Content

This mini course explores the role of product design in marketing, specifically, the target customers’ emotional response to the design of products and packaging. Students will be introduced to tools — including “neuromarketing” and semiotics — for evaluating product designs and corresponding emotions. The course will review the role of product/packaging equities such as intellectual property in building and sustaining the advantages of product design and students will learn about the role of product/packaging design in building brand equity.

New product design with sensitivity to changing consumer needs drives healthy companies and stimulates growth, allowing organizations to differentiate from their competition while assuring a strategic competitive advantage. But while that basic concept is commonly understood, some organizations succeed while others fail. This course teaches the methodology, driven by a structured process, which allows greater success in the development of new products. Students will gain a basic knowledge of manufacturing techniques and learn critical skills in order to more clearly speak and understand the language when working with engineers, industrial designers and production people. This mini-course is intended to help the manager understand and manage the process of design and development in an efficient manner.

This course covers fundamental marketing principles and answers the manager’s question: “What do I need to know and do as a marketer in order to develop a successful new product?” Students will gain a firm understanding of the steps necessary to bring a new product from concept to successful launch. Illustrations and discussions will encompass many industries, in contexts that range from garage startups to Fortune 100 companies.