Applied marketing analytics

“Marketing Analytics” refers to a broad range of activities, all of which ultimately rely on (1) “big” data, (2) advanced analytical methods and (3) sophisticated technical tools aimed to improve managerial decisions. Some of these activities provide descriptive summaries of the past and the present, others generate predictive forecasts of how the future may unfold, and still, others culminate in prescriptive advice about how an organization (be it for profit or not) should move forward. Given the explosion over the past two decades in the amount and types of data available to even the smallest companies, the increasing sophistication in analytical methods, and last but not least, the ever-accelerating innovation in technologies, it should not come as a surprise that spending on marketing analytics will increase in the future.

Because marketing analytics encompasses such a diverse set of activities, analysts must rely on a diverse set of skills. Of course, analysts must be comfortable manipulating and understanding data, performing analysis, and manipulating the necessary tools. . . but the data we want is seldom the data we have. Thus, analysts must also be creative, both in the way they use the data at hand and in their ability to discover new (and sometimes unexpected) data sources. But even these qualities together are not enough: The most sophisticated and insightful analysis will have no impact on decisions if managers cannot understand what they are being told, and at the end of the day, if they do not have a precise idea of what they are aiming at achieving (i.e. what their marketing objectives or “use cases” are). Marketing analysts, therefore, must also be able to communicate their purposes and ideas (and hence their facts and data) clearly and persuasively. Accordingly, this course will provide many hands-on opportunities to understand, develop, and integrate these diverse skills.

• Providing an overview of the main principles in managing market information (i.e. information on consumers/ customers, competitors, and suppliers) and performing marketing analytics

• Reviewing the key techniques to obtain market information (primary research – i.e. quantitative and qualitative market research methods – and secondary research) and to extract and leverage insights from facts to support marketing decision making

• Illustrating these techniques in practice

• Allowing students to experiment with these techniques through a field research project in teams

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

There are 6 main conditions to follow Marketing Analytics:

• Be able to follow lessons and perform and present fieldwork in English
• Be registered in one of the following programs: (H03 Master en ingénieur civil électromécanicien, à finalité Gestion et technologies - 2e année; (S020) Master ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée - 1e année ; (S021) Master ingénieur de gestion, à finalité Organisation et technologie - 1e année ; (S023) Master ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée - 2e année ; (S026) Master complémentaire en gestion industrielle et technologique - 2e année ; (S045) Master en sciences économiques, à finalité Management sciences - 1e année ; (S052) Master en sciences économiques, à finalité Management Sciences - 2e année ; be an EXCHANGE STUDENT or PHD STUDENT
• Have basic skills and knowledge in business administration. No advanced understanding of mathematics or econometrics is necessary for this course, but the basic understanding of statistics (at an undergraduate business studies level) is beneficial for following the course. Basic knowledge and use of Microsoft Excel programs are preferable. Advanced data science and computer programing skills are not needed for this course.
• Be present in class (5^th of February) and you will receive your predefined group numbers. In the first lecture, you will pitch for your field project! Note that the lecture is limited to 50 students and 10 exchange students. If you are not registered by February 10^th (at 9 pm), registration will not be possible anymore (no exception!). If you are an exchange student, please note that for practical purposes, only 10 exchange students will be allowed (1 per fieldwork group). If more than 10 exchange students register, students will be chosen by drawing lots.
• Actively participate in the fieldwork and be present at the oral presentation of your fieldwork (June 9^th). Fieldwork accounts for 60% of your final grade. Participation in this fieldwork (implying compulsory presence in Belgium) is required as well as a presence at the oral presentation on June 9^th.
• Be present at the written exam during the June session (TBA). The written exam accounts for 40% of your final grade. There will only be an exam at the official date set by ULB during the June session and August session if necessary (no anticipated exam).

Required and corequired courses

This course combines ex-cathedra lectures, real life case discussions (presented by external executives), and student team field work (market research in collaboration with a company).

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Required readings – readings are important for active class discussions and are part of the exam! For each theory part (see schedule) there are journal articles and/or cases to read. They will be always announced for the next session “in class” and downloadable on UV.

Suggested books

• Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making (S. Christian Albright; Wayne L. Winston) 2015, 5th Edition
• Marketing Research (A. Parasuraman, Dhruv Grewal, R. Krishnan), 2006
• Marketing Analytics: Data-Driven Techniques with Microsoft Excel, Wayne L. Winston, 2013
• Cutting Edge Marketing Analytics: Real World Cases and Data Sets for Hands-on Learning (Rajkumar Venkatesan, Paul Farris, Ronald T. Wilcox), 2014

Course notes

• Université virtuelle
• Syllabus
• Podcast

Additional information

The fieldwork aims at having students apply the concepts taught in class to a real-life case, typically proposed by an external organization (for or non for profit company – described below as the “client”), and formulated as a marketing objective sought by the company’s (or business unit’s) leadership (e.g. growing market share, improving brand positioning, upgrading pricing, etc). Students are expected to get in teams of 4 to a maximum 6 to study a topic proposed (note that students are also welcome to come up with their own topics, provided there is a “real case behind”, e.g. a company they are working with or are in contact with, a thesis topic they wish to study in the class).

The teams should follow the different steps of the market information management process seen in class, and perform the corresponding marketing analytics methods along the way, interacting with their “client” as the company sees fit (i.e. depending on their time availability and interest, and especially depending on the students’ ability to proactively reach out in a prepared way).

The results and learnings from the fieldwork should be delivered back to the professors and presented to the class by means of:

• • An executive summary consisting in a 5-page word document (NO MORE!), to be sent in by email one week before the presentation to the class (i.e. by June 3^rd);
  • A presentation to the class (on June 9^th), using any material necessary to cover the main messages in 10 minutes maximum (please rehearse your presentations!) and expecting a 5-10 min questions and answers session;
  • The hand-over of a copy of all appendices and raw material from the research phase (e.g. questionnaires and results/back-ups from interviews, video extracts from focus groups, etc.).

The content of the executive summary (and accordingly the class presentation) should contain the following sections/elements:

• • Marketing objective(s) pursued by the fieldwork and corresponding research phases (i.e. an explicit link to the underlying marketing strategy)
  • Information gathering methods and market research set-up outline (data looked for, methodology, questionnaires developed, etc.) – Note: ALL teams are expected to conduct some secondary research/documentation on the topic of their fieldwork (at least before launching the primary/field research), as well as at least a qualitative research phase. Most teams would also be expected to conduct a quantitative research phase
  • Results of the research (qualitative/quantitative à recommendations), including raw material/data
  • Recommendations and proposed answers to the original “client” marketing issues/ objectives
  • Take-home value and lessons learned (what worked well / could have worked better and how you would do it again, additional concepts + theory addressed during exercises)

Contacts

• Université Virtuelle/ Moodle (http://uv.ulb.ac.be) will be the main communication channel of the course (slides of the lessons, news, etc.)
• Professors and assistants are available for questions during the lessons (at the break or at the end)
• This is why sending emails to the teacher or his assistants should stay exceptional: Philippe Mauchard (philmauchard@gmail.com), Sandra Rothenberger (Sandra.rothenberger@ulb.be) and Carmela Milano (carmela.milano@ulb.ac.be)

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Other

Other

Combination of fieldwork report & presentation (60%) and written exam - MCQ (40%)

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Language(s) of evaluation

• english