COURSE NUMBER: MBA265.1

 

COURSE TITLE: Integrated Marketing Communications

 

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2.0

 

INSTRUCTOR: Lynn Upshaw

 

E-MAIL ADDRESS: upshaw@haas.berkeley.edu   

 

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION:  http://bspace.berkeley.edu  

 

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Mondays 4:00 – 6:00PM

 

PREREQUISITE(S): MBA206

 

CLASS FORMAT:  The course will include interactive class discussions, punctuated with talks and workshops by numerous practicing IMC experts who will provide students with insider looks into the fields of advertising, public relations, online/social networking marketing, direct marketing, and sales promotion.

 

REQUIRED READINGS: No textbook will be required for this course, but several will be recommended to the class for further research if they have an interest in pursuing the subject.  A course reader will be supplied that will include pertinent and recent IMC cases, articles, and online sites and blogs.

 

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: The final grade will be based on 1) a concepts and vocabulary quiz (take-home, “open-book”) (10%), 2) a mid-term IMC-based customer contact analysis of a brand of the students’ choice (with instructor approval) (30%), 3) a final, comprehensive IMC plan with specific strategic and tactical recommendations (40%), and 4) a class participation grade (20%).  The quiz and participation work will be completed by individuals, and the remaining assignments will be completed in teams.

 

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

The Integrated Marketing Communications course will expose students to all major forms of marketing communications and provide them with the knowledge and insight necessary to use IMC information in future business roles, or in working with those who specialize in this growing field. 

 

Students will have an opportunity to debate and gain experience with IMC strategic and tactical planning, as well as key issues and brands in such fields as advertising, public relations (including “buzz” marketing and product placement), online marketing (including social network marketing), direct marketing and sales promotion.  Students will also be asked to regularly contribute their own experiences in IMC, as applicable.

 

Specifically, by the end of the course, students will:

           Have a working knowledge of all key aspects of IMC;

           Be equipped with a strong strategic framework within which to make sound IMC decisions;

           Be able to apply specific tools and approaches to common marketing communications challenges;

           Establish realizable metrics and critically assess the progress of IMC efforts over time.

 

Integrated marketing communications is where the rubber hits the road in marketing.  Upon completion of this course, the student will be ready to pursue this field – or one or more disciplines within it – with strong tools and knowledge, or simply work more effectively in or near marketing with a much clearer understanding of how marketing communications can create a significant impact in the marketplace, leading to stronger business performance.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

 

Lynn Upshaw is a highly experienced marketing communications professional, the principal of the Upshaw Marketing consultancy, and a member of the professional marketing faculty at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.  He has served in the past as a Senior Consultant to Interbrand and to Bridge Strategy Group management consultants. 

Prior to those roles, he was Executive Vice President for Client Brand Marketing at Ketchum Advertising Worldwide, Managing Director of Ketchum Interactive, and EVP/COO of Ketchum’s largest office, where he also personally managed some of the agency’s largest marketing communications accounts, including Bank of America, Pacific Bell (now AT&T), DHL Worldwide Express, ConAgra Foods, and The Clorox Company.  He was also founding chairman of the Interactive Marketing Committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), as well as a member of the faculty of the Bell Atlantic Marketing Leadership Institute.

 

Consulting and Workshop Experience 

In his consulting, Lynn Upshaw helps corporate clients build marketing plans and strategic brand platforms, assesses and manages brand equity research, counsels managers and senior executives on building comprehensive marketing programs, leads marketing training, and conducts strategic planning workshops.  His corporate consulting and workshop clients have included (abridged list): BEA Systems, Coverity, Inc., Wind River Systems, TriNet HR Corp., 3Com Corp., DTS Digital Cinema, Visa International, SBC Communications (now AT&T), Intel Corp., Bio-Rad Laboratories, WellPoint Health Networks, Health Net, Inc., China Telecom, R.H. Donnelley, Bayer Corporation, NEC Corporation, and esurance.com, among many others.

 

Thought Leadership

Lynn has written numerous articles for such publications as Advertising Age, Brandweek, The Peking University Business Review (PRC), brandchannel.com, The Journal of Brand Management (UK), marketingprofs.com, Advertising Express (India), and The Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications.  He has also authored or co-authored three highly regarded books on marketing strategy: 

           Building Brand Identity: A Strategy for Success in a Hostile Marketplace (John Wiley & Sons, 1995), which has been listed by Amazon.com as one of the ten most popular books on brand building;

           The Masterbrand Mandate: The Management Strategy That Unifies Companies and Multiplies Value (also from Wiley, 2000), co-authored with Earl Taylor, which was awarded the 2001 WPP Worldwide Atticus Grand Prix Award; and

           Truth: The New Rules for Marketing in a Skeptical World, (Amacom, 2007), described by marketing scholar Philip Kotler as a “blueprint for winning marketing performance in an age of transparency.

 

Workshops and Teaching

Lynn has been the keynote or featured speaker at industry and client conferences throughout North America, and in Europe, Asia, South America, and India.  He has created and facilitated dozens of brand building and strategic planning workshops covering a wide variety of marketing subjects.

 

In his teaching, Lynn has guided hundreds of MBA candidates at the Haas School of Business through the intricacies of corporate and product/service brand building, and he is a recipient of the Earl F. Cheit award for teaching excellence.  He is also the former Faculty and Program Director for the Berkeley Executive Leadership Program at the Berkeley Center for Executive Education.  Lynn currently serves on the MBA full-time program committee.

 

Additional Credentials 

Lynn serves, or has served, on the advisory boards of brandchannel.com, The CMO Council “Brand Protection” Program, Thunder Factory Marketing, Inc., MindPath Interactive Media, Benchmark Metrics, Inc., UC-Berkeley Extension/Marketing Group, and the Presidio School of Management.

 

Lynn received his BSA and MSA degrees from Northwestern University.  He lives with his wife, Susan, in Kentfield, California.