MBA 504 · Marketing Management
Know which marketing actually pays before you spend more
In about six weeks at nine hours a week, learn to choose the right customers, price on value and measure what your spend really returns.
For marketers and founders who spend on ads but can't say which channels bring customers.
One-time paymentInstant access14-day money-back guarantee
What you will produce
Spotify and the Unconverted ListenerA Strategic Marketing Memo
You analyze Spotify from its public information and write a strategic marketing memo on converting free listeners. It is marked against this rubric, with written feedback on every criterion, usually within the hour. You finish with work you can show.
- 01Customer Value, Research, and Evidence20%
- 02Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning20%
- 03Brand Equity and Architecture15%
- 04Offering Design and Adoption15%
- 05Quantitative Analysis and Defended Recommendation20%
- 06Format, APA 7, and Integrity10%
Each criterion is judged Exemplary, Proficient, Developing or Beginning.
Who it is for
Sound familiar?
“The platforms say we're getting great returns. Our bank account disagrees.”
What changesYou'll run holdout tests that show what your spend really adds.
“Leadership wants proof marketing works, and all I have are clicks and impressions.”
What changesYou'll tie spend to customer lifetime value and make the case in money.
“We priced it by adding a margin to cost and hoped for the best.”
What changesYou'll price from the value customers get and test adoption before launch.
Not for you ifyou want live lectures or a study group. Everything here is self-paced.
What you will be able to do
By the end, you will be able to:
- 01
Price from the value you create
Use the economic value to customer framework to set a price anchored in what buyers gain, not what it cost you.
- 02
Prove what your ads really add
Separate reported conversions from incremental ones with holdout tests, and find your true cost to acquire a customer.
- 03
Choose the customers worth winning
Test segments for size, reach and fit, then rank them by annual value instead of headcount.
- 04
Put a dollar value on your brand
Run blind and branded tests and turn the preference gap into a price premium.
- 05
Fix the service gaps customers notice
Map expectations against performance across the five SERVQUAL dimensions and close the widest gap first.
- 06
Know what a customer is worth
Value customers from margin, retention and discount rate, and see how retention changes what you can afford to spend.
Look inside
See a class, a study card and the marking before you pay.
Watch the opening of class one, flip a real study card, and see exactly how your work is judged.
One of 48. Each returns just before you would forget it, so the course stays with you.
Case 2: From Subscribers to Advocates. You see the rubric before you start, and get written feedback on every criterion.
The full textbook and the study guide written to it, so you can look anything up after you finish.
The ten classes
Ten classes, in the order you will need them.
01Marketing Strategy and Customer ValueWrite a testable value proposition naming target, benefit, and specific alternative.
- A machine that only pays for itself if someone buys
- A company whose customers paid more and came less
- One equation, four parts
- The coffee is not the point
- What value actually means
02Customer Insight and Market ResearchIdentify which decision stage is broken. Run research efficiently: secondary data, interviews, surveys, then live tests.
- What the last class left unanswered
- A number that looked like the answer
- Why the wrong number is expensive
- What people say, and what actually happens next
- Buying is five stops, not one moment
03Segmentation, Targeting, and PositioningDivide your market by behavior or benefit sought. Apply five segment tests. Rank groups by annual value, not size alone.
- Four names, and one decision still open
- A market is not everyone who might buy
- Why the choice is expensive either way
- Four parts to today's reasoning
- Splitting a market along a real seam
04Brand Strategy and Brand EquityMeasure what your brand name is worth in dollars. Run blind vs. branded tests. Calculate price premium from the gap.
- A market chosen; a name not yet earned
- What is our name worth to a customer?
- Why this isn't a design decision
- Four parts to today's reasoning
- A promise, not a picture
05Designing and Developing the OfferingLayer your offering: core benefit, actual product, augmented services. Stage-gate with go/kill decisions at each phase.
- A name earned; a box still empty
- What exactly should we sell?
- Why the beans are the easy part
- Four parts to today's design
- Core, actual, and augmented
06Pricing for Customer ValueBuild pricing from EVC: P_alt + benefits − costs. Price below to leave surplus. Never use cost-plus in isolation.
- The box is full; there is still no number on it
- What is the right price, and who decides?
- Why cost-plus isn't wrong, just incomplete
- Four parts to today's price
- Economic value to the customer
07Channels and Go-to-MarketBuild a margin stack for each distribution route. Subtract channel-specific costs from net price. Compare fully costed NPVs.
- A price is set; now it needs a road to travel
- How should our coffee reach the people who want it?
- Direct, indirect, and the roads between
- Four parts to today's route
- The café: five dollars a bag, unchanged
08Integrated Marketing CommunicationsState your communication objective: known, considered, chosen, or chosen again. Test with holdout. Budget by objective-and-task.
- A road is built; now it needs a signal
- How do we get noticed, and what is it worth?
