Confronting Marketing Management Reality: A Design and Instructional Strategy for an Intermediate Course

A design and instructional strategy for an “intermediate” marketing management course are described in this article. Students adopt the role of product managers and experientially study marketing theory and practice in existing product markets. However, instructors do not manage relationships with the marketing organizations. The marketing audit is used to ground and guide students' work. Communication experiences abound. Marketing knowledge objectives and the development of students' personal capabilities are carefully balanced. The course culture and work are managed in terms of a four stage instructional model. The course design and instructional strategy can be generalized for other experiential marketing courses.