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Unit outline_

MKTG6600: Marketing Capstone

Semester 1, 2022 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

This unit serves as the capstone for the Marketing Specialisation, consolidating and appraising specialist learning through project work for which students are systematically prepared across sessions. Building on prior learning from the Marketing Specialisation and across the Master of Commerce, students critically engage with strategic marketing tools, concepts and frameworks to analyse real world marketing problems and systematically create marketing strategies in the context of social media where relevant. Students work collaboratively in culturally diverse teams to formulate a well justified strategic marketing plan in response to a real-life marketing problem faced by an organization that is sensitive to social, ethical and environmental issues. This unit, provides students opportunities to demonstrate their career-readiness by tackling challenging practical marketing problems..

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Marketing
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
Completion of 24 credit points of units towards the Marketing specialisation (including MKTG5001)
Corequisites
? 
MKTG6001
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

No

Teaching staff

Coordinator Ulku Yuksel, ulku.yuksel@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Assignment group assignment Marketing Strategy Project - Report
Social media mktg project for a real industry partner (client)
50% Week 10
Due date: 08 May 2022 at 23:00

Closing date: 08 May 2022
3500 words + references and appendices
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5 LO6 LO7
Presentation Marketing Strategy Project - Presentation
Each team member has to present some part of the team project.
15% Week 11
Due date: 09 May 2022 at 09:00

Closing date: 20 May 2022
30min./p.team incl Q&A: around 4min./pp
Outcomes assessed: LO2 LO6 LO5
Assignment Self-Reflection on Learning (gn)
Self-Reflection on general learning journey in this unit
8% Week 11
Due date: 15 May 2022 at 17:00

Closing date: 15 May 2022
1000 (min) - 1500 (max) words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO6
Assignment Feedback Statement (on Team Performance for the Project, 1000-1500 words)
Peer review for each team member's performance on the report & presentation
10% Week 12
Due date: 22 May 2022 at 17:00

Closing date: 22 May 2022
At least 2 comments for each team member
Outcomes assessed: LO6
Assignment Business Research Component (BRC)
Online survey for BRC that measures attitudes: no right or wrong responses
2% Week 12
Due date: 20 May 2022 at 17:00

Closing date: 20 May 2022
50 Mins
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO4
Participation Participation
Participation: Canvas, online & active workshop engagements (cameras on!)
15% Weekly
Due date: 21 Feb 2022 at 09:00

Closing date: 27 May 2022
Weekly
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO7 LO5 LO3 LO2
group assignment = group assignment ?

Assessment summary

 

As this is a marketing-business project unit involving a real industry client, there are no midterm or final exams. Students will be assessed on various other assessment methods.

Marketing Strategy Project – Report 50%: is a team report for a real industry partner of USYD. Students will prepare a required Social Media Strategy Plan by a real client. The client will provide a brief as to what they exactly want. The project should also include a Team Reflection Statement about students’ learning (opinions, experiences etc.) when preparing this assignment as well as a Contribution Statement for each member displaying the task distribution when preparing this assignment (i.e., which part of the project is done by who) as two additional parts to be attached in the appendices. These two parts will be apart from the project but attached to the end of the project and be excluded from word count. Word limit: A short abstract (eg, executive summary) is included in the word limit, but content pages, references, appendices including a Team Reflection Statement, Contribution Statement, tables, figures, photos or pictures are excluded from the word count.

Marketing Strategy Project – Presentation 15%: Each team will present their report on an allocated day and time and each team member must present their assigned part so that all team members present at least once. Also, all team members must be ready to respond to all questions that relate to the entire project (and not only to the part that they are responsible for) as evidence of being involved into the team effort by proving that they know about all the parts of the entire project from scratch to the end.

Feedback Statement 10%: is a student feedback/declaration of his/her views on the team’s performance throughout the entire semester. This is a confidential individual assignment that each student separately submits in the form of a peer review about the quality of the contribution of each team member (from scratch at the start of the term, during workshops, to the end, including the presentation and its preparation) and the written feedback on the team’s overall harmony and performance. Students are required to provide feedback by: a) filling in the tabular format provided correctly; and b) writing up at least 2 comments for each team member on the writing part. Each student will be marked based on the quality and honesty of the feedback they gave for each team member. Feedback statements of peers in the team may influence the project marks of each team member.

Participation 15%: is about the quality and consistency of engagement, and comprises workshop performance in the main room, including responding to questions correctly on the topic module on Canvas or on the assigned workshop material when cold-called, team performance when teams meet in the breakout rooms/tables, overall engagement with Canvas, Canvas assessments, formative works and assigned tasks (e.g., number certificates of online web courses finalized during the semester).

Self-Reflection 8%: is an individual statement where students articulate about their learning journey in this course in general, by clearly laying out why they found specific parts of the material/topic relevant to and beneficial in their future career. 

