Students analyze marketing problems and develop solutions to real-world situations. This course provides students with more advanced marketing theory, builds on some of what they already know, and provides an opportunity for them to apply their knowledge to a real client such as your own organization. Much of the focus of this course is on marketing planning,

Past clients have received either a marketing plan or an output which addresses a marketing requirement, such as a marketing communications plan. We generally work with clients that have been in business for at least a few years, have gone through early growth and now want to expand their markets or improve their revenues. Clients' annual revenues are generally material - in excess of $0.5- 1 million, sometimes materially more. Past client projects have involved issues such as market penetration, awareness, US market entry, Canadian and/or US market development, customer attraction, and customer retention.

We have worked with companies in Canada and the US, and not-for-profits in a wide variety of industries.

The course is led by a long-term adjunct professor who has guided students in prior course iterations for many years. He is Partner with the marketing management consulting firm, Convergence Management Consultants Ltd., where he assists clients to identify, assess and resolve their marketplace issues. He has previously served as a Senior Partner with a Big 4 management consultancy and Vice President for a publicly traded firm, among other positions. He is author of four books on marketing, customer relationships and competition.

To be decided between the educator and interested employers. A Terms of Reference (ToR) will be developed collaboratively and students will deliver to this requirement with a presentation and report towards the end of the semester. The client will meet with student teams online or in-class twice before the delivery of each group's final presentation. There will be about 2-3 groups of approximately 4-5 students working on the project so the client will receive at least 2 presentations to address the ToR.