Educators often face the challenge of selecting a suitable textbook or courseware to provide their students with the best educational experience. At Stukent®, we understand this challenge and offer innovative solutions such as the Marketing Management Bundle and the Brand Management Bundle. Both options come packed with real-world, practical experience, and courseware authored by Terry Sullivan, a passionate educator and marketing professional. 

Let’s explore these bundles to determine which aligns best with your teaching goals and your students’ aspirations.

Understanding the Bundles

Marketing Management Bundle: A Holistic Approach

The Marketing Management Bundle aims to transform today’s students into tomorrow’s marketing managers. The “Marketing Management Today” courseware is central to this bundle, an engaging text paired with up-to-date educator resources. It covers the art and science of branding, products, communications, and technology.

“In the real world, we try to get marketers to think from a customer perspective and a company perspective,” Terry said. “The approach in the Marketing Management Bundle does just that — it’s a different approach for students, one that’s not only useful but engaging for them as well.”

The courseware encompasses a wide range of marketing aspects, not limited to branding or advertising but extending to product management, customer relations, and technological impacts on marketing. This comprehensive approach ensures students receive a well-rounded education in all facets of marketing management.

Key Features of the Marketing Management Courseware

• Branding from the Customer Perspective: Students explore the distinctions between brand awareness, preference, and relevance, learning their significance for customers and companies.
• Branding from the Company Perspective: This discussion equips students to identify various branding types and their corresponding strategies, emphasizing their impact on business success.
• Diverse Perspectives on Marketing: The courseware offers insights from both customer and company viewpoints.
• Push and Pull Marketing: Students delve into the nuances of push and pull marketing communication strategies, exploring their unique applications and effectiveness.
• The Role of Technology in Marketing: The courseware teaches how companies leverage technology across marketing functions and how technological advancements influence brand perception and consumer behavior.

The bundle also includes the Marketing Management Simternship™. In the simulation, students act as interns at Buhi Supply Co. and are immersed in a realistic e-commerce environment. They face challenges such as responding to dynamic market trends, strategizing brand repositioning, navigating customer feedback, and building critical thinking and decision-making skills essential for a marketing manager.

Key Features of the Marketing Management Simternship

• Strategizing in Marketing: Students evaluate and select impactful marketing campaign ideas.
• Adapting the Marketing Mix: Students adjust the marketing mix by selecting product features, pricing, and distribution channels.
• Mastering Brand Repositioning: Students craft a positioning statement and a value proposition, crucial for brand repositioning.
• Launching a Line Extension: Students participate in the launch of a new product line, determining target customer segments, value propositions, and positioning strategies.
• Developing Budgeting Skills: This component educates students on allocating and managing marketing budgets, an essential skill for marketing professionals.

Beyond theoretical knowledge, students engage in practical scenarios like product design based on market research, the nuances of customer behavior, and financial assessments such as calculating customer lifetime value.

Brand Management Bundle: Narrowing in on Brand Success

In contrast, the Brand Management Bundle is a powerful resource for educators who want to prepare students to excel in brand management. It combines the “Brand Management & Strategy” courseware with the innovative Brand Management Simternship. The pair focuses on building brands that foster value creation for both customers and companies.

The course content dives deep into the essence of brand creation and management, exploring the strategic and creative aspects of branding. Students learn about the evolution of brands, the significance of brand identity, and the art of crafting compelling value propositions that resonate with target audiences. It’s an ideal choice for educators passionate about branding who wish to equip their students with specialized knowledge in this field.

Key Features of the “Brand Management & Strategy” Courseware

• Brand Strategy Plan: This project involves creating a brand strategy for a new, fictional business, focusing not just on brand identity but on the strategic foundation for brand communication and development. This could be an individual or small group assignment given at the end of the semester.
• Real-World Brand Insights with an “Eye on Brands:” Each chapter concludes with a video segment showcasing current brands and how they implement the strategies discussed.
• The Role of Endorsers and Influencers: Chapter 5 covers the increasingly important role of endorsers and influencers in modern branding.
• Engaging Video Introductions: Each chapter opens with a personal message from the author, setting the stage for the upcoming lesson and fostering a connection with the material.

To help students apply the courseware concepts, the Brand Management Simternship offers hands-on experience in brand-specific tasks. Students engage in activities like A/B testing for marketing effectiveness, developing brand status presentations, and exploring co-branding strategies, providing a practical understanding of the complexities of brand management.

Key Features of the Brand Management Simternship

• Excelling in Brand Optimization: Students utilize research to select optimal distribution channels and target audiences, enhancing their understanding of brand positioning.
• Practicing SEO Optimization: Some tasks involve optimizing various branding elements, including positioning statements, and using A/B testing to select effective strategies.
• Crafting Customer Experience Plans: Students create online and in-store customer experience maps, choosing appropriate content for different customer journey stages.
• Executing Line Extensions: Students practice selecting features and pricing for line extensions, preparing and reviewing brand status presentations.
• Exploring Co-branding Opportunities: Students identify and optimize co-branding strategies, a crucial skill in contemporary brand management.

Making the Right Choice

Educators can access instructor resources in both bundles, such as lesson plans, lecture slide decks, and assessment tools. These resources ensure you have the tools required to deliver high-quality instruction.

Ultimately, choosing between the Marketing Management Bundle and the Brand Management Bundle depends on your teaching objectives. Consider the following when making your decision:

• Marketing Management Bundle: Choose this bundle if your goal is to provide your students with a comprehensive foundation in marketing principles, preparing them for a wide range of marketing roles across different industries.
• Brand Management Bundle: Choose this bundle if you want to focus on branding and prepare your students for brand management or creative branding careers.

To learn about Stukent’s first-in-the-world Simternships and courseware and to get FREE instructor access to Stukent materials, visit our website.