Business Research Component 2%: BRC is a separate component and is content-wise apart from the MKTG6600 Marketing Capstone unit. It is research related and provides you with a hint of how scholars do research. Students choose either to respond to an online survey, arranged by Business Research Component (BRC) that measures attitudes: no right or wrong responses or summarise a research article (please search for it on Canvas dashboard). Please email Business.ResearchComponent@sydney.edu.au for any inquiries about this assessment as it is not managed by the Capstone unit.

Exceeding word limit: University BS policy applies for exceeding word limits in assessments: if a student exceeds their word limit, then the word count penalty applies that is 10% loss of marks for every 10% of words in excess of 10% over the word limit. Specifically, for a word limit of 1200 words, until 1320 is fine – but from 1321 to 1440, 10% penalty will apply. Another 10% will apply from 1441 to 1560 etc. (ie, up to 10% over of the word limit is fine. If more than 10%, the student loses 10% of his/her marks. For each 10% beyond that s/he will lose another 10%). Pls note a short abstract (eg, executive summary) is included in the word limit, but content pages, references, appendices including a Team Reflection Statement, Contribution Statement, tables, figures, photos or pictures are excluded from the word count.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school. 

Distinction

75 - 84

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

Credit

65 - 74

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.

Pass

50 - 64

Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school. 

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

University BS policy applies for late submissions of assessments. Assessments which are submitted after the assessment deadline will incur a late penalty of 5% per day after the due date for up to 10 calendar days, after which a mark of zero is applied.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Overview of marketing and social media strategy: The process • Collaborative learning (video embedded) • Industry brief by industry partner (IP) Cancer Council (CC) IP CC (video embedded) • Library resources (gn.) (video embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO7
Week 02 Where are we? Situation analysis - Macro analysis: Collecting and analysing external market information, incl. industry and competitive data • Library resources specific to the project (video embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO3
Week 03 Who are we? Situation analysis - Micro analysis: Collecting and analysing internal market information • Company data, SWOT, developing value proposition: Competitive advantage & strategic focus Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO3
Week 04 Where do we want to go? How? Planning the marketing strategy: • Goals and objectives • Customer segmentation, target marketing and positioning by • Applying the top value proposition emphasising the competitive advantage and strategic focus • Guest lecturer: Google talk1 Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Week 05 How do we get there? Designing the marketing strategy: • The marketing program • Branding • Creative pitch: Concept idea - Content marketing (for social media) • Guest lecturer: Google talk2 • Atomic discussion about the Q&A with IPCC next week: Students’ preparation Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO3 LO7
Week 06 How do we get there? Social media strategy1 (initial stage – planning) • Guest lecturer: Google talk3 • Live online Q&A with the IP CC (will be recorded & embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO3 LO7
Week 07 How do we get there? Social media strategy2 (2. stage – designing & implementing) • Guest lecturer: Google talk4 Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO7
Week 08 How do we get there? Finalizing the social media strategy3 (for the final report and its presentation) Block teaching (3 hr) LO2 LO3 LO4 LO7
Week 09 Are we there? Finalizing the social media strategy4: Evaluation of the social media strategy- Developing measures to assess the success of the strategic social media campaign • Guest lecturer: Google talk5 Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO4 LO7
Week 10 Self-Reflection on learning in marketing capstone (gen.) assignment • How to write a self-reflection on learning (video embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO2 LO6
Week 11 Communicating your strategy (gen.) assignment: Masterclass on professional presentations • Pitching to industry (video embedded) • Guest lecturer: Google talk6 (tentative) Block teaching (3 hr) LO2 LO6
Week 12 Peer-Evaluation and feedback (gen.) assignment: Peer review toolkit • Peer review (video embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO2 LO4 LO6
Week 13 Review of marketing & social media strategy • Just before starting your marketing career: Being a professional (video embedded) Block teaching (3 hr) LO1 LO4

Attendance and class requirements

85% attendance required to pass this course, thus, students must be present for a minimum of 11 workshops (weeks/session) and can only miss max. 2 workshops.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Info. provided online on Canvas online modules, pages and links, resources and library

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Critically engage with core strategic marketing tool, concepts and theoretical and analytical frameworks to analyse and solve complex business challenges
  • LO2. Communicate effectively and professionally to diverse audiences including peers, industry practitioners and/or stakeholders using a range of verbal, written and visual communication and presentation modes
  • LO3. Analyse real marketing problems and develop innovative marketing strategies focusing on diverse stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, employees, the community and the society
  • LO4. Develop skills to communicate evidence-based arguments and critically evaluate peers, researchers, industry practitioners and policy-makers' point of view
  • LO5. Effectively collaborate in culturally diverse peer groups to construct new ideas and create new strategic marketing opportunities utilising innovative marketing strategies
  • LO6. Practice self-awareness and awareness of others, presentation skills, teamworking, individual accountability in presenting oral, written and visual marketing reports
  • LO7. Demonstrate environmental, ethical and social responsibility awareness in formulating and implementing marketing strategies

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Adding assessments and ULOs as endorsed at the Nov UoS Subcommittee meeting by noting (23 Nov 2021). The coordinator needs to submit sessional changes.

Please see Canvas for detailed information. 

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.