Overview of Course

Marketing is everywhere! As we sail to different countries during the Semester at Sea experience, we will see many common marketing activities/considerations. As a critical business function, it is vital that companies/non-profits use their marketing efforts to understand their consumers and translate this understanding into marketing strategies that resonate with customers. This introduction to marketing principles course addresses the marketing mix (the “4P’s”), target marketing, and market segmentation efforts to develop marketing strategies to maximize value for the customer and the firm. The aim of this course is to provide students an understanding of the basic concepts that underlie the practice of marketing with the emphasis upon the application of these ideas to familiar real-world settings. The engaged student will benefit from small-group activities along with our in-class discussion on how these ideas manifest in the countries that we visit. Learning outcomes include an understanding of key marketing terminology and frameworks, marketing tools used for analyzing customers, competition, along with the firms’ internal strengths and weaknesses, and finally how marketing contributes to achieving the strategic objectives of the firm.