- A simple path, and its real limits
- Four parts to today's plan
- Known, considered, chosen, and chosen again
09Customer Lifetime Value, Retention, and Marketing MetricsCompute customer lifetime value from margin, retention and discount rate, and track the metrics that matter.
- Forty dollars was the cost; today asks the value
- What is a customer worth?
- Four parts to today's plan
- Expected life: one over the chance they leave
- Discounting a monthly stream
10Integrated Marketing Plan, Ethics, and Individual AssessmentPull every decision into an integrated marketing plan and defend it, including the ethical calls.
- A customer is worth what they keep bringing
- Can you defend the whole plan?
- What customers buy, and what research found
- Who to target, and what the name is worth
- The offering, and its price
When you will see results
You will use it at work before you finish.
- After class 1
You can test a value proposition by writing three parts: target, unique benefit, named alternative. Fail any and rewrite.
- After class 3
You rank segments by annual value, not size, and know which ones to target first.
- After class 6
You price from the value customers get, not from your costs.
- After class 9
You can tell whether acquisition spending pays off, using customer lifetime value.
Your time
Built to fit around a full-time job.
About 51 hours in total, at whatever pace your week allows. Nothing is live, the portal remembers exactly where you stopped, and study cards take about five minutes a day.
Before you decide
You don't need a big budget, a data team or a marketing degree. The tools work at any scale.
- Each class ends with a short quiz, so you know it stuck before you move on.
- Study cards bring back what you would forget, five minutes a day.
- The portal always shows your next step, so a busy week never becomes a lost month.
What $149 gets you
The complete MBA 504 module, sold on its own.
- Ten filmed classes you can fit around workPause anywhere and pick up on any device. Captions on every class, so you can study with the sound off.
- The full Marketing Management textbook, yours to keepPDF and EPUB, so you can look things up long after you finish.
- A study guide that covers every classThe key ideas, models and worked examples in one place, so you never write your own summary notes.
- 12 quizzes and exams, marked instantlyThe reasoning behind every answer, so you know what stuck and what to revisit.
- Two real-company cases with written feedbackStarting with Spotify. You finish with analysis you can show, marked against a published rubric.
- 48 study cards that keep it freshFive minutes a day. Each card returns just before you would forget it.
- Your progress, saved everywhereThe portal remembers exactly where you stopped, so a busy week never sets you back.
- Lifetime access and updatesIt is there when the real decision arrives, including every future improvement to the course.
One payment. No subscription, no hidden fees.
What one better budget decision is worth
If a holdout test shows one channel's sales are mostly organic and you move $2,000 a month to a channel that truly adds customers, that's $24,000 a year spent where it earns a return. The course costs $149, once.
One-time paymentInstant access14-day money-back guarantee
Questions
What people ask before they buy.
How much time will it take?
About 51 hours in total: ten classes, the readings, 12 quizzes and exams, and two case assignments. At nine hours a week that is about six weeks. Nothing is scheduled, so you set the pace.
Is this right for beginners?
Yes. It assumes no prior marketing experience. It starts from first principles: customer value (benefits minus costs), why stated intent differs from behavior, how to run tests. You need comfort with basic math and spreadsheets.
What if I'm too busy?
Nothing is live and nothing expires. Each class stands on its own, the portal remembers exactly where you stopped, and your study cards take about five minutes a day. Pause for a month and pick up where you left off.
I've started online courses before and never finished. Why is this different?
It is built so you finish. Every class ends with a short quiz, study cards bring back what you would otherwise forget, and the portal always shows your next step. Two graded cases give you a reason to apply it, not just watch it.
When will I see results?
After class 1 you can test a value proposition. After class 3 you can rank segments by value, after class 6 you can price from customer value, and after class 9 you can judge acquisition spend with lifetime value.
Why is it worth $149?
You get the complete MBA 504 module: ten classes, the full textbook and study guide, twelve marked quizzes and exams, and two cases with written feedback. One better budget decision can be worth far more than $149.
What if it isn't right for me?
If the course isn't right for you, ask within 14 days of buying for a full refund. It applies as long as you've watched fewer than three classes and haven't submitted an assignment.
Do I need a big budget to use this?
No. Value propositions, segment tests, customer value pricing and simple holdout tests work as well on a $500 monthly budget as on a $5 million one.
Is this about social media tactics?
It covers the decisions behind the tactics: who to target, what to offer, what to charge, which channels to use and how to measure what worked. Search, social and owned media are covered in class 8 through that lens.
How do I get access?
Straight after checkout you are signed in to the CBI student portal and can start class one. We also email you a sign-in link so you can come back from any device.
Is this the same as MBA 504 in the CBI MBA?
Yes. It is the same ten classes, textbook, study guide, exams and case assignments that MBA students take for MBA 504, sold on its own.
MBA 504 · Marketing Management
Know which marketing actually pays before you spend more
Start tonight. If it isn't right for you, ask within 14 days for a full refund.
One-time paymentInstant access14-day money-back guarantee