MKTG 4050: Misplaced
Marketing & Consumers' Interests marketing & public policy & other related
stuff What interests consumer segments is not always in
the consumers' interests
Office hours Fall Semester
2018, August 20 to December 7: Tuesday & Thursday, 7-7:40 a.m.
9:30-10:40 a.m.; Wednesdays 8-10 a.m. AND whenever the door is open
(most weekdays from 7 a.m. till early afternoon)
Course Prerequisites Grade of C or better in
MKTG 3310
Required Materials include a book that isn't
filled with irrelevant distracting pictures, cartoons, graphs or meaningless
charts. The book just has a lot of words to be read, including some
interesting comments in the footnotes. The book also has some archaic
references, and maybe too many bad jokes, including one set up on page 1
with the punch line on the last page. There also is a packet of
articles to read, plus some essays and videos linked to this syllabus. A
third purchase contains all of the slides with words, an important service
to everyone who mistakenly believes that copying words from a screen is the
same as taking notes (which it isn't). University email will convey lecture
supplements that will also be required reading.
Required Materials to buy
→ Adventures in Misplaced Marketing,
ISBN: 9781567203523
→ Two packets sold at SOFY Copy Center, 145 E. Magnolia
(1) Required readings (2) copies of most class slides
Required online materials - Canvas will not be
used
→ Additional required reading assignments
& videos available via syllabus links in class outline below
→ University email will convey assignment updates, plus required reading
materials such as lecture supplements
→ Online discussion
questions provide most of the questions that members of the class
will be called upon to answer during class
Important Dates
[In this class, "Syllabus Day" is not a
thing]
Rosh Hashanah: September 10-11
Yom Kippur: September 19
Test #1: September 13
Test #2: October 18
Test #3: November 29
Comprehensive final exam: December 10, noon-2:30 p.m.
This is the first day of final exam week. As
per university policy, the final exam will be administered at the assigned
time. An earlier test will not be granted for students wanting to depart
for jobs, job interviews, graduate school interviews, family vacations or
to witness meteorological events
A
signed class contract is a precondition for anyone to be considered
present for class, to take any tests, or to have scores counted for any
quiz or homework Grades will be based on point
totals, not averages, percentile scores or letter grades on each item. The
points scored on each item are added together and the grade is based on the
point total. There might be extra credit values on homework, tests, or the
final exam - hence the notation of "at least" by the number of possible
points for each item below - but the availability of extra credit items will
not alter the cut-offs points required for each letter grade
that will be determined by the sum of the raw scores from the following
items:
→ Three tests of 30 points each (at least
90 points)
→ writing assignments (at least 40 points)
→ Comprehensive Final Exam (at least 70 points)
A = 180-200 points
B = 160-179 points
C = 140-159 points
D = 120-139 points
F = 0-119 points
FA = either 0-119 points and either (a) absent from all or part of 25% or
more of the non-test class days, or (b) an unexcused absence from any test
or the final exam. Absent includes arriving late, leaving early,
repeatedly stepping out for parts of the period and unauthorized use of
electronic devices.
Course
Learning Objectives: To acquire a broader knowledge of
the pragmatic social and regulatory environment of marketing decisions,
viewed from a perspective of the difficulty of serving consumers'
interests when a marketing perspective is lost, misapplied or abused. In
other words,.... It's about marketing regulation, which requires a bit
of law, but it isn't a law course. It's about business self-regulation,
but it isn't about altruism. It's about marketing management decision
making, but it isn't defined by specific marketing jobs. The course is
about public policy and marketing. In addition to the powers and
limitations of business self-regulation, discussions will look at work
of government regulation by CFPB, FTC, FDA and others that pundits
falsely claim "kills jobs" while ignoring that they are keeping the
cannery from using poisonous diethylene glycol to preserve your peas
(yes, that really happened), fighting pollution that can cause a nearby
river to ignite in
flames (yes, this happened, too) or stopping banks from having
another meltdown that saves money for billionaires while kicking grandma
to the curb. The real objective for this course is for students learning
to deal with nuanced issues, an analysis ability that they would later
in life be able to use in assessing business problems and decisions
options.
The Prime Direction requires
class discussions, test answers & homework assignments presume that
relevant business or government decision makers are not dishonest,
bigoted, lazy or dumb, and that consumers are not mindless gullible
fools. Remember, people in organizations make decisions, not
anthropomorphic businesses or government agencies.
Marketing
practitioners are rarely, if ever, the same types of people
as their customers, meaning that decision options must be evaluated in terms
of what interests the market segments, not in terms of what personally
appeals to the decision maker.
Marketing managers must often deal with products or consumer choices with
which they personally disagree. Similarly, class will discuss products or
services you would never buy, with product features you'd never need, using
mass media messages which would never consider you as part of the target
audience, resulting in discussing examples that you might find personally
offensive. In MKTG 4050, as in the world outside of the campus, it is
unavoidable. In addition, many video segments will be shown in class
because their ability to explain course content in an entertaining fashion
that is different than the instructor’s capabilities. Many are taken from
advertising-supported television programs for which copyright allows "fair
use" in a classroom. Because students in the course are all AU juniors and
seniors, legal adults, everyone is capable of handling exposure to brief
scatological references, common expletives that might be heard on CBS, NBC,
FX, or SyFy networks, and metaphors or acronyms of benign origins whose
youth-known more current innuendoes might not be discerned by anyone who
hasn't read the latest updates of Urban Dictionary definitions.
