MSc Marketing

P58202 Customer Insight and

Engagement
Module Handbook Semester 1, 2018

Marketing

Oxford Brookes
Business School

Lecturer:
Dave Pinnington

Lecturer
Module Leader:
Charl Sevel
Module introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
Semester plan synopsis .................................................................................................. 3
Module syllabus .............................................................................................................. 5
Week 1 – Introduction to the module and the importance of the customer ...................... 6
Week 2 – Customer insight methodologies (the pros and cons of each) ......................... 7
Week 3 – The customer – their journey, experience, segmentation and creating an engaging
value proposition ............................................................................................................. 8
Week 4 – Assignment value proposition pitches ............................................................. 9
Week 5 – Understanding why people make decisions and how to use this to engage and
influence ....................................................................................................................... 10
Week 6 – Choice architecture – making the customer change the behaviour ................ 11
Week 7 – Customer personas, engaging the customer and developing brand stories ... 11
Week 8 – Content marketing and engaging customers. Assignment Clinic 1 ................ 11
Week 9 – Customer outreach, social media and engagement. Assignment Clinic 2 ..... 11
Week 10 – Channel strategy and marketing tools. Assignment Clinic 3 ........................ 11
Week 11 – CRM, trust and personal data. Evaluating your engagement and marketing
impact. Assignment Clinic 4 .......................................................................................... 11
Week 12 – No taught session – bookable assignment clinic ......................................... 11
Your Library Service...................................................................................................... 12
Upgrade – Study Advice Service ................................................................................... 12
Assessment information ................................................................................................ 12
Guidelines on using others to check your work ............................................................. 17
University regulation C1.1.4 Behaviour which will be regarded as a breach of the Academic
Conduct Regulations ..................................................................................................... 18
A note on equality, diversity and inclusion ..................................................................... 19
Oxford Brookes University

Module introduction

Module Leader’s introduction

Welcome to the module "Customer Insight and Engagement”, where we will explore the
management of Customer Relationships in the digital age.

Customers are the essence of the organisation, as, without customers, the organisation
would fail. Understanding customers, why they make decisions, their needs and wants are
essential to marketers. In this module, we will explore the importance of understanding
customers, the buying pathway, behavioural science and how to use this information to
effectively engage and create a behavioural change.

Throughout the module, case studies and practical sessions are used to highlight ways to
gather customer insights, engage customer and to influence customer behaviours. This
module also draws on our own practical experience and research, and that of colleagues in
the Marketing department. The week by week module content and workshops provides all
the tools you need to complete the course assignment.

We look forward to working with you on this module.

Dave Pinnington and Charl Sevel

Past students’ comments on the module

• ‘I learned how to use models to solve customer relationship problems’.
• ‘The assignment is useful, and the class exercises helped me for my final
assignment’.
• ‘The class activities enabled me to put the theory in practice’.

Module leader contact details

Name: Charl Sevel

Room: CLC 2.35, Headington Campus

Telephone: 01865 485638

email: csevel@brookes.ac.uk

Office hours: Monday 16:30 - 17:30 Thursday 12:30 - 13:30

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Seminar leader contact details

Name: Dave Pinnington

email: dpinnington@brookes.ac.uk

Office hours: TBA

Academic Liaison Librarian

Name: Isabel Virgo

Email: ivirgo@brookes.ac.uk

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Semester plan synopsis
Week Topic
1 Introduction to module and
assessment
Customer centricity and its
importance in marketing
Customer trust
2 Customer insight
methodologies (the pros
and cons of each)
3 The customer journey/
experience
Customer segmentation
Creating customer value
propositions
4 Assignment value
proposition pitches
5 Understanding customer
decision making /
behaviours
Factors that influence
decision making
Reading/Activity Deadlines
Stratten, S. & Kramer,
A. Unmarketing 2012,
Locke, C. & Gillmore,
D. 2011 The Cluetrain
Manifesto.
Osterwalder, A. &
Pigneur Y. &
Bernarda, G. & Smith,
A. (2014) Value
proposition design
A printed version of your
assignment value pitch
with your student
number to be handed in
during class.
Berger, J.(2014)
Contagious: How to
Build Word of Mouth
in the Digital Age.
Kahneman, D.(2012)
Thinking, Fast and
Slow.
Kumar, M. K. &
Herger, M. (2013).
Gamification at Work
Lehrer, J. How We
Decide. (2010)
Nahai, N. Webs of
Influence: The Power
of Online Persuasion
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6 Choice architecture – Nahai, N.

