UCCI Course Description

1) Students read and analyze two companies’ profiles and marketing communications to identify key elements of market orientation (e.g. Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines). Students then produce a chart that delineates each of the critical elements of market orientation for the two companies and write a report outlining the key elements for a company’s marketing orientation with reference to primary sources to support a conclusion.

2) Working in collaborative groups, students choose two similar companies or firms in the same industry (e.g. Google and Yahoo, McDonald’s and Starbucks). Using public company profiles and primary source marketing materials, students analyze the marketing mix decisions of each company to determine which decisions have led to a competitive advantage in the industry. In a timed writing, students identify the decisions for each company and analyze the effects of those decisions within the competitive industry, providing specific examples from primary sources that highlight analysis of company decisions.

3) Students read the contemporary business tale FISH!, by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen, and write a short Summary Reaction Essay drawing parallels from the personal philosophy of the business tale and the corporate philosophies gleaned from primary sources.

Students read selected chapters from You Just Don’t Understand Me, by Deborah Tannen, to gain an understanding of how communication styles differ and write a reflective or humorous essay on the selected reading. Students will read different types of expository texts, analyze and synthesize the way they are utilized by verifying and clarifying facts for market analysis. Students then use this information to write a critical essay on their analysis. Reading Assignments include, “You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation,” by Deborah Tannen (select chapter/s), Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar (Chapter 2, “Writing Process,” and Chapter 3, “Paragraphs and Composition”),  Marketing Essentials (Chapter 2), and annual reports of public companies, alongside those same companies’ marketing and communications materials.

1) Students write a reflective or humorous essay on the chapter they selected and read in Deborah Tannen’s book, You Just Don’t Understand, including how the different communication styles of men and women affect marketing and advertising decisions.

2) Students conduct a market analysis of a company and write a Critical Essay of their findings, drawing information from the Company Profile and website, including:

• The market share the company has in its industry sub-sector and its marketing implications.

• A classification, with justification, of the company's market position.

• Main market segments.

• Key marketing objectives of the company.

• A clear definition of the marketing function and what it aims to do.

• How the company meets the aims of the marketing function.

• Type of market structure and how it affects their marketing strategies.

• The success of the marketing strategy adopted by the company in meeting their objectives.

Students read Annual Reports, company profiles, marketing communications documents, and find relevant resources on the internet, for the purposes of determining the target audience for these communications and analyzing the rhetorical devices used to reach that audience. Students utilize effective speaking, listening, and writing skills and techniques to conduct relevant market surveys and perform research that they ultimately present in a marketing research report and oral presentation they will deliver with supporting visuals. Reading Assignments include Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar (Chapter 13, “Research Papers,” and Chapter 32, “Citing Sources”), and Marketing Essentials (Chapters 28 and 29).

1) Students write research findings in a research paper on an “infant” company in narrative form, including:

• Information from company Annual Reports, company profiles, marketing communications documents, and relevant internet resources.

• A description of product, purpose, and product benefits to a specific target market/audience.

• Evidence from primary and secondary resources with proofs, charts, and graphs and supporting surveys.

In their research papers, students are expected to:

• Use industry-specific vocabulary accurately and effectively

• Critique expository documents

• Write a final narrative summary demonstrating feasibility of product or service based on research.

• Create an MLA-formatted Works Cited.

2) Students present their report in multimedia format.

Students learn to define a “Marketing Environment,” distinguishing between international, national, regional, and local marketing environments, and learn to recognize the role of multinational corporations (such as Starbucks and McDonald’s) in an increasingly globalized market. Students analyze the global economy and its impact on the marketing environment, focusing on how this environment is shaped by various forces at the Macro-Level (PEST= Political leaders, Economic factors, Socio-cultural, Technology), Micro-Level (consumers, suppliers, and stakeholders), and Internal-Level (“Men, money, machines, materials, and minutes”). Students recognize market opportunities and challenges as a result of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis. In this unit, students also read Fast Food Nation, for one author’s view on the global societal impact of one company’s marketing strategies. In addition to reading Fast Food Nation, students also read Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar (Chapter 11, “Exposition”) and Marketing Essentials (Chapter 34).

1) Students write a cause-and-effect essay summarizing how the U.S. has become a “fast food nation” and what effect the fast food trend has on people.

2) Timed Response Prompt: Students imagine they have been asked to help plan a mall to be built near their school. Working collaboratively in groups, students brainstorm ideas for businesses, answering the following questions:

What types of businesses would do well in this location? Choose one potential business and do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Which ideas have the most potential? The least? Why? Students share their results in a brief presentation with visuals.

3) Given a real or simulated company, students research the competition in at least two different countries, conduct an analysis of opportunities and threats, make and rank recommendations supported by research, and create a display outlining their findings and recommendations.

4) Prepare a global environmental SCAN. Through this Environmental SCAN, research and evaluate various countries and each country’s competition. Supported by this research, make recommendations and rank them to determine appropriate product placement and services. Create a one page memo report outlining findings and recommendations.

5) In an expository essay, students analyze the difference in labor markets for the same product in different locations – locally, nationally, or globally. In this paper, students must demonstrate: how wages and benefits are determined by supply and demand; worker productivity is determined by demand; economic fluctuations affect employment; and unemployment rate and government policies impact the labor market.

