Marketing in a Digital World [University of Illinois]

This is the second Coursera course I completed last month. My motivation to take this course was to refresh my memory on the basic concepts of Marketing. I was keen to see how the digital landscape was affecting the ways in which Marketing is done today. This course exceeded my expectations and I found great value in taking it.

Here are some of the key elements I liked about this course - 

(1) Great Structure

Prof Aric Rindfleisch & his team have done a great job at the design & structure of this course. The entire course consists of 4 modules, with each module focusing on one of the 4Ps of Marketing - Product, Promotion, Place and Price. 

The video lectures are well thought out and structured as well. Prof Aric typically uses the following format when introducing a new digital concept -

• starts with the basic idea of the concept
• brings out examples of its use in everyday life
• formally defines the concept 
• brings insights from academic research
• ends with practical recommendations

(2) Peer graded assignments

When it comes to a marketing course, peer graded reviews work best because most of the time there is no right/wrong answer, it really depends on the context and facts used to support a point of view. I learned a lot from my fellow students as I reviewed their answers and saw perspectives that were different from my own. It was a good feeling to see comments & constructive feedback for my own answers as well.

(3) Concept Application

This is perhaps what I enjoyed the most about this course. Its one thing to read about 3D Printing, customer co-creation or pay-what-you-want pricing, but when you actually see how these concepts are applied by firms, the abstract idea or concept starts to become real. Not only were the caselets enjoyable to read, the exercises really helped me grasp the concept. For instance, I contributed to my first Wikipedia article as part of the exercise for user generated content. The following mind map shows the 8 digital concepts covered in this course with their respective application examples.

Conclusion

This is an enjoyable course to take and I highly recommend it. Being self-paced, you won't have to worry about any pending deadlines, but I do suggest completing the lectures at a regular pace so that the material is still fresh on your mind. Towards the end of the course, you start seeing how different digital concepts interleave with each other, as none of them typically work in isolation.

This is the first course of the Digital Marketing Specialization track on Coursera. I'm looking forward to completing the remaining courses this year.