making the customer (2013) Webs of
change the behaviour Influence: The Power
of Online Persuasion

7 Engaging the customer Revella, A.(2015)

Buyer Personas: How
Customer personas to Gain Insight Into
Your Customer's
Brand stories Expectations, Align
Your Marketing
Strategies, and Win
More Business

8 Content marketing - Pulizzi, J, (2013) Epic Assignment clinic draft 1

engaging the customer with Content Marketing
content

9 Customer outreach Assignment clinic draft 2

Social media and customer

engagement

10 Channel strategy / Assignment clinic draft 3

marketing engagement
tools

11 Trust and personal data Assignment clinic draft 4

Evaluating engagement /
marketing

No Taught Sessions:
12 Course work to be
Bookable Coursework submitted by 13:00
Clinics (1pm) 12th December
2018

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Module syllabus

The module introduces the concepts of Customer Insight and Engagement within the
wider concept of Relationship Marketing and how it both influences and benefits from
Market Insight. Both B2B and B2C applications are considered, as well as public
sector.
Students take part in tutor-led sessions as well as group discussions. Practitioner
case studies are studied, alongside academic research.

Key content areas include:

 The importance of the customer centricity and the importance of understanding the
customer in marketing
 Behavioural science, how to understand human behaviour to gain insights and create
behavioural change
 How use customer personas to shape marketing and engagement
 How to create a customer value proposition to appeal to your customer personas
 How to create content plans to engage customers
 Choosing the right channels to engage your customers
 How to evaluate your marketing to increase customer engagement

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Week 1 – Introduction to the module and the importance of the

customer

Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you should have progressed towards being able to:

 Understanding the role and learning requirements of this module

 Understanding the module assignment
 Understanding the value to customer in marketing and the importance of customer
centricity

Session overview
Introduction to module and assessment – Review the core structure of the course and how
each week will help complete your assignment

Helping understand the impact of poor customer centricity on business and how we need to
put this at the centre of our marketing.

What is trust? How do we get our customers to trust us to want to engage with us?

Seminar tasks
The seminar task will be helping you understand customer centricity and experience. The
task will help you understand how to apply customer centric thinking to your final
assignment.

Reading/activity
The book Unmarketing, provides clear examples of the importance of customer centricity
and how marketing in a brand centric way can impact sales negatively. Stratten, S. &
Kramer, A. Unmarketing 2012,

The cluetrain manifesto contains a list of demands customers expect from

companies/brands. Please review these view theLocke, C. & Gillmore, D. 2011 The
Cluetrain Manifesto.

Deadlines
Please decide prior to week 2 which assignment option you wish to take.

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Week 2 – Customer insight methodologies (the pros and cons of

each)

Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you should have progressed towards being able to:

 Understand a range of different methodologies that can be used to gather insights

into the customer, the market and competitors
 Understand the limitations, accuracy and impact on customers of each insight
method
 Identify which insights methods are best to be used within your individual assignment

Session overview
The session assesses the pros and cons of different research methodologies. Which ones
allows you to create a deeper understanding of your customer and marketing and what
information you will need to enable marketing engagement.
Seminar tasks
You will use the session to create an insights map, identifying key questions that you need
answers for within your assignment.

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Week 3 – The customer – their journey, experience, segmentation

and creating an engaging value proposition

Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you should have progressed towards being able to:

 How to map a customer journey/experience

 Understand the value of customer segmentation
 Create a clear marketing value proposition to engage the customer

Session overview
This week looks specifically at the current customer experience to look for opportunities to
engage. The importance of customer segmentation and how it can be used to optimise
marketing spend. Using insights to generate a clear value proposition.

