Direct Marketing
Fall 2007
MKT 510 Faculty: Baber Khairi
Office Timings: Saturday 11-2 or 12- 1 Saturday 8 to 11
Direct
Marketing is a field whose time has come. It has grown from obscure beginnings
to become one of the most important tools in the kit of a marketing manager. Leading
companies today have a marked preference for direct marketing usually in
conjunction with advertising, although by 2010 most expect advertising to
occupy no more than a quarter of their promotion budgets. The attraction of
direct marketing has been its ability to focus directly on, and to service,
customer needs. In addition unlike so much else in marketing, it is highly
quantifiable. In other words, because results can be measured, this allows for
substantial cost savings, accurate allocation of expenses and better customer
relationships. In addition direct marketing is not just about traditional mail
& catalogue methods; it has become a field using advanced technology,
quantitative applications, call centers and the Internet to get these results.
Number crunching, data mining and quantified forecasting are the main tools a
direct marketer uses.
Also
sometimes referred to as 1:1 marketing, the main problem faced has always been
the high expense associated with gathering, tracking, monitoring and digesting
customer information at such a finite level. Fortunately advances in technology
have led to solutions such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management software)
that enable direct marketers to understand and influence customer behaviour through meaningful communication. This in turn
has helped improve customer retention, loyalty levels and profitability per
customer. Over $100Billion alone are spent every year in the
Prerequisites: Marketing Management, microeconomics,
ITC, IBF,
Course reading:
Recommended reading:
Profitable Direct Marketing by Ros Jay (International Thomson Business Press: 1998)
Course Description:
Direct
Marketing, or DM for short, is a creative, conceptually oriented course. It
consists of 3 assignments, 2 midterms and a final examination. It assumes
substantial academic knowledge about marketing on the part of the student and
encourages the student to read the many articles and readings on the extensively
used course website. The assignments are always topical and change from
semester to semester, as does the content. In addition to readings and quizzes,
there are class workshops, technical games and learning exercises. A sense of humour goes a long way in the course. The course uses a
fair amount of simplistic mathematical formulae. If you study your equations
you will find them simple and it is possible to score very high in this part of
the course. Students completing this course should be able to carry out a DM
campaign entirely on their own.
About your instructor: (nothing you really want to know)
Baber Khairi landed on this planet a
very, very, very, very long time ago, that
is, when he still had some hair on his head ---- obviously that was some time
back. He immediately discovered a passion for chocolates which enabled him
to complete his BA from
He then proceeded to work at a
number of firms, marketing mainly financial products – instead of himself -- at
Bankers Equity, Orix, LTVM and Citibank. If you have
not heard of any of these, that’s alright, neither has he. Baber
Khairi consulted on a number of privatization issues
in the banking, power and the petroleum sectors. Of course no one listened to
anything he said, which is just as well, since paying for consultancy services doesn’t
really mean having to do what you pay for. This is his 9th year in
college instruction academia. He has lived in several countries and even speaks
a few foreign languages such as English, Urdu, Spanish and a little French
(which consists of speaking illegibly and waving one’s arms). His passions remain
chocolate and science fiction.
Ah, um….may the force be with you….and all that jazz
Grades Structure:
4 quizzes + other class work 5 points
3 Assignments 15
points (5pts each)
Cases Discussion 10 points (4 case studies)
2 Midterms 30 points
Final 40 points
------------
Total 100points
Course Schedule:
Quiz1
* Case studies may be replaced at instructor’s discretion
To contact in case of tears, unhappiness, questions and concerns:
Office: Room 302 Academic Bldg –x290 Office Hours: Saturday 12 - 1 pm
E-mail: [email protected]
When e-mailing your instructor kindly state your name and ID and the course you are in. Then state what your problem or concern is. Do not assume I know who or what you are.
Ten simple ways to ace this course: