COURSE NUMBER: MBA292N.11

This course is dual-listed with the Evening-Weekend MBA Program. 

COURSE TITLE: Topics and Tensions in Social Impact Marketing

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 unit

INSTRUCTOR: Courtney Buechert

E-MAIL ADDRESScourtney@eleveninc.com
 
MEETING DAY(S)/TIME:

Please note the unorthodox nature of this course, which meets all day on 2 Sundays. To earn a passing grade, you must attend BOTH class sessions in their entirety.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CAREER FIELD: This course will be most beneficial to: 

CLASS FORMAT

REQUIRED READINGS: Online case research and video review.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

Class Participation                              30%
Assignment/bCourses Discussions     30%
Final Project                                        40%

The Final Project: You will be required to select a social impact organization or program that interests you (it can be one we explore in class, one that you are personally passionate about, and/or the organization you work for) and develop a critique of it using the tensions that we explore in class. Further, you will be asked to provide strategic and creative changes to the marketing that you believe will increase its chances of success by applying the best practices outlined in class.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE’S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:The growing use of social impact strategies in consumer marketing today requires business leaders to better understand the opportunities and dangers of this practice; navigating cultural, organizational and competitive tensions. Through this course, we will examine how to assess and develop social impact marketing programs that leverage best practices from active marketplace examples. We will focus on four tensions:

In our work, we will explore different categories of social impact marketing and the drivers of success/failure. We will both critique and develop alternative programs for existing non-profit, for-profit and causes-based marketing programs. And we will host several guest speakers to directly interrogate their experiences as leaders of current social impact programs.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:  Courtney Buechert Chairman/CEO of Eleven Inc.
Courtney is a thirty-year veteran of global branding and marketing agencies like Y&R, McCann, GS&P and Leagas Delaney. A Cal Berkeley alumni, he has been leading Eleven Inc for the past decade. Headquartered in the iconoclastic Bay Area and sitting near the top of Silicon Valley, Eleven has worked with innovative business leaders in all business sectors and developed social impact programs across of spectrum of organizations.  Work for clients like Apple, Virgin America, SoFi, Dignity Health, Google, Electrify America, as well as, 826 Valencia, One-Laptop-Per-Child and Public Architecture has shaped the agencies understanding of effective social impact marketing for commercial, non-profit and cause-based organizations.