Marketing Management

Introduction

Course overview and introduction to foundational marketing concepts.

Presented by:
Larry Vincent,
Professor of the Practice of Marketing
Presented to:
GSBA 509
August 25, 2026

Stock Performance

Revenue Performance

What is the core purpose of marketing?

Purpose

Acquire, retain, and develop customers.

Marketing’s Job

G A Drive Growth B Optimize Customer Profitability A->B C Create Differentiated Value A->C D Customer Acquisition B->D E Customer Retention B->E F Customer Development B->F C->D C->E C->F

Marketing is about understanding, predicting, and influencing human behavior.

Critical activities

What is marketing primarily responsible for in your company?

Selected responses.

Growing Importance

How has marketing’s role within your organization changed in the last five years?

Key questions

  • Who do we target? What do they think/feel/do?
    How can we influence their behavior?
  • What gives us a customer advantage?
  • How much are our offerings worth?
    How can we make them worth more?
  • How much is a customer worth to us?
  • When and how should we engage a customer?
  • What do we want to be known for?
    Is this perception aligned with reality?

Learning objectives

  • Understand the underpinnings of customer behavior so that you can create economic value for your organization.
  • Evaluate strategies to manage products, services, and brands that create sustainable competitive advantage.
  • Use quantitative marketing approaches to inform critical business decisions with data.
  • Create and evaluate the components of marketing plans.
  • Learn how to market yourself!

Hello, again!

About me

  • Professor of Marketing
    Specialties: Brand Strategy, Product Innovation, and Consumer Research
  • Academic Director
    Executive MBA program
  • Associate Vice Dean of Marketing 
    USC Marshall School of Business

Where I’ve been

Some of my work

Course overview

Grading

Component Weight Points
Class Participation 20% 20
Class Polls 10% 10
Learning Checks 30% 30
Team Challenges 40% 40
Total 100% 100

Grading

Component Weight Points
Class Participation 20% 20
Class Polls 10% 10
Learning Checks 30% 30
Team Challenges 40% 40
Total 100% 100
  • This is a participatory, discussion-format course
  • Active engagement is required
  • Quality > Quantity

Participation

Most participation points are earned through in-class discussions. The TAs and I use the rubric to the right.

Participation = Leadership

Marketing can be dangerous

Grading

Component Weight Points
Class Participation 20% 20
Class Polls 10% 10
Learning Checks 30% 30
Team Challenges 40% 40
Total 100% 100
  • Cases are important components of the course
  • Cases are best way to earn participation points
  • I use polls to prepare us both for the discussion

Case polls


  • Due midnight day before class with case
  • Usually take 5 minutes or so
  • Don’t take until you’ve read the case
  • Polls = 10% of course grade

Grading

Component Weight Points
Class Participation 20% 20
Class Polls 10% 10
Learning Checks 30% 30
Team Challenges 40% 40
Total 100% 100
  • Three modules to the course
  • Each module has a Learning Check
  • Quiz format–multiple choice and true/false
  • First 30 minutes of designated class period
  • Lowest score is dropped for course grade
  • Any score below 80% eligible for Mastery Moment

Mastery Moments

  • If you score below 80% on either of the first two Learning Checks, you can take an essay-based follow-up test
  • Your mastery moment score can close up to half the distance between your initial score and 100%
  • Mastery Moments will be scheduled about a week after the corresponding Learning Check, subject to availability of TAs and Professor
  • There are no makeups or rescheduling for Mastery Moments
  • There is no mastery moment opportunitiy for the final learning check

Asynchronous Content

  • This course includes quantitative components tied to core marketing analytics that every MBA should know
  • We will cover the basics in class
  • Video content has been created to help you learn more
  • The videos are optional, but you are strongly encouraged to watch them because they are designed to help you do well on Learning Checks
  • Videos can be found on Brightspace, along with other resources

Grading

Component Weight Points
Class Participation 20% 20
Class Polls 10% 10
Learning Checks 30% 30
Team Challenges 40% 40
Total 100% 100
  • Each module concludes with a team-based assignment
  • Time-boxed, in-class activity
  • Apply concepts learned in the module to a case-based challenge
  • Work must be submitted at the end of the class period
  • A 30-minute debrief follows in the next class session

Challenges

  • All grading is at the team level
  • Individual grades may vary +/- 10% from the team grade
  • Difference between individual and team grade at my discretion
  • Peer evaluations considered for individual grading purposes
  • There are no make-ups for Challenges, but teams can achieve full credit even if a member is absent

Attendance

  • I do not grade attendance
  • If you miss many classes, you can’t participate and earn participation credit
  • Statistically, there is a high inverse correlation between class absences and learning check scores
  • The class moves quickly. We cover a lot of ground. It is challenging to recover from missed classes.
  • Videos from every class are posted on Brightspace

Working together and what to expect…

Communicating

  • All assignments and in-class materials posted to Brightspace
  • Case prep questions and polls are all on Brightspace
  • Unless otherwise directed, submit all deliverables on Brightspace
  • Copy TAs when sending me emails (VincentCoreTAs@marshall.usc.edu)

Slides

  • Slides are provided to you as a convenience
  • Slides are not a complete record of classes
  • Slides supplement readings and lectures
  • Slides are made programmatically, but can be saved as PDF

Creating slide deck PDFs

Creating slide deck PDFs

Creating slide deck PDFs

Creating slide deck PDFs

Electronic devices

The class is better when
you are fully present!

  • No electronic devices in class unless instructed to use for an activity
  • If you’re on a device during a case discussion, you may be asked to leave

Listen to Jamie Dimon

Office hours

  • Available by appointment at https://calendly.com/laurencevincent
  • Meet 1:1 or in a group
  • Not limited to course-related topics
  • If you can’t find a time, email me

Let’s talk about AI

Marketing in the
Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence

  • DO use AI to brainstorm and “workshop” your ideas such as positioning concepts
  • DO refine your AI prompts and go beyond the first results
  • DO verify and double check the suggestions provided by AI
  • DO acknowledge your use of AI by citing properly in your assignments and other deliverables
  • DO be thoughtful about the appropriateness of using AI in an assignment and what it means
  • DON’T use AI on any quiz or exam without my permission
  • DON’T submit AI workslop

Marketing + AI = Opportunities

“Among all the managerial functions, marketing is likely to be the one that’s most disrupted by generative AI.”

Harvard Business Review

April, 2025

Next steps

For Thursday

  • Review syllabus
  • Read “Note on Marketing Strategy” and “Designing Value”