I have been looking forward to commencing this subject because I have always believed that the rest of any business or organisation is dead without marketing. Planning around marketing is what gives a business purpose. It is what provides the direction that the entire organisation can gather around. The marketing plan and its execution reflect the why of a business or its vision. Furthermore, it reflects the how or mission and, most importantly, its values. If you build products and services around this model, the entire organisation operates synergistically around them. You will have a committed team and organisation with belief and loyalty in the organisation.
Intensity
The first thing I have noticed about Marketing Management is the intensity of the reading and work compared to Leadership. The subject outline recommends 20 hours a week for the first two modules. The notes are in two parts as well. It appears that you only have around five pages to work through, plus the reading, of course, but then it branches off into another set of notes with more reading, more videos and more exercises. I download everything I can, including links to the Youtube videos for reference purposes. All the downloads are saved as PDFs and highlighted where I think something is relevant. It has taken me two full days to go through everything.
Week 1 starts on 4th March, but I have already completed all my reading, and I am glad I’m ahead. I will add more to this post throughout the actual week.
Continuing On
There was certainly a lot more reading to be done and videos to watch. One thing that has been very noticeable has been the verbosity of the textbook. It just seems to repeat itself over and over. Now that the notes are all up on the Marketing subject, I am focusing on reading the recommended pages in detail and speed reading the rest. Anything interesting will be highlighted and transferred to my new notetaking system in Obsidian. I will share more about this in the near future when I have wrapped my head around it a bit more. If you want a sneak peek, however, there is a great video done by a PhD student on how they are using this free software to build a Zettelkasten.
Assignment 1
There are only two assignments for this subject. Instructions for beginning the first assignment are already included in Module 1. I have downloaded the template and started working my way through the sections. I have decided to base my assignment around the Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program. This will be very helpful as I am on the Board of the organisation and the development of marketing strategies should be quite beneficial.
Conclusion
Marketing is shaping up as a very interesting subject so far. There seems to be a lot of reading and videos to get through so I will be staying ahead of the schedule where I can. I have plans to extend myself beyond the requirements of the assignment because of what I have chosen so some extra time will be most valuable.
