Relationship Marketing

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor and tutor: Dr Benedetta Crisafulli
• Prerequisites: please note that the module Principles of Marketing is for non-marketing students and is a prerequisite for all specialist marketing modules
• Assessment: a 3000-3500-word individual report (100%)

Historically, companies have been almost exclusively focused on the marketing mix framework, especially for product-related exchanges. The idea of the customer being the centre of the framework has only gradually been recognised as a key driver of profitability. The advent of relationship marketing induced a paradigm shift in marketing from attracting customers into transactions towards establishing and maintaining long-term, profitable relationships with them (hence the use of the wording Customer Relationship Management - CRM), and more recently, towards building experiences (we nowadays talk about Customer Experience Management - CX). Companies have realised that customers represent a lifetime income stream, thus a key objective of marketing is to establish, develop and maintain profitable customer relationships.

In this module we start by discussing the fundamentals of ‘Relationship Marketing’ (RM), to then move on to the value discipline behind RM and some key tools and frameworks for building and managing customer relationships and experiences.

By the end of this module, you will:

• understand the managerial relevance of key concepts related to CRM and CX
• be able to apply CRM/CX concepts and frameworks in decision-making
• appreciate key challenges faced by marketing in developing and implementing CRM and CX strategies
• have developed reflective, teamwork and leadership skills through assessment and group work.