Lesson Plans: Marketing in the Engineering Process

Topic 5 Marketing
(detailed objectives) (available resources)
Goal: Students learn how marketing and engineering relate in new product development.
[standards: NM-COMM.PK-12.1, NM-COMM.PK-12.2, NA-VA.5-12.1, NL-ENG.k-12.8]

(to review the detailed content, download the low resolution pdf of available teacher presentation)
Summary
There are too many aspects of Marketing to give a good review in this single week. The intent is to show the intertwinement between engineering and marketing efforts in industry. This simple introduction to the basic marketing principles will equip students enough to create and present a simple marketing program.

Background
Marketing involves all the actions taken to foster the relationship between producer and consumer. Laymen might think that marketing picks up the product life cycle where engineering leaves off. This is not the case. Part of the marketing responsibilities include directing the product development team towards products that fit the known (or suspected) market need. On the flip side, even when the product has been "turned over" to the marketing team, engineers will continue to be involved in production, servicing, and revision of the product. Great engineers and great marketers realize that their two roles are truly intertwined. Those skilled in marketing may find careers as PR managers, graphic art directors, company buyers, copywriters, or related consultants and researchers.

The body of knowledge in the area of marketing is extensive and much is available online. We'll make no effort to capture the nuances of the marketing profession, but instead will only engage the fundamental principles:

focus on customer needs (real and perceived)
plan in detail
recognize value added by a product (both perceived and real)
attention paid to product, price, promotion, and placement

Creating a marketing program is not that different from designing a product. The 10-steps in our formal engineering design process apply here as well. Focus on the parallels between the two projects (new product development and marketing) and you will learn the design process more quickly.

As with the previous introduction to new product development, this topic ends with students presenting their project plan and results of their "design process" for a mini-project. Marketers in industry are responsible for making presentations in a variety of situations. The basics of written and oral communication are not covered in this curriculum. It is presumed those topic have or will be covered in the students' liberal arts classes. However, it might be helpful to review the basics. Fundamentally, communicating any idea requires that the presenter clearly identifies the relevant topic, research and gather information, then organize and reduce the information to best communicate the topic to the known audience. Good presentations will always have an introduction portion, main content, and summary or conclusions. Students may benefit from discussing examples of effective visual aids including:

Tables to present numerical data
Various types of graphs and charts (bar charts, pie chart, line graphs). All need clear titles and units to be effective.
Schematics (or line drawings)
Photographs and maps
Prototypes and other physical models

Appropriate physical media will depend on the classroom resources and the time allotted to each presenting group. Consider carefully which you will use (transparencies, computer slides, blackboards, poster boards, or handouts) because each media has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Teacher Preparation

Identify some appropriate marketing related topics for the students to research on their own.
Gather a taxonomy to genererally describe the role of marketing in society.
Contrive some simple challenge for the students to practice developing a marketing plan for.
Prepare simple handouts to describe the phases of a marketing plan, fundamental marketing principles, and role of marketing in society.
Prepare assessment forms for student presentations.

Classroom Activities
Give the students an overview of the marketing process an then have them individually research various marketing related topics that they can relate to. Lead the class discussion to relate what they learned to the foundational principles of marketing. Have the students work in small groups to address a simple marketing challenge. Students will create and document a detailed marketing plan. After documenting their progress at each step, they will present their overall plan to the class.

Objectives 5.1 Independent Investigation into the World of Marketing Know the breadth of marketing related careers and their respective duties in society Know the educational background required to enter various marketing careers	Activities Students perform independent research online or in library.
5.2 Introduction to Marketing Comprehend the basic role of marketing in society Comprehend some specific marketing duties Comprehend the Foundational Principles of marketing Know the four P's of marketing	Students discuss what they independently learned about marketing. Engage students with teacher presentation. Work in groups to begin developing a marketing plan.
5.3 Practical Marketing Plan Comprehend inputs and outputs of various phases in a typical marketing plan Comprehend the scope of the "project definition" phase	Engage students with teacher presentation. Work in groups to detail an official project plan and complete the project definition phase.
5.4 Organizing a Presentation for Management Comprehend the basic elements of any presentation Evaluate significance of available information and reduce to essential basis Organize information into a coherent presentation	Work in groups to prepare to present their marketing plan to the class.
5.5 Practice Presenting to Management Practice public speaking Evaluate content and fluency of a presentation	Small groups make presentations while peers evaluate the content and fluency.
Additional resources available to licensed users: In addition to 21 animated PowerPoint customizable slides...
Student Resources 5-marketing careers.pdf Supplemental reading materials (printable or web linked)	Practice and Assessment Templates 5-research.doc Use Gantt chart software (topic 2) Template for assessing learning objectives