AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching, after examining the main conceptual categories of strategic marketing and operational marketing, as well as analyzing the tools for the analysis of the competitive environment and the target markets, aims to provide students with a broad knowledge of the key elements of the sale and marketing functions, with specific reference to their application in the maritime-port, logistics and transport fields.
The teaching also provides useful managerial and marketing tools to support the strategic analysis of markets and customer needs, strategic decisions related to the market and the customers/clients, the definition and implementation of the operational marketing mix and the control of market-oriented KPIs. The teaching includes an empirical part referring both to B2B and B2C transport services, emphasizing the characteristics of cruise and shipping companies, terminal operators and port authorities, airlines and railway transport operators.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course addresses the main theoretical models concerning strategic and operational marketing decisions as well as their applications in both B2C and B2B transport services. In particular, it aims to provide students with a widespread conceptual and empirical background related to sales and marketing departments in several transport and logistics sectors including: shipping companies and port-related firms, cruise companies, airlines and railway operators.

The course, moreover, offers a wide spectrum of managerial and marketing tools for supporting market analyses and the comprehension of needs expressed by firm’s clients, for assuming strategic decisions, for defining and implementing marketing mix choices as well as for measuring and controlling firm’s results.

The course predominantly aims to:

1. conceptualize main theoretical models for analysing, managing and controlling the relationships with relevant markets established by firms and public entities which operate in the field of cargo and passengers' mobility;
2. transfer to the student managerial and marketing tools for the strategia analysis of the market and the assumption of main decisions related to the operational marketing and the marketing mix;
3. applied these conceptual models and concrete tools to various marketing problems and issues in different logistics and transport fields.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, case studies and seminars.

The course will be taught in Italian. The attendance is not compulsory; for foreign students is suggested a specific program.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The programme of the course includes the following issues:

Part I: Specificities of transport services and comprehension of client behaviour in B2C and B2B contexts

‒        Service marketing and specificities of B2C and B2B markets.

‒        The comprehension of client’s decisional process and behaviour in B2C and B2B contexts

Part II: Strategic marketing in transport services

‒        Strategic marketing, market analysis and business intelligence in transport services

‒        Strategic marketing decisions: targeting, positioning and value proposition

Part III: Marketing mix in transport services

‒        New product development, branding and distribution channels

‒        Pricing and revenue management

‒        Communication in transport firms

‒        Process planning/management and balancing demand and capacity

‒        Physical environment, “servicescape” and human resources

Part IV: Measuring corporate results and feedback

‒        Client management & client loyalty

‒        Service quality, customer satisfaction and service recovery

‒        Digital marketing and social media

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The textbooks will be communicated on Aulaweb before the beginning of the course.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GIOVANNI SATTA (President)

NICOLETTA BURATTI

FRANCESCO PAROLA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

I Semester

Class schedule

MARKETING FOR TRANSPORT SERVICES

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written exam with open-ended questions.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam aims to assess the awareness and the know-how of the student concerning main issues related to the strategic analysis of the markets and the assumption of main decisions related to the operational marketing and the marketing mix in logistics and transport sectors.

Also the knowledge and core competences developed by the student with regards to marketing tools for managing port-related and shipping companies, airlines and railway companies as well as firms operating in the cruise industry will be evaluated.

The exam, therefore will include both semi-structured open questions and fixed questions. 

Exam schedule