Seminar tasks
The task will help you understand how to develop a brand positioning via a customer value
proposition. The seminar tasks will help you prepare for your assignment value proposition
pitches in the following week. You will be allocated your pitch time slot within the seminar
session.

Reading/activity
Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur Y. & Bernarda, G. & Smith, A. (2014) Value proposition design.

Prepare Assignment value proposition pitches for week 4 and provide a printed version with
your student number needs to be handed in in week 4

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Week 4 – Assignment value proposition pitches

Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you should have progressed towards being able to:

 Understand how to improve your assignment value proposition

Session overview
You will be presenting your assignment value proposition and receiving feedback to help you
with your final assignment. A printed version of your pitch with your student number to be
handed in during class, this is a formative assessment of your assignment topic. We will
provide individual feedback for the development of your written coursework assignment and
draft 1. Assignment clinics and draft 1 start in week 8.

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Week 5 – Understanding why people make decisions and how to

use this to engage and influence

Learning outcomes
At the end of the session you should have progressed towards being able to:

 Understanding how the brain works, how it makes decisions

 Understanding what influences decisions
 Understanding what engages people

Session overview
We will look at how and why people make decisions. How the brain works and how we can
use this to influence people and their decisions. This will form an important part of your
assignment engagement plan.

Seminar tasks
The seminar will provide practical exercises to understanding influence models and how to
apply these to marketing.

Reading/activity
A list of reading that is relevant to lectures is provided in the weekly lecture list plan above
and on Moodle. Check Moodle regularly for updates of relevant case studies and updated
reading lists. Also speak to your lecturer about other specific or advanced topics reading
suggestions. There is a suggested reading list here. There will be summary videos placed on
Moodle. The Webs of influence book is a recommended book for marketing practitioners.

Berger, J.(2014) Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age.

Kahneman, D.(2012) Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Kumar, M. K. & Herger, M. 2013. Gamification at Work

Lehrer, J.(2010) How We Decide

Nahai, N. (2013) Webs of Influence: The Power of Online Persuasion

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Week 6 – Choice architecture – making the customer change the

behaviour

Check Moodle TBA

Week 7 – Customer personas, engaging the customer and

developing brand stories

Check Moodle TBA

Week 8 – Content marketing and engaging customers. Assignment

Clinic 1

Check Moodle TBA

Week 9 – Customer outreach, social media and engagement.

Assignment Clinic 2

Check Moodle TBA

Week 10 – Channel strategy and marketing tools. Assignment

Clinic 3

Check Moodle TBA

Week 11 – CRM, trust and personal data. Evaluating your

engagement and marketing impact. Assignment Clinic 4

Check Moodle TBA

Week 12 – No taught session – bookable assignment clinic

Check Moodle TBA

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Your Library Service

The library at Oxford Brookes University is of primary importance as an information resource

whilst you are a student here. The specialist resources for students in the business school
are based on the Headington site and are supported by a highly qualified team of specialist
Academic Liaison Librarians.

The Library home page is at http://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/ and from here you can
navigate to the resources you need.

Your first priority will probably be to find books on your reading list and this can be
done by going to the Library home page and clicking on ‘Books and e-books’, and entering
the title, author or other information into the search box.

You will also probably want journal articles on your reading list and these can also be
accessed from the Library home page by clicking on ‘Find a database’ then choosing your
subject. This takes you to a page from where you can navigate to the appropriate resource.

You can learn more about how to find books and journals in the Libraries by clicking
on https://www.brookes.ac.uk/library/library-services/information-skills/teach-yourself/
Please feel free to get in touch with the Academic Liaison Librarian (see pError!
Bookmark not defined.) for help and advice.

Upgrade – Study Advice Service

Upgrade is the University's confidential study advice service for anyone who wants advice
on statistics, maths and study skills such as planning and writing essays, assignments and
dissertations, and more.

For more information about Upgrade and the services offered, check the website at
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/upgrade/

Assessment information

This module follows the principles of the University’s Assessment Compact, developed in
conjunction with the Student Union, to ensure good practice and transparency in
assessment and feedback processes. The Assessment Compact can be found in your
Programme Handbook or on your programme’s Brookes Virtual site.

