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Syllabus: MGMT E-6630

Sustainability Marketing & Branding:
Fall 2021 | CRN 15433
Harvard Extension School:

Class meetings
Online (live) web conference
Fridays, 3:00- 5:00 pm

Start date
Friday, September 3rd

Introduction:
A rising tide of global interest from consumers and corporations in solutions to sustainable issues is
creating opportunities for profitable sustainable brands and products in all market segments. The
ability to adapt marketing strategies to sustainable products and services will be an important skill set
for entrepreneurs and marketers going forward. This course will focus on the marketing skills needed
to meet sustainable market needs and opportunities.

Instructor:
Name: Thomas Murphy
Email: TMNautilus@gmail.com
Phone: 978-760-1388
Student Help: Fridays 10 – Noon {by phone}

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Textbook:
{1} Sustainability Marketing, Belz / Peattie (2012) Wiley ISBN: 978-1119966197

Course Overview:
This is a 15 session graduate business course focused on the concepts, challenges and approaches for
global marketing of sustainable products and services. The course includes principles of corporate
sustainable responsibility and sustainability branding. This course will be delivered as an online course
with remote lectures and online assignments.

Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this course, students should be able to:
 Recognize global challenges for sustainable products and corporate action
Identify the role that sustainability marketing plays for global companies
Create and launch a sustainability marketing plan
Be able to differentiate and position a sustainability focused brand
Understand the elements of effective Corporate Social Responsibility

Course Policies and Expectations:

Technical requirements: To be successful in this course, students will need to access materials
and submit assignments in the Canvas Course page.

Grading Your grade in this course will be based on the aggregation of an individual project
assignment and research based discussion posts. Late submission of assignments will be assessed a half
letter grade penalty per day they are late.
Assignments will generally be graded within 1 week of their due date. Points you receive for graded
activities will be posted to the Electronic Gradebook. In considering the level of grade to assign to any
student submission, the instructor considers the following key elements:

1. Diligence: To what degree has the student covered all of the tasks assigned
2. Integration: How extensive are relevant course concepts included
3. Initiative: Demonstration of discovery and solutions beyond expectations
4. Critical Thought: Creating reasonable, effective and insightful solutions

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LETTER GRADES
Grades reflect the quality and quantity of a student’s work submitted
throughout the term. Each instructor determines the individual grade
components for their course and their percentage value in the
calculation of their students’ final grades. Students should check the
course syllabus for more information on their instructor’s grading
policies. Students registered for undergraduate or graduate credit who
complete the requirements of a course may earn one of the following
grades:

 A and A–: Earned by work whose superior quality indicates a full

mastery of the subject, and in the case of A, work of extraordinary
distinction. There is no grade of A+
 B+, B, and B–: Earned by work that indicates a strong
comprehension of the course material, a good command of the
skills needed to work with the course materials, and the student’s
full engagement with the course requirements and activities.
 C+, C, and C–: Earned by work that indicates an adequate and
satisfactory comprehension of the course material and the skills
needed to work with the course materials, and that indicates that
the student has met the basic requirements for completing
assigned work and participating in class activities.
 D+, D, and D–: Earned by work that is unsatisfactory but that
indicates some minimal command of the course materials and
some minimal participation in class activities that is worthy of
course credit.
 E: Earned by work that is unsatisfactory and unworthy of course
credit. This grade may also be assigned to students who do not
submit required work in courses from which they have not officially
withdrawn by the withdrawal deadline. Zero or E grades are
assigned to students for missing work. These grades are included
in the calculation of the final grade.

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When converting “numeric grades” to “letter grades” the following values will be used to determine final
course grades. Rounding up is only done when the final course average is within 1 point of the next grade
level and there is a history of several grades at the higher level.

99- 94- 89- 86- 82- 79- 76- 72- 69- 66- 62- 59-
95 90 87 83 80 77 73 70 67 63 60 0
A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- E

Method of Evaluation
Your final course grade will be based upon 3 written Assignments. Each assignment represents a third of
the final course grade. Assignments require finding and reviewing external articles and studies on the
given topic. Each student is also required to read the reports of all other students and then give 2-3
paragraphs of supporting feedback to 4 students based upon their reports. There will be a specific
Guideline for each of these assignments to give students an outline of the length, format and topics to
cover in their Reports.

