We recommend the course to prospective business school applicants as it is designed to give a glimpse of what you learn at business school.

The course is taught by three of the Wharton top faculty in the marketing department. The course covers three core topics: branding, customer centricity, and practical go-to-market strategies.

The key principles that you will learn are:

  • Branding: brand equity is one of the key elements of keeping customers in a dynamic world in which new startups are emerging constantly.
  • Customer centricity: not synonymous with customer service, customer centricity starts with customer focus and need-gathering.
  • Go-to-market strategies: understand the drivers that influence customers and see how these are implemented prior to making an investment.

Moreover, the course is part of Wharton's Business Foundations Specialization, and by completing it, you will have the opportunity to take the Capstone Project and prepare a strategic analysis and proposed solution to a real business challenge from Wharton-governed companies like Shazam and SnapDeal or to a challenge faced by your own company or organization. Wharton-trained staff will evaluate the top submissions, and leadership teams at Shazam and SnapDeal will review the highest scoring projects prepared for their companies.

About the course

The course is suitable for people with no background in marketing, or those who only have a basic knowledge of marketing concepts. The format is a combination of lecture videos, quizzes and discussions.

Syllabus: 

- MODULE 1: Branding (brand communications and repositioning, marketing strategy, brand positioning, and customer decision-making)

- MODULE 2: Customer Centricity (establishing competitive advantage through customer centricity, the vocabulary of customer centricity and customer relationship management)

- MODULE 3: Go to Market Strategies (omni-channel strategy and online-offline interaction, social targeting, social advertising and persuasion)

Start date: April 6, 2015

Length: 4 weeks with approximately 5-6 hours of study/week

Professors: Barbara E. Kahn, Peter Fader, and David Bell

University: Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

Platform: Coursera

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