Weighting 100%.
Composed of:

• Individual coursework worth 100% of your total mark for this module.

Hand-In Date and Instructions

The assignment is due BEFORE 13h00m on Wednesday, 12th December. You need to
submit your word document format via Moodle.

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In week 4, you will have the opportunity pitch your assignment to obtain feedback. Please
include any presentation slides as an appendix in your assignment.

Module learning outcomes assessed

1.1-1.3, 2.1-2.5

Individual Assignment (100%)

You are to create a marketing plan to build a customer audience for one of the following
businesses:

Option 1: A new airline Oxfly, is launching a new commercial service flying from Oxford
Airport to Berlin.

Option 2: A new coffee/juice/tea rooms bar OxBrew in the Westgate Shopping centre Oxford

Option 3: A new night club/bar OxParty is launching in Headington

Option 4: A new Oxford based cosmetics brand OxCos launching its first shop in the UK on
Oxford high street

Option 5: A new chocolate company OxChoc, is to launch its first store on the high street

Within your plan you must identify your target customer(s) and create a unique value
proposition to engage these customers. Identify how you will acquire customers, optimising
sales and establishing and retaining a relationship. Highlight how you would use customer
insights to create a customer engagement plan and used behavioural science to increase
sales. Explain how you will plan your customer experience/engagements, channels, content
and leverage data to increase the chances of your plan’s success

You must present your assignment pitch in week 4, which should outline your business, your
target personas(s) and your unique value proposition.

You need to submit a report of 12 pages (excluding title page, executive summary,
references and appendices) which:

• Includes an executive summary of the report (not more than one page and NOT
included in the overall word count)
• Briefly introduces your customer segments, the brand, the value proposition and the
market challenges that it faces
• Explains the rationale for your choice of target segment
• Map your chosen customer segments buying journey and how you intend to acquire
new customers
• Describe how you intend to engage with your customer segment(s) (content,
channels, experience) to convert first time buyers into regular customers
• Explain how you through your engagement strategy you intend to drive your ‘brands’
value proposition, differentiating it from the competition
• Explain how you would monitor and assess whether your marketing plan is working

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The report length may vary by 10% (below or above the limit).

Presenting coursework for assessment

Your assignment must be presented in the following format:

 It must be word-processed in 11 point Arial font and double-spaced

 All pages must be numbered
 Margins must be as follows: Top: 1 inch, Bottom: 1 inch (2.5 cm), Left: 1.25 inches,
Right: 1.25 inches (3.2 cm)
 It should not contain your name(s)

Assignment length

The length of an assignment is limited to 12 pages (excluding title page, executive summary,
references and appendices) to contribute towards the development of writing skills and to
ensure all work is assessed equitably. We therefore require you to complete your
assignments within the number of pages specified in the assignment brief.

You will need to think carefully about how best to explain your case within the permitted
number of pages, using, for example, an appropriate mix of text, drawings, diagrams and
tables, supplemented by information contained in appendices.

Please also remember that a report can be enhanced or damaged through layout, for
example, placing all tables and drawings in appendices can hamper the flow of discussion.
Decisions therefore need to be made about the most appropriate place to use tables etc, to
support your case.

Appendices themselves will not be marked. However, inappropriate use of appendices will
be taken into consideration when awarding the final mark.

Submission date and instructions

Your work must be uploaded to the dropbox in Moodle/Turnitin by 13:00 on 12 December

2018.
For the electronic submission: Give the file(s) which you intend to upload a name which
begins with your student number. For example
‘12345678_annotatedbibliography_moduleU1234’
Students can add the blue card automatically through the Moodle and Turnitin interfaces at
the point of submitting their work. This option is only available to students who are registered
with the Dyslexia/SpLD Service.

Marking Criteria Individual Assignment %

Marks

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Gathers customer insights and uses these insights throughout the assignment 30%
to justify decisions.