Assignment Topics and Schedule

Week 4: Key Sustainable Consumer Segments and Their Buying Behaviors.
Week 8: How Hotel Brands Are Becoming More Sustainable.
Week 12: Major Trends in Sustainable Packaging for a Selected Market.

Course time commitment

Over the course of the semester students are expected to put in at least 120 hours of dedicated time to
meet the requirements of this course. This effort is divided as follows:
o Online Lecture Time – 30 hours
o Review of Weekly Materials – 21 hours
o Semester Assignments – 69 hours

Assignments
The assignment and Discussion Posts for this course will be submitted electronically unless otherwise
instructed. Assignments must be submitted by the given deadline or special permission must be
requested from instructor at least 3 days before the due date. Late assignments will be assessed a half-
letter grade penalty per day late. Be sure to pay close attention to deadlines—there will be no make-up
papers.

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The assignment you will be asked to undertake will involve adopting a globally recognized brand and
identifying its current market position, its sustainable branding activities and making recommendations
on how it should expand its market presence through branding approaches.

“Project Zero” Diagnostic Pre-Course Assessment

Within the first week of this course all students will be asked to complete a one page { 3-4
paragraph} paper that will assist both myself and the student in evaluating whether you are
ready to successfully take this course and complete the necessary assignments and exams. It
will not be graded and will not count toward your final grade. I have created this diagnostic so
that it is similar to a typical essay question that I include in the exams for this course.

This course relies upon a number of key videos to provide deeper context into some of the key
learning concepts around branding. One of the videos we review is “Brand Purpose” and you
will find it in the list of videos and materials for our first session. You diagnostic task is to click
on that video and view it {It is only 3 minutes in length}. Then, based upon the content in the
video I would like you to take any recognized brand {in any category “technology, fashion etc}
and describe what you feel their brand purpose should be.

I will provide an upload link within the “Assignment” section of your canvas page {left hand
menu} where you can submit your 3 – 4 paragraph summary.

Academic & Course Policy: Including

 Absence from lecture sessions
 Academic Integrity
 Behavior & Conduct

Please refer to the guidelines listed in the HSS Student Handbook:

Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two free online 15-minute tutorials to test your
knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-learning tools.

Accessibility

The Extension School is committed to providing an accessible academic community. The

Accessibility Office offers a variety of accommodations and services to students with
documented disabilities. Please visit
https://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/disability-services-
accessibility for more information.

Academic Integrity

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You are responsible for understanding Harvard Extension School policies on academic
integrity (http://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/student-conduct/academic-
integrity) and how to use sources responsibly. Not knowing the rules, misunderstanding the
rules, running out of time, submitting the wrong draft, or being overwhelmed with multiple
demands are not acceptable excuses.

To support your learning about academic citation rules, please refer to

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/resources-policies/resources/tips-avoid-plagiarism where
you will find links to the Harvard Guide to Using Sources and two free online 15-minute
tutorials to test your knowledge of academic citation policy. The tutorials are anonymous open-
learning tools.

Session Outline:
Week 1: SETTING THE FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY MARKETINFG

 Introduction & Evolution of Sustainability Marketing { Chapter 1 }

 Corporate Social Responsibility {Chapter 2}
Videos: “Brand Purpose”,

Week 2: THE CHANGING ROLE OF SUSTAINABLE COMPANIES

 Good versus Less Bad

 Green Marketing Done Right

Weeks 3 & 4: SUSTAINABLE CONSUMER BEHAVIORS & SEGMENTS

 Sustainable Consumption { Chapter 3 }

 Videos: “Identity Loyalty”, “Why Consumers Choose Sustainability” “Consumer

Week 5: SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Weeks 6 & 7: SUSTAINABLE BRAND BUILDING

 The Role and Scope of Branding

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 The Brand Equity Model

 Brand Positioning

Week 8: BRAND TRANSPARENCY AND CONSUMER TRUST

 “THE NAKED BRAND VIDEO”

Week 9: SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT SOURCING & MANAGEMENT

Weeks 10 & 11: SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING: Reuse, Reduce & Recover

 Sustainable Packaging Challenges & Benefits

 Sustainable Packaging Trends, “Amazon, Unilever, P&G, Coca Cola”

Week 12: SUSTAINABILITY VALUE & PRICING {Chapter 10}

Week 13: SUSTAINABLE MESSAGING & STORY TELLING

Week 14: SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS – SOURCING TO DELIVERY

Week 15: END OF TERM – FINAL THOUGHTS

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