. In teams, students will: (1) translate a real-time business or policy challenge into a specific behavior change project; (2) use the frameworks presented in class along with research from economics, psychology, marketing, and other related disciplines to develop possible interventions and/or frameworks for addressing the challenge; and (3) audit the decision-making process of various stakeholders to identify pain points and opportunities for behavior change. Previous organizations include Warby Parker, the World Bank, and FCLT Global.
• QST MK 841: Customer Driven Growth Strategies
  Marketers' number one job is to grow the customer base (and sales) by developing and executing strategies to leverage existing and create new market opportunities. This class will be a combination of case discussions, workshops, speakers, and finally application to real companies. Students will identify, quantify, and leverage opportunities that facilitate growth utilizing real world scenarios. We will use the product and customer growth matrix to determine new product opportunities and frameworks to prioritize markets for entry. We will conduct qualitative and quantitative analyzes of company situations and then apply principles of marketing to provide solid recommendations from which companies can take action. This combination of academic and applied learning will provide a deep understanding of growth strategies needed to leverage market opportunities.
• QST MK 842: Machine Learning for Business Analytics
  This course introduces students to machine learning techniques that can be used to analyze business data. Through a series of lectures and projects, students will learn about modern machine learning algorithms, how to use these algorithms in the R programming language, derive actionable insights from data, and effectively communicate their findings to a business audience. The goal of the course is to bridge the gap between managers and data-scientists by creating an understanding of modern analytics methods, and the types of business problems to which they can be applied. No prior programming skill are required. The course was previously offered under the title "Digital Marketing Analytics," but does not overlap with MK876; students may take both courses for credit.
• QST MK 845: Engaging Consumers in a Digital World
  Digital technologies have transformed the marketing communications paradigm and the consumer decision making process. In particular, within this new paradigm, consumers are more likely to learn about new products and services from other consumers via online word-of-mouth and have more power to co-create products, experiences, and brand meaning with manufacturers and service providers. This course examines the implications of these changes for marketers. Specifically, the course examines how digital technology can be used to (a) engage consumers prior to purchase; (b) to enhance and augment the consumption experience; and (c) to build ongoing and long-lasting relationships with consumers post-purchase. These topics will be explored using case studies and a client-based project, as well as a final exam.
• QST MK 852: Data Driven Marketing Decisions
  This course will focus on developing marketing strategies driven by marketing analytics. Topics covered include market segmentation, targeting, and positioning, and new product development. The course will draw on and extend students' understanding of issues related to quantitative analysis and principles of marketing. The course will use a combination of cases, lectures, and a hands-on project to develop these skills.
• QST MK 853: Global Strategic Marketing
  This course focuses on the key strategic marketing decisions managers must make: deciding whether to market globally; selecting countries in which to market; choosing marketing strategies and tactics for entry and growth; and organizing for and managing the implementation of global marketing strategies. The course uses a combination of cases, recent articles, current events and frameworks to provide evergreen lessons for application in ever changing real world situations. Global CEO, CMOs and GMs will provide real world experience as guest speakers in the class. Every business person has to have a global perspective and this class provides that for all business and/or marketing students.
• QST MK 854: Branding
  This is a course about branding, and the ways that brands acquire and sustain value in the marketplace. Cases, readings, in-class discussions, and team/individual assignments are designed to provide: An appreciation of the strategic discipline of branding and its role in creating shareholder value; an understanding of brands as co-creations of consumers, marketers, and cultures, and brand management as a collaborative process of meaning management; a sound foundation in consumer-brand behavior to inform brand decisions; and a capacity to think creatively and precisely about the strategies and tactics involved in building, leveraging, defending, and sustaining strong brands. Select topics may include brand equity, brand (re)positioning, brand relationships, brand loyalty, brand community, open source branding, branded entertainment and other cultural branding strategies, internal branding, brand architecture design and portfolio strategy, brand leverage and extensions, brand metrics, crisis management, and brand stewardship. Guest speakers from branding services, consulting, and practice provide insights throughout the course. While this course has obvious relevance for those contemplating brand management careers in product or service markets, it is appropriate for a range of future professionals within for-profit and not-for-profit C2C and B2B worlds, and others who share a simple passion for branding.
• QST MK 856: Consumer Insights
  Marketing, in particular, begins and ends with the consumer -- from determining consumer needs to ensuring customer satisfaction. In this course, we will explore the most recent scientific research in marketing, psychology, and behavioral economics related to consumer behavior. We will develop your ability to understand and influence what people want, how people decide what and when to buy, and whether people will be satisfied or dissatisfied with their decisions. These psychological insights are particularly useful for marketing strategy, brand positioning, and marketing communication decisions, but also yield insight into common biases in judgment and decision making, beyond marketing, to which you would otherwise fall prey. Why people are willing to drive across town to save $5 on a tank of gasoline, for example, when they would not drive a minute to save $5 on a refrigerator. We will discuss some of these applications in class. In addition, we will examine the methodology of market research (specific to consumer behavior) to build the tools you will need to interpret and base decisions on it. Readings will include primary empirical research articles (e.g., Journal of Consumer Research articles), business journal articles, and research reviews (e.g., Harvard Business Review articles). The course includes lecture, discussion, an exam, and a team term project.
• QST MK 862: Marketing High-Tech Products
  This course provides you with a good understanding of how marketing works in a high-tech context. When it comes to marketing, there are five important characteristics that make high-tech offerings (products and services) special: technological uncertainty, customer uncertainty, competitor volatility, high- tech offerings are often used not singly but in larger overall systems, and high-tech offerings often exhibit network externalities. These five characteristics have a big impact on the type of challenges, analysis, and marketing decisions made in high-tech industries. The overall purpose of this course is to impart concepts, tools, and frameworks that you can apply as you pursue careers as marketers of high-tech offerings, consultants, investment bankers, and service professionals. The key objectives of the course are to: Understand the special challenges involved in marketing high-tech products Learn how to analyze high-tech marketing problems which involve significant customer, market, and technological uncertainties; Examine approaches to improve the market orientation of, and the marketing-R&D interface in, high-tech companies; Understand the impact of diffusion of technology and adoption of innovation on targeting and segmentation decisions; Explore the effect of complementary products, databases, and systems on product and pricing decisions; Identify the challenges and drivers of success at different stages in a technology's life- cycle; and, Understand the concept of value networks and the role of complementors, partners, and competitors in high-tech industries.
• QST MK 864: Pricing Strategy and Tactics
  This course focuses on the practical needs of the marketing manager making pricing decisions. Students learn the techniques of strategic analysis necessary to price more profitably by evaluating the price sensitivity of buyers, determining relevant costs, anticipating and influencing competitors' pricing and formulating an appropriate pricing strategy.
• QST MK 867: Corporate Social Responsibility Marketing
  Globalization, increasing transparency in business operations and the prevalence of social media have forever changed the way stakeholders view and interact with organizations. Societal and business imperatives are not only often considered compatible; they can be increasingly viewed as one and the same. People today often communicate, organize and engage based on mutual interests, and, generally, place greater trust in organizations and individuals that work for a better world. Marketing has often been referred to as the "science of sales." Whether you are selling a product, an intervention or an idea, it can be a powerful tool for advancing social change in today's dynamic environment. The strategic integration of a relevant social purpose into a product, business or nonprofit organization through brand-building citizenship activities can drive consumer and donor recall, consideration, acquisition, retention and propensity to recommend. However, these efforts do not usually constitute a "silver bullet" and may not be the best solution to a business problem or societal need at all. In the worst cases, ill-conceived citizenship marketing strategies can result in damaging consequences. Practitioners must be pragmatic when engaging in marketing social change. Understanding how to apply best practice, identify opportunities, address challenges, engage stakeholders and innovate strategically are essential skills in this rapidly evolving sector. The purpose of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of how marketing principles can be applied to create both short-term and lasting social change. Students will explore dimensions of the modern landscapes of brand, corporate and nonprofit "citizenship" and how they relate to marketing. Areas of study include: cause-related marketing and cause branding; nonprofit branding and social movements, as well as corporate social responsibility and shared value creation.
• QST MK 870: Luxury Marketing
  Introduction to the marketing of luxury goods and services. It explores the origin, the history, and the evolution of luxury and gives an overview of the global luxury industry. It highlights the specificities of marketing in the luxury sector. Luxury brands must manage a number of inherent paradoxes and tensions. Differences in a mass versus luxury marketing approach are discussed. Finally, the course focuses on examining the main challenges with which luxury brands are currently confronted. As markets are becoming increasingly polarized, the course is relevant to a wide range of marketing and business professionals who may have to "premiumize" their offerings or revitalize their brands through an upscale positioning. Through a combination of interactive discussions, cases, practical examples, and individual assignments, the course enables participants to take both a theoretical and practical approach to the luxury industry and its marketing practices.
• QST MK 872: Measuring Impact with Causal Methods
  When is making a change to a price, algorithm, or product worthwhile? Rather than relying on the gut intuition of a manager, businesses are increasingly using experiments and other forms of causal data analysis to answer these questions. In this class, we will learn about causal methods, when they work, how to implement them in R, and how to apply them to digital markets. The business topics covered include pricing, balancing digital marketplaces like Airbnb and Uber, reputation systems, measuring influence in social networks, and algorithmic design.
• QST MK 876: Digital Marketing Analytics
  This is an introductory course on digital marketing analytics that inform digital marketing tactics, including online display ads, search listings, on-site e-commerce marketing and social media marketing. The course introduces methods that can be used to assess how specific tactics are moving consumers along the path to purchase.

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