Uses and applies models taught throughout the module appropriately to 30%
support the critical discussion
Creates a clear effective and implementable plan that will engage the target 30%
customers create a behavioural change
Presents a professional-looking and well-structured report, which is correctly 10%
referenced

Total 100%

Criteria 70%+ 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% <40%

Gathers customer Uses an Uses a wide A range of insight Only a few used to Little insight
insights and uses extensive range range of sources used to generate gathers on
these insights of insights insights generate customer insights. customer.
throughout the sources to sources to customer insights. Research
assignment to create a clear create a clear Only a few consists of
justify decisions. understanding of understanding Some of insights insights are generic internet
the customer, of the are applied to applied to models insights.
the market and customer, the models and to and decision
market and
competitors. justify decisions making. Insights are not
competitors.
Clearly identifies throughout the applied through
insights gaps The majority assignment. models and
and includes of insights are decision making.
how these gaps applied to
will be filled. models and to
The insights are justify
applied to decisions
models and to throughout the
justify decisions assignment.
throughout the
assignment.

Uses and Uses and Uses a wide Attempts to use Uses some Uses few models
applies models effectively range of models and apply models taught taught within the
taught applies models taught in the models taught in within the model. module.
throughout the taught through module. the module.
module the module. Poorly implements Fails to apply
appropriately to Demonstrates Basically applies models within the these correctly to
support the Demonstrates some these models. assignment the assignment
critical an excellent understanding of
understanding of
discussion the models and
the model and
how these related
how it helps
to the customer.
drive customer
insight,
engagement and
behavioural
change. May
combine with
other models not
taught in the
module

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Creates a clear Uses customer Creates logical Uses insights Creates a basic Creates an
effective and insights and plan from models and models to unstructured inconsistent
implementable model to and insights to create a basic engagement plan. engagement plan
plan that will generate a engage customer engagement that is unlikely to
engage the customer and create some plan. Provides little stand out from
target customers engagement behavioural insight how the competitors,
create a plan that change. Provides a basic plan will be engage
behavioural differentiates outline of how implemented or customers or
change from the Demonstrates an the engagement measured. drive a
competitors, outline of how the plan could be behavioural
engages engagement plan implemented and change.
customers and could be evaluated.
creates a implemented and Provides little
desired evaluated. insight how the
behavioural plan will be
change. implemented or
Demonstrates measured.
how the
engagement
plan will be
implemented
and evaluated.
Presents a Creatively and Very good Good Poorly presented Badly presented
professional- excellently presentation and presentation, or structured or structured
looking and well- presented work, structure. satisfactory work. work. Lacks
structured report, properly Properly structure and Referencing is referencing.
which is correctly referenced. referenced. suitable poor or Poor use of
referenced Effective use of Competent use referencing. inconsistent. English and no
English. of English. Clear use of Poor use of evidence of
Appendices Good use English, with English or no proofreading.
properly used of evidence of proof Very poor use of
limited
and appendices. reading. appendices
proofreading
of an appropriate Unselective use of
errors
length appendices
Appropriate
appendices.

Marking and moderation of your work

Following internal moderation, a sample of work is reviewed by the External Examiner for the
programme to ensure that the standards applied are comparable to those at other
institutions.

Feedback

Feedback on your work will be provided in a range of ways at various times throughout this
module, and different feedback will serve slightly different purposes. Feedback is designed
to support your learning and help you to improve subsequent work, so you need to get the
most out of the feedback provided. We will provide assignment feedback during week 8,9,10
& 11. We require that you bring a draft of your assignment for review in the assignment
clinics.

Please note that feedback is provided throughout the module NOT JUST ON FORMAL
ASSESSED TASKS. It will be provided on your work and contribution in class, on the formal
assessment tasks and, in some circumstances, during staff office hours.

If you would like further information about feedback, or how to use it, please talk to your tutor
on this module or your Academic Adviser or Programme Lead

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Turnitin

The assignment on this module will be submitted through Turnitin. Turnitin is a web-based
tool that supports the development of good academic practice when preparing written work
for assessment. This text-matching tool allows academic staff to check assignments for
improper use of sources or potential plagiarism by comparing it against continuously up-
dated databases (including web-pages and other student work).

