How information and communication technology affects marketing sector?

Answer 1

"Information- and Technology-based Marketing" addresses how to use customer information and the technology to process it (i.e. databases, analytics, computing systems) to learn about and market to individual customers.

Advances in the technology to process individual-level customer information has had two important effects for Marketing.

First, many firms now possess much more information about consumers' choices and reactions to marketing campaigns than ever before. However, few firms have the expertise to intelligently act on such information. The first goal of this course is to help students develop this expertise. Specifically, the course will teach what it takes to collect, analyze, and act on customer information. For example, we will use sophisticated targeting models to increase marketing ROI in direct marketing campaigns. While we will use many quantitative methods in the course, the goal is *not* to produce experts in statistics. Instead, the goal is to train students to be able to comfortably interact with and manage a marketing analytics team.

The second effect of information technology is that it has changed the competitive environment for many firms. Consumers have more information about competitive offerings, the internet has allowed many competitors to market to consumers directly, etc. Hence, this course will also focus on how to adapt marketing strategy to an environment of more informed customers, more flexible competitors, and additional ways of reaching consumers.

Marketing is going through an evolution from having been primarily an art to becoming a science. This course teaches students a crucial part of the "science" approach to marketing. We will use a combination of lectures, cases, projects, and exercises to learn the material. This course takes a very hands-on approach and equips students with tools which can be used immediately on the job.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: "How does "Information- and Technology-based Marketing" differ from "High-Tech Marketing" (MBA 264, EWMBA 264)?"
A: The courses have no overlap. 'High-Tech Marketing' is about marketing high-technology products. "Information- and Technology-based Marketing" is about using customer information and "technology" (i.e. databases, analytics, computing systems) to market to consumers.

Q: "How does "Information- and Technology-based Marketing" differ from "Marketing Research" (MBA 261, EWMBA 261)?"
A: "Marketing Research" is a broad course that introduces students to a variety of research methods, such as psychological measurement, research design, survey methods, experimentation, etc. In doing so, Marketing Research focuses strongly on collecting data about consumers to understand their overall preferences. In contrast, "Information- and Technology-based Marketing" starts with the idea that you have a (potentially huge) database containing each individual customer and teaches you how to market to these customers using sophisticated techniques. The two course complement each other very well, however, you don't need one to take the other.

Q: "Do I have to know a lot of statistics to succeed?"
A: Absolutely not. While we will use statistics to analyze customer information and many of the assignments require you to use statistical techniques, all you need will be introduced in class with plenty of opportunity to get familiar with it.

Answer 2

It's faster!