Summer University Course

Prerequisites

Students taking the course must have completed at least one introductory marketing course.

Course description

The course aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of business-to-business marketing, showing how it is sometimes similar to what you might have covered in earlier introductory marketing courses, but also how it is often very different (This is important, given that at least 50% of you will end up working in B2B jobs!). We will use a number of different pedagogical approaches – traditional classroom discussions (of both practical and theoretical issues), case studies, and a practical group assignment. For this, students will be required to work in groups and together devise and present a practical marketing plan for a fictional local company, utilizing the frameworks introduced during the course.

Topics

• The Basics of B2B Marketing
• Understanding Organisational Buyer Behaviour
• B2B Segmentation
• The role of B2B relationships & networks
• Doing B2B Marketing Research

Learning outcomes

• knowing the similarities and distinctions between B2C and B2B marketing
• understand how to apply relevant B2B frameworks
• appreciating the importance of relationships in B2B marketing and understanding when to apply this approach
• appreciating the importance of networks in B2B marketing and understanding when to apply this approach

Assessment

Students planning to obtain ECTS credits for the course will write a 45-minute in-class examination. Grading will be based on the group presentation (50%) and contribution to class work (50%).

Reading materials

Core textbook: Brennan, R., L. Canning, and R. McDowell. Business-to-Business Marketing (4th ed.), London, Sage (recommended). Note: this book is also available as an ebook

Peter Naudé is Professor of Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is a graduate of the universities of Cape Town, Sussex, South Africa and Manchester. He has published widely and is the most published author in Industrial Marketing Management. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Dunedin, Sydney University, EM-Lyon Business School and the University of Luleå.