30439 - GREEN MARKETING

It is recommended to have attended a course on basic marketing. The knowledge of the pillars of marketing as a discipline is taken for granted.

The present scenario shows the advent of a new paradigm at a global level, encompassing customers, markets and companies and based on the concept of “Green Economy”. As a consequence, all managers are faced to new challenges: to fully understand the new paradigm’s rules on the one hand, to infer which might be the new paradigm’s impact in terms of managerial implications and market strategy, on the other hand.

The green marketing course’s specific goals are to:

• Single out the most relevant green economy theories and practices, having a deep impact on customer choices and companies’ marketing strategies, such as, for instance, the Cradle-to Cradle approach.
• Develop knowledge as to green products and services’ “go to market”, in particular by identifying which are the key value-drivers generating “green demand”.
• Analyze the green marketing’s key drives for growth and key drives for value.
• Review “Marketing Fundamentals” ( STP, 4Ps, etc.) under the new “green perspective”, in order to make participants able to define a Green STP and a Green 4Ps.
• Single out and analyze the most important, innovative Green Business Models along with their peculiar Marketing-mix,
• Investigate green marketing strategies in selected contexts (B2B,B2C,B2G) and industries (e.g. automotive, retail and e-commerce, building, city planning, food and beverages, "controversial industries"...).
• Explain how to build up a resilient and successful eco-system, able to deliver a relevant added value to green stakeholders.

• Recognize the emerging value drivers of the "green consumer".
• Define the difference between green washing tactics and long-term sustainable strategies.
• Identify the strategic objectives of sustainable organizations.
• Identify the potential of a circular economy approach.

• Analyze stakeholders and their contribution to successful sustainable marketing strategies.
• Evaluate the environmental and social impact of a product/behaviour.
• Design the proper way to launch a circular economy project.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Company visits
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments

• Guest speakers take into the course the perspective of real organizations, telling what their companies/NGOs are doing in terms of sustainability.
• Case studies allow students to apply models they are expected to learn to simulated business cases.
• Group assigments are typically launched by a real organizations and they engage students in applying the overall set of concepts and models learnt in order to solve managerial cases.
• Company visits offers an opportunity to "touch" the principles of green marketing in selected industries (upon companies' availability).

Assessment methods are based on two elements:

• Field project: 70% Attending students are required to work in team (3 to 5 members) on tasks proposed during the course. The tasks are provided by leading brands and teams work under the professors’ supervision. The projects are presented in detail at the launch of the competition along with the assessment criteria. Managers from the companies sponsoring the project provide qualitative feedback to all the groups and select a winner. The group project is used to verify the ability of students to apply the knowledge developed during the course and assess the ability to complete an event and how to present it effectively.
• Final exam: 30% The assessment method for attending students is based also on a final exam in written form. It is made up of several multiple-choice questions referring to the lectures and the material (slides and papers) available on Blackboard.

The assessment method for non-attending students is based on a final exam in written form. It is made up of several open-ended and multiple-choice questions referring to the concepts, models and cases contained in the textbooks and exam materials. The open-ended and multiple-choice questions are mainly aimed at verifying learning of the analytical and management abilities and their correct comprehension. The business cases are used to assess the ability to apply the knowledge students learned when studying the course material.

• Course slides.
• Articles, papers, web pages and other material available on the e-learning.

• F.M. BELZ, K. PEATTIE, Sustainability Marketing, A Global Perspective, Wiley, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-119-96619-7 (all chapters).