Unit 3 Course Materials

We’ve made it to Unit 3: The Marketing Environment this week, where we will learn about how an organization must adapt its marketing plan to the elements in the external environment. Think of the things organizations have had to alter about their operations and how they market their products and services to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic!

External forces, or circumstances outside of an organization’s control continually mold and reshape the target market which consumes products and services. Because of these changes, marketers have to be quick-thinking and strategic to not lose market share, and must always be able to showcase an organization in the best light. We’ll learn about and discuss the marketing environment for this week’s assignment.

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Evaluate how marketing strategies align with corporate strategies
Explain the inputs and components of a marketing strategy
Show how common analytic tools are used to inform the organization’s strategy
Give examples of corporate strategies
Explain how the development and maintenance of customer relationships are an essential part of an organization’s marketing strategy

In order to successfully complete this unit, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Read this Open Educational Resource (free to access): Module 4: Marketing Strategy¹
You do not need to complete the assignments or questions at the end of this resource. Please use the links on our Course Schedule to learn more and to complete the assignments for this week.

2. Watch this explanation of SWOT analyses from 365 Careers (also embedded below). Here’s an example of a SWOT analysis for a brand we reference frequently in class: Starbucks.