MKTG 4500 - Marketing on the Internet
Fall Semester 2001
INSTRUCTOR:         Hugh Guffey
OFFICE:                    234 Business Building 
OFFICE HOURS:     9:00-11:00 AM TH 		 E-MAIL:     hguffey@business.auburn.edu
PHONE:     (334) 844-2475
FAX:           (334) 844-4032
    PREREQUISITES:       The stated prerequisites are given in the AU BULLETIN and include a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better, successful completion (with a grade of C or better) of MKTG 3310 and successful completion of the College of Business Information Technology requirement.
    COURSE OBJECTIVE:      The objective of this course is to provide the students with basic introductory information about the structure and advantages of marketing on the Internet. Additionally the course will provide the students the opportunity to develop the practical coding skills that are required to develop and maintain a basic web site. Thus the course will be an exploration of an evolving practice that is expected to become a major component in all future marketing.

    This class is a combination of a basic lecture course (to deliver the conceptual understanding) and project course (to develop the basic skills). The text will be used to augment lecture material. The in-class time will be spent primarily on content material. A lesser amount of time will be devoted to the programming necessary to establish a presence on the Web and to complete the term project. Much of the programming required for the course will be left to available tutorials and demonstration examples. It is not necessary that you be an accomplished HTML programmer to enter this course. But you must understand that you will be required to develop considerable skill in this area and that most of that acquisition will be self taught.

    You need to be fairly computer/web literate to be successful in this class. Obviously you should be familiar with word processing and elementary web technology. We will review most of the preliminary code requirements and the localized DUC requirements for getting on AU's server. The programming requirements are demonstrated from the originating source code. You may use available WYSIWYG software packages but you do so at your own risk. Past history indicates that students who depend on these aides are disadvantaged in the assignments.

    TERM PROJECT:      A significant portion of your grade will be determined by your term project. You will identify a marketing opportunity, design/implement a preliminary web-site to promote that enterprise, and develop a complete Internet marketing plan for the proposed site. The possible topics include Internet "pure plays" (although these are very risky), web augmented retail operations (for either existing bricks and mortar operations, catalog or other direct distributions), specialized portals, affiliate programs, or any one of a number of other Internet based marketing activities. Deliverables for your project will include:
    1. an initial proposal that will describe the type of operation and the basic business model that will drive the revenue,
    2. a prototype of a website for the proposed venture, and
    3. a complete marketing plan.

    Your proposal must be delivered to the instructor for approval prior to midterm. The final marketing plan and web site will be due two weeks prior to the end of the semester. Both the proposal and the marketing plan will be delivered in a hypertext format

    GRADE DETERMINATION:      Your semester grade will be determined by your relative performance on four equally weighted exams, several within term coding assignments, your initial proposal, your web site design and operation and your marketing plan. Each of the four scheduled exams will be weighted at ten percent of your semester grade. The project proposal will account for five percent of your grade. The web site will account for fifteen percent. Your hypertext report (your marketing plan) will contribute twenty percent of your grade. The remaining twenty percent of the grade will be established by your timely completion of 8 to 12 specific out-of-class assignments that will be given during the course of the semester. Thus the grade is determined by:

    Project Proposal           5%
    Project Web Site15%
    Marketing Plan20%
    Within Term Assignments20%
    Four Exams40%

    University policy requires that a make-up examination be given for all exams that are missed with a University approved excuse. All such make ups will be given immediately after the Final. Those students missing the Final Exam will receive an X or XF according to University policy until their excuse is validated and a make-up is given.

    PERSONAL DATA INFORMATION: Each student is required to provide the instructor with selected personal data. This information briefly outlines your work experience, and expectations for the course. This data is used by the instructor to customize the course content to address the needs of the class. You are also asked to provide a 4 digit code for the electronic posting of term grades. All collected information is confidential. You may transmit this data electronically by linking to the Personal Data Form.

    Click here to view the COURSE CALENDAR.

    Click here to view the Links to Students' WEB SITES.

    Click here to view the GRADE BOOK (this site is best viewed in Netscape).

 


Revised August 2001