Marketing and Design

The overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of consumer behaviour from both managers' and consumers' perspectives, building on current research in consumer behaviour and the social sciences generally. The lectures initially focus on consumers as individuals and then consider more closely the influence of our social experiences on behaviour. The workshops provide a chance to focus on a specialist topic within the field, focusing upon improving academic reading and analysis skills.

This module provides an overview of the knowledge and expertise design management brings to organisations. Design Management refers to a broad range of theories, methods and practices by which an organisation can employ design principles, activities and methods for internal or external purposes. This module introduces past, present, and emerging practices, methods and principles of Design Management. Through lectures and seminars, you will develop an appreciation of the contribution of Design Management for strategy, product development and customer relationships. This module prepares you to work successfully with designers on strategic design issues.

This practical studio module aims to develop your skills in a range of approaches and software tools for designing new and imaginative 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional visualisations. Through design studios and software labs, you will learn about the ways in which designers creatively use visualisation tools and visual thinking to develop their ideas, explore possible interventions and communicate possible futures to different audiences. You will develop competencies in a range of 2-dimensional approaches that draw on theory and techniques from graphic design and information design and you will build on this foundation to develop competencies in visualising 3-dimensional objects and spaces that draw on architectural and product design principles. The module will encourage you to develop an iterative and disruptive approach to generating visualisations, which actively engage with contemporary design issues and contexts.

This module runs alongside your academic studies to help you with academic and employability skills.

This module introduces the key concepts and techniques in marketing research and the analysis of marketing problems. The main aim is to prepare you for future roles as marketing, product, brand and advertising managers by giving you the skills needed to commission, manage, interpret and use marketing information. It will also prepare you for practical market or advertising research projects conducted in your final year (e.g. MKTG310 & MKTG331). The module covers both qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as how to run and manage research projects. For the quantitative part of the unit, you will be introduced to SPSS.

The Marketing Simulation gives an integrated overview of the concepts, techniques and skills used in marketing management. This is done via a computer simulation exercise known as “Markstrat”. The objective of the course is to allow participants to develop skills in applying marketing knowledge, running an analysis and planning system, and dealing with the problems arising from working in groups and managing a business under conditions of uncertainty.

In this module, you will learn about the decisions, actors and actions involved in transforming a product from its raw state to one desired by consumers, and how brand owners work with retailers to ensure shoppers’ access to the product.

This understanding is important to all marketers since it allows marketers to communicate with other areas of the organisation (such as manufacturing or logistics) over issues such as new product launches and promotional initiatives.

We will focus on the retail end of the route to market and how brand owners coordinate with retail (possibly also wholesale) actors to ensure optimal product placement and communication at the point of purchase, using real-life examples.

You will gain vital understanding and perspectives to equip you for entry-level jobs in areas such as trade marketing, customer marketing, shopper marketing, category management and areas of retail. In many companies, graduate entry-level jobs in these areas are the only route to a career in brand management. The thinking is “if you can’t manage retail partners, you can’t manage brands”.

Throughout the module, we will consider the international contexts of routes to market, ethical questions in routes to market, modern techniques and shopping behaviour and ICT use in routes to market.

This module introduces you to principles and processes for designing digitally interactive products, services and systems, which are applicable to a wide variety of scenarios. You will have the opportunity to gain a historical and theoretical understanding of designing for interaction, while also being encouraged to develop your practical digital interaction design skills. You will explore how to use paper-based and digital software tools to prototype novel interactions and iteratively evaluate them with potential audiences. The aim is to identify strengths and weaknesses that can help improve both your prototypes and your process. With emphasis on responsible interactions, you will explore how to creatively and critically design interactions that seek to benefit people and the planet.

This practical studio module helps you develop practical digital making skills using a range of different materials through experimentation and the development of design responses to particular problems. This module is taught though a series of design exercises including laser cutting, 3D scanning, 3D design and printing, and simple electronics with Arduino. These exercises enable you to develop understanding of how materials and technology inform and influence the development of design artefacts and how construction methods and associated technologies constrain and support the development of artefacts, both physical and digital in nature. This module allows you to consider how a specific design problem may be explored through a particular lens and/or given constraints.

This practical studio module focuses on people as being both the recipients and potential creators of design. You will learn how to use methods and tools that enable you to gain insight into the diversity of user groups (the individual, community, young, old, etc.) that may be both designed for and with. You will develop and apply practical design skills such as concept development, creative problem solving and visualisation. You will develop a deep awareness about the user experience by conducting primary and secondary research that includes gaining empathy with potential users, prototyping, testing and iterating potential design solutions. This module allows you to develop a portfolio piece that demonstrates your ability to conduct robust user research and transform that research into a design solution that can generate positive user experiences as well as help tackle some of the big issues facing society.

This module will provide you with a managerial and critical understanding of how brand strategy must integrate and balance a variety of perspectives such as the social, symbolic, and material dimensions of contemporary consumer culture with the managerial and economic determinants of organisations.

You will master the language of brand strategy, discover how the brand function fits with the other functions of an organisation, and learn how this knowledge can be applied in real marketplace contexts. We will also critically evaluate the role of branding in society and we will trace the history of “the modern brand”. A range of theories, concepts, strategies and practices designed to build, evolve and sustain brands will be addressed across a range of categories, product types and industries. You will be encouraged to think for yourself about the possible future brands and the necessity of branding in a changing world.

This module allows you to work in a team and undertake a practical design consultancy project with a real-world client. You will learn what Design Consultancy is and how to become a design consultant. Throughout this project, you will work closely with your client, teammates and tutors to address some of the challenges your client is facing by designing a product or service based on robust design research. Projects vary in nature since they respond to the client's needs but may take the form of a design audit, a new product development, design guidelines, brand positioning/strategy or UX research. Your project will be defined through a negotiation between you and your client that responds to the client's needs and aligns with your team's abilities. During your design consultancy project, you will develop skills in problem definition, data collection and analysis, design conceptualisation, visualisation or making, presentation and report writing. You will also gain professional experience that can help you to develop your employability skills. The Design Consultancy module develops your ability to manage the realities and complexities of design research problems whilst developing your teamwork skills and building your confidence in working directly with clients.

This module explores the complex relationship between innovation and design with a particular emphasis on the need for successful design to engage with networks of innovation that include a broad range of stakeholders. You will develop your understanding of innovation as a discipline, and identify and evaluate some of the different modes of innovation. This module also allows you to explore practically the relationship between innovation and design and develop design concepts that employ ‘innovation’ thinking.

In the final year this module focusses primarily on perfecting your employability skills to get the graduate job you want.

This optional module provides advanced, theoretical perspectives for design interactions, building upon the general framework for designing interactive products and systems, introduced in the second year Design Interactions module. You will extend your knowledge and understanding of the theory, research and practice of design interactions into specialised areas, which may include human-computer, human-human, human-place and human-system interactions. Advanced Design Interactions allows you to consider the role that design plays in these different types of interactions, and introduces you to specific methods or ways that you might research design interactions that are interesting to you. This module draws directly from the research expertise of staff in ImaginationLancaster, our globally recognised design research lab, so that you are exposed to cutting-edge concepts in these fields. As such, Advanced Design Interactions provides you with an understanding of some of the most up-to-date issues and challenges facing those who design interactions today. The module also gives you the opportunity to design a research project or interaction, which further gives you some skills that will be helpful if you wish to pursue design research as a graduate.

This module aims to provide you with the opportunity to critically review existing research and theory as it relates to a number of current consumer research specialist topics. You will apply and adapt existing theoretical frameworks to real consumer contexts, and engage with the research interests of the marketing department staff.

The module adopts a topic-based model; a typical syllabus would include:

• self and identity in consumer behaviour,
• consumers and communications,
• theories of consumption,
• children as consumers,
• consumers and culture,
• consumer research applications in the public policy domain,
• consumers and ethics.

The overall aim of this module is to develop an appreciation and understanding of the fast-moving and multi-faceted world of advertising from both a theoretical and managerial perspective.

We will focus on advertising within the private sector and cover a number of contemporary issues in advertising, including social and ethical issues, international advertising and advertising regulation. On completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of advertising theory, strategy and execution.

In this module, we bring to the forefront this often less visible but vast area of marketing to help you develop a more holistic understanding of how markets work and how they are created and shaped. We explore marketing concepts familiar to you as a marketer but broaden them by looking at the multiplicity of actors involved in marketing and in market making. Specifically, we unpack the activities in which organisations are involved and deployed to engage in markets. The module considers marketing in a range of contexts and critically discusses contemporary trends in B2B marketing practice and theory.

The module concerns the communications strategies and techniques used by new social movements, brands and people. We will study a spectrum of tools and media of communications, such as lobbying, design, sustainable communications (and greenwashing).

You will use action learning to develop a campaign strategy and creative work for a major UK government campaign. We will examine how protesters and social activists use communications, and you will be encouraged to think critically about how communications shape societies and human values.

This practical studio module considers contemporary issues (ecological sustainability, health and wellbeing) or ‘wicked problems’ through the exploration of a specific context (space, place or practice). Typically, this is an intensive design project that lasts for ten weeks. You will develop skills in critically evaluating a particular context to inform the development of appropriate design responses, which you will visualise to a professional standard. You will conduct design research and apply practical design skills that respond to the findings of your contextual analysis. Your portfolio piece will demonstrate your ability to understand not only the opportunities and constraints presented by a particular context but also the ways in which design interventions may affect that context.

