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Introduction

Even the best products and services don't sell themselves. To create and sustain demand, marketers need to communicate with their customers, consumers, and other stakeholders. This course introduces students to the state of the art of marketing communication and prepares them to successfully communicate in today's cluttered and ever-evolving online and offline environments.

The course is highly practical and feedback-based. Students work in groups to develop a communication plan for a real client organization. Throughout the course, all groups receive repeated, detailed feedback from our teaching team to strengthen their proposed solutions prior to the final hand-in. The academic lectures and guest lectures explicitly link to the term project and provide the necessary knowledge and skills.  

We will explore topics linked to strategic planning (e.g., insight, positioning, media and creative strategy, measurement and testing) and tactical execution (e.g., persuasiveness, virality, sensory marketing). We will also consider the psychological foundations of marketing communication and discuss their strategic importance relative to cutting-edge but often perishable (digital) technology and trends. To improve understanding of the course contents, students will get to analyze, develop, and evaluate marketing communication strategies and executions.

Course content

The topics below are exemplary and subject to change.

• Psychological models of how marketing communications work
• The structure of the marketing communication industry
• Developing a communication plan
• Budgeting considerations
• Determining communication objectives
• Generating and leveraging insights
• Positioning
• Media strategy in digital and traditional media
• Creative strategy
• Integrating marketing communications
• Message strategies and execution
• Multisensory marketing communication
• Persuasion tactics
• Measuring impact and testing
• Important digital tools