The reality & pragmatic danger of Misplaced
Marketing is intuitively logical, yet is why marketing itself
is not as "easy" as many people seem to think. The fact that marketing
managers are rarely members of their target segments does not create bad
decisions, but any manager's inability to realize that the fact exists does
All tests and assignments will require writing. As
it is in life, nothing in the class will be multiple choice. If you are a
good student that is tired of brain-dead classmates hurting your grade on a
group project or presentation, there won't be any group
work. Slackers that often pass courses on the work of others are on
their own. The primary requirement for the class is a functioning brain,
preferably one that is not an example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, as well
as a willingness to use it for a critical evaluation of the plethora of
bovine manure that is everywhere when marketing & public policy are
discussed. This is not a class that the teacher reads the textbook-based
slides to the class, followed by multiple choice tests where you mark down
the answers that were spoon fed earlier. Students proudly exhibiting their
cerebral flat lines, plus others who weirdly pay tuition while actively
seeking to avoid an education would see this
link as a “how to” manual
[Look at it this way. You probably don't
know what is meant by the Dunning-Kruger Effect. If you pasted it into a
browser to look it up when you read it here without anyone telling you to
do so, you'll probably enjoy the class.]
Homework assignments for each
of the 13 topics listed below will require short answers to specific
questions drawn from the reading assignments, with the first one due at the
start of the second class meeting. Homework will be collected from those
present at the start of the designated class. At least 9 of the homework
assignments will be scored, each worth at least 5 possible points, and the
worst score will not count toward your point total. If 10 are scored, the
best 9 will count in your total. If 11 are scored, the grade is the best 10.
All homework, scored or not, with instructor comments will always be
returned before the start of the next class meeting. Students must be
present and on time to turn in the assignment. No assignments will involve
egalitarian group
activity
No make-up assignments will be given. A student who is absent for a due date
for any reason will have that homework be the one dropped as the worst
score. If a student has a excuse absences from multiple due dates resulting
in fewer than 8 scored assignments, documentation and verification contacts
of excused absences must be provided for all relevant days missed, not just
those in excess of the one dropped. If such materials can't be provided, the
additional missed homework is considered unexcused for grade purposes.
Tests & Final Exam will be all
essay format. The three tests cover material from a specified segment of the
course. The comprehensive final exam covers all materials from the entire
semester, and no one section will have extra coverage. On test days,
students who arrive late will not be allowed to start the test once anyone
has completed the test and has left the room
Test scores will be returned before the start of the next class meeting. For
one week after the test is returned, students may come to my office to read
their scored test if they bring the card that was returned with their test
score
For an absence to be considered excused, prior notice must be provided for
expected or planned events. Unexpected problems or emergencies require
direct notification immediately, as soon as possible by phone or email, not
later in the day, with documentation provided as soon as you are capable of
returning to campus. Delayed notifications will not be accepted. A
documented acceptable excuse for any tests allows for either a make-up test
early the next morning or to have the point value of that test shifted to
the final exam. The only conditions under AU policy in Student Policy
eHandbook are considered excused absences from exams
Classes will always start on
time in the business sense of the term: at the time
designated for the start of class, students are expected to be in their
seats and ready to work. Attendance & class
participation are not part of the grade point totals except
for homework or FA grades, as noted above. However, active class
participation provides an ineluctable requirement for learning course
materials
Other class directions plus AU-required narishkeit
→ All electronic devices are to be put
away during the class period unless a reasonable exception is requested in
writing & approved. Various
options may be used to deter or penalize violators
→ Videos in assigned links or shown in class are fairly
entertaining, but their use during the class period is not for students to
be entertained. They will either be discussed as examples of course
materials, or convey course-relevant information in a more interesting
fashion than other presentation options. Even if it is a segment from a
comedy program where their priority is to the joke, the selected videos
provide researched & documented information that can be part of any
test. Note taking is as important during video programs as it is during
other parts of class. (The obvious exceptions are videos before 11 a.m.,
the "pre-class entertainment")
→ If you find it difficult to take notes and be an active
participant in class at the same time, request permission to audio record
class for notes to be transcribed later. The lectures exist under
university and personal copyright, which means that any recordings made of
the class are for individual use as a study aid and are not to be sold,
publicly posted or otherwise distributed on any forum without written
permission from the instructor.
→ Anyone with difficulty completing tests during the time limits of
the class period can request an early start time, a consideration that is
not tied to any requirements from the Office of Accessibility.
→ Students are expected to do their own work in the classroom on
quizzes and tests as per the Auburn University student academic honesty
code in the Student
Policy eHandbook (Title XII) Academic honesty violations or alleged
violations of the SGA Code of Laws will be reported to the Office of the
Provost, which will then refer the case to the Academic Honesty Committee.
→ If you have a disability, you must meet with me in my office to
discuss possible accommodations after you electronically submit the
approved accommodations through AU Access. Course requirements will not be
waived, but accommodations will be made to assist in meeting the
requirements, provided you are timely to develop a reasonable
accommodation plan. Please note that
the most commonly requested accommodations are available to anyone in the
class without reference to a disability. If you need accommodations, make
an appointment with the Office of Accessibility, 1228 Haley Center.
Web sites of suggested interest and review
→ Public Citizen's Consumer Law & Policy blog (http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog)
→ A short informative summary on the basic ways on ways a developed country
provides health insurance for its citizens, four of which are universal
health care plans ( http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/07/a-very-brief-primer-on-single-payer-health-care/
)
→ Medicine and Madison Avenue home page (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/mma)
→ Food & Drug Administration where you can look up all sorts of stuff (https://www.fda.gov/default.htm),
or its history
→ Government information on recent product recalls, including your car,
truck or recreational vehicle (http://www.recalls.gov)
→ CGP Grey's YouTube channel of short explanatory videos on varying subjects
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2C_jShtL725hvbm1arSV9w)
Admittedly, little of CGP Grey's videos are directly related to this course,
but they are both interesting and informative The daily reading assignments for each
topic listed will be announced in class, starting with topic #1 in the first
two classes. AiMM is shorthand for the book, article titles listed are from
the packet, and article titles marked as "online" are required readings or
videos available via links to the title itself in this syllabus. Additional
articles could be distributed via handouts or email to students as attached
files or links to news publications. The online topic-by-topic discussion
questions will be updated during the term, and they are provided as
guidance that you should consult as you read the assigned articles &
chapters. The "recommended" readings are listed following suggestions from
former students of this class who felt that they would help you understand
the materials.
Links for online articles marked by "**" require
that you use an AU computer or a computer/phone/tablet using the campus
Wi-Fi network. Being logged onto an AU internet address is recognized by the
publication's system which then gives access to their subscription-required
web pages. This also works if you are logged into the system of any other
organization with a subscription, or, if you are away from campus, it
usually works the same if you are logged into the AU VPN.
Most pictures throughout this syllabus
have links to other readings provided for your interest or amusement. And
for the discerning student, the gif files are relevant illustrations for
their nearby text placement, with additional links of interest &
relevance.
I. What Interests Consumers and the Consumers' Interests
II.
Applications & Lost Opportunities of a Marketing Orientation
Topic 4. The Lost Marketing Perspective
AiMM, Ch. 2 & 3
online ** Movie
Theaters' Suicide-by-Advertising
recommended: AiMM Ch. 6 Topic 5. Marketing Myths: The Case of Advertising
AiMM, Ch.
4 and 5
Packet: Need for New Anti-Smoking Adv Strategies Topic 6. Perspectives on Modern Government
Regulation
AiMM, Ch. 7
recommended online video: North
Dakota (the results of limited regulation) Topic 7. Risk, Consumers & Regulation:
Environment, Chemicals & Breasts
packet: Risky Business
packet: Dangerous Supplements
packet: How to avoid...FTC & Sustainability Claims
electronic handout: "The Coming Climate Crash"
- Test 2 -
III. When Serving Consumers' Needs Isn't What Consumers Need
** Links for these online articles require that you use an AU computer or a
computer/phone/tablet using the campus Wi-Fi network. Being logged onto an
AU internet address is recognized by the publication's system which then
gives access to their subscription-required web pages. This also works if
you are logged into the system of any other organization with a
subscription, or away from our campus and logged into the AU VPN.
A
signed class contract is a precondition for anyone to be considered
present for class, to take any tests, or to have scores counted for any
quiz or homework
Marketing
practitioners are rarely, if ever, the same types of people
as their customers, meaning that decision options must be evaluated in terms
of what interests the market segments, not in terms of what personally
appeals to the decision maker. 
Marketing managers must often deal with products or consumer choices with
which they personally disagree. Similarly, class will discuss products or
services you would never buy, with product features you'd never need, using
mass media messages which would never consider you as part of the target
audience, resulting in discussing examples that you might find personally
offensive. In MKTG 4050, as in the world outside of the campus, it is
unavoidable. In addition, many video segments will be shown in class
because their ability to explain course content in an entertaining fashion
that is different than the instructor’s capabilities. Many are taken from
advertising-supported television programs for which copyright allows "fair
use" in a classroom. Because students in the course are all AU juniors and
seniors, legal adults, everyone is capable of handling exposure to brief
scatological references, common expletives that might be heard on CBS, NBC,
FX, or SyFy networks, and metaphors or acronyms of benign origins whose
youth-known more current innuendoes might not be discerned by anyone who
hasn't read the latest updates of Urban Dictionary definitions.
Classes will always start on
time in the business sense of the term: at the time
designated for the start of class, students are expected to be in their
seats and ready to work. Attendance & class
participation are not part of the grade point totals except
for homework or FA grades, as noted above. However, active class
participation provides an ineluctable requirement for learning course
materials
II.
Applications & Lost Opportunities of a Marketing Orientation
V. Harder Than It Seems