This Speculative Design studio helps develop your ability to think critically by considering how emerging technologies might affect our lives in the future. You will develop a world-building approach to consider the potential futures of a chosen emerging technology (e.g. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Robots, Diamond Batteries, Biomimetic Materials, etc.) by creating a range of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional artefacts that help to domesticate and concretise such a future. In doing this, you will be able to explore and critically evaluate the potential societal implications of particular futures based on current weak signals in the present - and you will learn how to practically represent your vision for the future to an external audience in a manner that is both plausible and engaging. This module therefore results in a portfolio piece that demonstrates critical, imaginative and futures-focused thinking and designing.

The module gives you a unique opportunity to engage with the key academic and industry-led questions at the forefront of digital marketing practice. It will stimulate your understanding around the following questions:

• How can we create data-driven, effective digital marketing campaigns?
• How does the consumer decision-making journey change in a digital space?
• How does digital technology transform marketing strategy in a business-to-consumer and business-to-business context?
• Why do so many companies fail in managing cyber risk despite having cybersecurity measures in place?

As well as engaging with academic perspectives, you will practice real-life integrated digital campaign planning using industry-leading global data from Similarweb. An external industry expert session ensures that you also gain further insight into relevant careers and the practice of digital marketing.

As marketing activities become more internationally focused, firms are increasingly looking for prospective employees with the knowledge and skills to address the new challenges and opportunities associated with globalisation. This module combines the latest research in the field of international marketing; providing insights, theories, concepts and tools that enable students to navigate the global market. Students will take part in interactive lectures and assessment-centred seminars to examine trends in global marketing management. The module will also pay special attention to emerging markets and the roles they play in invigorating marketing theories and practice.

This module introduces theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence of contemporary innovations in markets and an exploration of marketing activities that support them. You will be given time and opportunity to reflect on your learning and to discuss your emergent understanding. You will have the opportunity to explore challenges faced by managers of innovation, as well as comparing potential outcomes of marketing management decisions in real-world scenarios.

The module begins by identifying marketing innovations, followed by exploring the issues of why firms are thought to either typically succeed or fail in business. From here you will be encouraged to explore the changing business environments within which firms must survive.

The module is organised around six themes:

1. Creating Innovations
2. Developing an Innovation Strategy
3. Building the Innovative Organisation
4. Managing the Innovation Process
5. Capturing the Value from Innovations
6. Emerging of the Contemporary Innovations in Markets.

We see how Social Innovation, Innovations for Emerging Markets and Sustainability-led Innovation are emerged and contribute to the global markets.

This module gives you the chance to explore various forms of social media in the context of digital marketing and online consumer culture. You will develop awareness and gain insights into a diverse range of topics such as:

• social media tools,
• mobile marketing,
• online consumption environments,
• virtual identities and online consumer behaviour,
• online consumption experiences,
• the rise of virtual economies.

As part of the module, you will also explore current and potential trends in the digital environment.

This module aims to equip you for a career in strategic marketing management in various industries, which may include among others fast moving consumer goods and retailing, automotive, consulting services or the luxury sector.

It is essential for students to obtain a solid understanding of various perspectives on strategy and to develop the ability to evaluate, design and implement sustainable and profitable marketing strategy. The module combines a critical academic perspective on strategy research with applied and practicable models and frameworks essential to developing strong marketing plans. The module aims to stimulate the student's thinking around such questions as:

• Why do some products or services succeed and others fail?
• How do you design a profitable and sustainable marketing strategy?
• What are the challenges involved in developing and implementing marketing strategy?
• Is marketing strategy a planning framework or improvised practice?

The key theme of this module is to learn how to negotiate and make sustainable business deals. Strategic negotiations are highly relevant in today’s interconnected business landscape. Companies need to negotiate with multiple stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers, agencies, governments and authorities to be able to access the resources that they need. A strategic deal that companies would need is not a fixed entity but rather the outcome of long and time-consuming negotiations that affect further negotiations.

The module will examine:

1. the strategic challenges that companies face in their markets today,
2. the analytical tools that are needed to make sustainable business deals,
3. the biases and errors in deal-making
4. the various ways by which business deals are manifested, and
5. the managerial implications of strategic negotiations.

In this module, we explore how marketing activities are managed in businesses, organisations and markets. Our focus is on three levels- namely, individuals, organisations and market place. Our understandings of marketing management are to a large extent shaped by theories and evidence on consumer behaviour in various markets. With this module, we turn our attention to managers and how they should make sense of and take action towards creating values for consumers and clients, their own businesses and organisations, and society at large. We approach this management question from multiple theoretical perspectives- namely, organisational and institutional theory, behavioural sciences, and marketing. We critically review these perspectives to understand how they construct and study the tasks of judgement and decision-making for marketing managers. We then employ these perspectives to identify and evaluate the opportunities and challenges contemporary marketing managers face within businesses, organisations, markets and society. These relate to technological advances and innovation, globalisation and its discontents, the inclusivity and exclusivity of consumption, marketing ethics, sustainability and climate change.