Omni-Channel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing is all about having multiple ways to connect with your audience – whether they're customers, clients, donors, or partners. Think online platforms, physical locations, social media, and more. The key is to ensure all these channels work together seamlessly from the customer's perspective (whether in B2C or in B2B), creating a unified and enjoyable experience no matter how they choose to research, consider and transact.

This course will start by explaining the basics of different marketing and communication channels and how you can use them to achieve your goals. Then, we'll dive deep into the 7Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence. We'll look at each of these from an omnichannel perspective, exploring both the challenges and the exciting possibilities of managing multiple channels at once, always with a focus on customer-centricity. We'll also discuss how these principles apply across various sectors, including B2B, non-profits, and different types of players in the distribution chain.

Finally, we'll explore how data and technology can help you make informed decisions about your omnichannel strategy. You'll learn how to track and analyze your performance across all channels, always keeping the customer's viewpoint in mind, so you can keep improving the experience for everyone who interacts with your organization.

• Knowledge:
  • Identify and define the key concepts of omnichannel marketing.
  • Recognise the implications of omnichannel marketing and sales within the 7P marketing framework.
  • Memorise the key terms and definitions associated with omnichannel marketing and sales.
• Understanding:
  • Explain the importance of coexistence and harmonious interaction between multiple marketing and sales channels.
  • Describe how a seamless and integrated shopping experience can be created for consumers across different channels.
• Application:
  • Apply omnichannel marketing principles to solve real-world business problems explored in case studies.
  • Use data to inform omnichannel marketing decisions in case studies.
• Analysis:
  • Analyse the challenges and opportunities associated with omnichannel management of the 7Ps of marketing.
  • Examine how modern technology facilitates the management and analysis of performance across channels.
• Summary:
  • Design omnichannel marketing strategies that effectively align the 7Ps of marketing.
  • Integrate omnichannel marketing principles into the planning and execution of marketing campaigns.
• Evaluation:
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of omnichannel marketing strategies by analysing performance data.
  • Critique and recommend improvements to existing omnichannel marketing strategies based on an in-depth analysis of channel performance.

The above learning objectives aim to guide students through a progressive learning process, starting with the acquisition of fundamental knowledge, and progressing to the more complex analysis, synthesis and evaluation skills required to effectively navigate the omnichannel marketing landscape.

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

Students enrolled on this course should have a good knowledge of the basics of marketing and an understanding of marketing and sales activities in companies. The course and the case studies require good analytical skills, mastery of the art of synthesis and the ability to communicate reasoning and conclusions in a clear and structured manner.

• nteractive course
• discussion of cases and situations covered in media
• case studies (individual and group format) 

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Recommended reading

• Building a Direct-to-Consumer Strategy Without Alienating Your Distributors
• Are Sales Incentives Becoming Obsolete?
• Advertising Analytics 2.0
• Channel conflict: when is it dangerous?

Optional references

• Marketing Channel Strategy: an Omnichannel Approach, 9th edition, Robert W. Palmatier, Eugene Sivadas, Louis W. Stern, Adel I. El-Ansary, 2019
• Think Shopper. Enduring Truths and New Rules for Marketers in An Omnichannel World, Eric G. Meunier, 2020
• Make It All about Me Leveraging Omnichannel and AI for Marketing Success By Rasmus Houlind, Colin Shearer, 2019
• Location is (still) Everything The Surprising Influence of the Real World on how We Search, Shop, and Sell in the Virtual One By David Richard Bell, 2014
• Marketing 5.0 Technology for Humanity By Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan, 2021

Course notes

• Université virtuelle
• Podcast
• Syllabus

Additional information

Format of exam

• preparation on a subject and submission of a piece of work 
• discussion with the teacher about the work done 

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Personal work
• Oral examination
• Oral presentation
• Group work
• Written report

Personal work

Oral examination

• Examination with preparation

• Open question with long development

Oral presentation

Group work

Written report

Assessment criteria

• Quality of analysis
• Synthesis / precision
• Communication / clarity
• Collaboration / participation

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The weighting will be as follows to determine your grade for this course:

• Case studies: 25%.
• Research work: 25%.
• Final examination: 40%.
• Participation: 10%.

Language(s) of evaluation

• french
• (if applicable english )