6) Students research an aspect of ethics, such as how businesses communicate ethics policies, the effects of peer pressure on ethical choices, or how ideas about ethics have changed over time and write a reflective paper on how this aspect of ethics affects ethics in business.

Students read Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy, for foundational knowledge on marketing and branding. Students research, analyze, and critique major corporate marketing communications campaigns, comparing and contrasting a variety of brands, as well as the use and implementation of branding, to produce customer loyalty, awareness, and recognition. In addition to doing primary research and analysis in this unit, students also produce their own original marketing material, doing so to demonstrate their understanding of key marketing and branding concepts, including:

1. How an audience is persuaded by organized ideas and precise and relevant examples.

2. How to develop a call for action that incorporates visual aids and rhetorical devices.

3. How to select the appropriate medium to produce a desired effect and revise presentation based on audience response.

In addition to the Ogilvy text, students also read Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar (Chapter 7, “Persuasion”) and Marketing Essentials (Chapter 31).

1) Students produce an industry-appropriate a press release for one of the people, products, vacation destinations, or corporations that they explored in the branding unit.

2) Students read a “Types of Advertising” article and Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy before editing the press release they created. Students create a simple, one page print advertisement for the person, product, vacation destination, or corporation based on concepts in reading. The ad should include a headline, subhead, body copy, visual image, call to action, logo, and contact information. Students write a one page reflection about how their advertisement demonstrates understanding of the ad model from “Types of Advertising” and how it reflects creativity based on Ogilvy’s work.

3) Students will create a 10 to 20 slide PowerPoint presentation comparing and contrasting the following: branding of two politicians in the same election and race; two vacation destinations in a similar price range, two simple consumer products, and two corporations in similar or same industry.

4) In a timed writing, students reflect on how their advertisement demonstrates understanding of the ad model from “Types of Advertising” and how it reflects creativity based on Ogilvy’s work.

In this unit, students analyze and differentiate between the promotional mix concepts in marketing. They research the nature and scope of public relations and discuss trade and consumer sales promotion, conducting a historical investigation incorporating rhetorical strategies to analyze and encompass research information that leads to a Promotional Plan that incorporates industry-specific vocabulary and effective rhetorical strategies. Students also read Tortilla Curtain, by T. C. Boyle, analyzing how Boyle explores the notion of conspicuous consumption in America. Other reading assignments include Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar (Chapter 8, “Persuasion”) and Advertisement Marketing Essentials (Chapters 17, 18, 19, and 20).

1) Students will write a Reflective Essay on the insights gained through T.C. Boyle’s Tortilla Curtain, and how those insights can be utilized in creating an advertising/ marketing plan or positioning.

2) Students will write a 3-5 minute persuasive speech and create and present a promotional campaign, including an executive summary, descriptions, objective(s) of the campaign, identification of the target market, primary markets and secondary markets, advertising media, budget, schedules of all advertising planned, schedules of all sales promotion activity(ies) planned, statement of benefits to the client/advertiser, MLA works cited page, and appendix.

In this unit, students recognize and demonstrate the steps and techniques of selling, employing effective communication skills to address the needs of their intended audience.  They also examine and analyze buying motivations and the consumer decision-making process. Students read two plays, Glengarry Glen Ross, by David Mamet, and The Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller for comparison and characterization of key elements of sales psychology from a literary perspective.

1) Students examine the selling model and techniques employed by the Apple Corporation, including Steve Job’s Product Reveal Speech for the iPhone. Students will specifically analyze the various persuasive techniques utilized by this corporation, with a specific focus on commercials and public events. Students will identify the rhetorical devices utilized to sell and market a new product. They will then “blueprint” the various types of rhetorical devices and marketing strategies utilized in a story board.

2) Students examine and analyze the following speeches: John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention, Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, and Steve Job’s Product Reveal Speech for iPhone. Students select one of the before-mentioned speeches and write a literary analysis, addressing the effectiveness of the structure, logic, and persuasive techniques utilized to lead the targeted audience to agree with the writer’s point of view. Further, students creatively compare and contrast all four speeches in a chart or Venn diagram.

3) Students research, formulate interview questions, and contact a local business in order to conduct an interview with the Marketing and Sales personnel to gain a real-world insight into the world of Marketing and Sales and to connect classroom learning with real life.

4) Students sell and market a “never before seen” product that they have formulated on their own. They will be accountable to identify the functions, benefits, and features of their product that will address a specific target audience. Students present organized and logical persuasive-selling speeches that appeal to the emotional needs of the audience and employ effective visual aids.

5) Students will write a word Compare and Contrast or Critical Analysis Essay on the main characters in the two plays, Glengarry Glen Ross and Death of a Salesman.

In this unit, students complete a career options research project and an employment portfolio in which they develop a career plan that is designed to reflect career interests and options. They also participate in mock job interviews and include each of these components in their final employment portfolio.

1) Students produce a research paper on a career in the industry of their choice.

2) Students complete an employment portfolio, which includes the following:

• Job application

• Resume

• Letters of recommendation

• Work samples

• Cover letter

• Special certifications or awards

• Interview critique