Authenticating your coursework

You must be able to demonstrate that the course work you submit for assessment is your
own. You must therefore keep all working documents (electronic and paper) that you used or
created while preparing the assignment, such as photocopies of sources and internet pages,
your own notes on your reading and preparation and where primary research has been
conducted, completed questionnaires or interview schedules, details of the process of
analysis, field notes and so on. Most importantly, you should keep the early developing
drafts of your coursework as evidence of the originality of your work by saving each revision
to a file with a different name. This material should be kept until after the module results
have been published on PIP. Please note that you may be required to submit an electronic
version of your work.

Guidelines on using others to check your work

If you are not too confident in the accuracy of your written English, you may want to ask
someone to help you by checking your work. However it is important that this is not done in
such a way that you are committing academic misconduct, which could result in disciplinary
action. University guidance can be found at:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/Documents/Regulations/Current/Other/E21-Guidance-on-
Proofreading/

In addition, if a checking or proofreading service is used, the Faculty of Business requires

you to declare this at the front of your work, giving the name of the person who did this for
you.

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University regulation C1.1.4 Behaviour which will be regarded as a

breach of the Academic Conduct Regulations
All assessments are intended to determine the skills, abilities, understanding and knowledge of
each of the individual students undertaking the assessment. Cheating is defined as conduct
(whether successful or not) aimed at deceiving the University into acknowledging a false level of
attainment by a student. Cheating (including attempting to assist someone else to cheat) may be
subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the University's Disciplinary Procedure. The
University takes this issue very seriously and students have been expelled or had their degrees
withheld for cheating in assessments. It is important that students having difficulties with their
work should seek help from their tutors rather than be tempted to use unfair means to gain
marks. Students should not risk losing their degree and undermining all the work they have done
towards it.

Any form of cheating is strictly forbidden under this regulation but, in order to assist
understanding, a number of specific forms of cheating are described. These include but are not
limited to the following examples:

 Submitting other people's work as your own – either with or without their knowledge. This
includes copying in examinations; using notes or unauthorised materials in examinations;
submitting work you have paid for as your own; impersonation – taking an assessment on
behalf of or pretending to be another student, or allowing another person to take an
assessment on your behalf or pretend to be you.
 Plagiarism – taking or using another person's thoughts, writings or inventions as your own.
To avoid plagiarism you must make sure that quotations from whatever source are clearly
identified and attributed at the point where they occur in the text of your work by using one of
the standard conventions for referencing. The Library has a leaflet about how to reference
your work correctly and your tutor can also help you. It is not enough just to list sources in a
bibliography at the end of your essay or dissertation if you do not acknowledge the actual
quotations in the text. Neither is it acceptable to change some of the words or the order of
sentences if, by failing to acknowledge the source properly, you give the impression that it is
your own work.
 Collusion – except where written instructions specify that work for assessment may be
produced jointly and submitted as the work of more than one student, you must not collude
with others to produce a piece of work jointly, copy or share another student's work or lend
your work to another student when it is likely that some or all of it will be copied.
 Duplication – submitting work for assessment that is the same as, or broadly similar to, work
submitted earlier for academic credit, without acknowledgement of the previous submission.
 Falsification – the invention of data, its alteration, its copying from any other source, or
otherwise obtaining it by unfair means, or inventing quotations and/or references.
 Custom Writing Services – the use of materials created by third parties and/or web sites
and passed off as the student’s own, including all forms of contract cheating, such as the
use of, running of, or participation in, auction sites and essay mills to attempt to buy, use
or produce assessments or answers to questions set
 Assisting others to cheat - The University considers assisting others to cheat (including
attempting to assist someone else to cheat) as a form of cheating for which the individual
student providing assistance is culpable.
Please also see: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/students/your-studies/student-disputes/student-
conduct/academic-misconduct/

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A note on equality, diversity and inclusion

Oxford Brookes Business School promotes an inclusive learning environment in which

individuals are valued and supported in achieving their full potential. The Faculty endeavours
to meet its duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate unfair discrimination and promote
equality of opportunity and good relations among members of the university community. For
the university statement on equality, diversity and inclusion please see
https://www.brookes.ac.uk/staff/human-resources/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/edi-at-
brookes/

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