General information


Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Maria Dolors Celma Benaiges

Trimester: First term

Credits: 6

Teaching staff: 

Josep Maria Calafell Martinez
Anna Pilar Llacher Alsina 

Academic year: 2025

Teaching course: 2

Languages ​​of instruction


  • Catalan

Reading materials can be in Catalan, Spanish or English.

Competencies / Learning Outcomes


Basic skills
  • CB2. That students know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and possess the skills that are usually demonstrated through the elaboration and defense of arguments and the resolution of problems within their area of ​​study. .

  • CB5. That students have developed those learning skills necessary to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.

Specific skills
  • CE1. Recognize the environment in which the organization operates, the operation of the company and its functional areas and the instruments of analysis.

  • CE2. Apply the principles of marketing and market research

  • CE4. Analyze and evaluate strategies for developing, launching and positioning new products, as well as making decisions regarding the variable of the product, price, distribution and communication.

  • CE3. Identify the qualitative and quantitative tools of analysis and diagnosis for market research.

General competencies
  • CG1. Be able to work in a team, actively participate in tasks and negotiate in the face of dissenting opinions until reaching consensus positions, thus acquiring the ability to learn together with other team members and create new knowledge.

Transversal competences
  • CT1. Communicate properly orally and in writing in the two official languages ​​of Catalonia.

  • CT5. Develop tasks applying the knowledge acquired with flexibility and creativity and adapting them to new contexts and situations.

Presentation of the subject


General learning objectives of the subject:

  1. Understand why there are products that are worth commercializing, developing in students the ability to see opportunities for improvement and new ways to solve real consumer needs, through the creation and design of products and brands.
  2. Learn techniques to differentiate products and brands, designing a value proposition.
  3. Be able to launch a product on the market methodically and understand its life cycle and strategic matrices.
  4. Understanding the effect of the product on consumer behavior

The classroom (physical or virtual) is a safe space, free of sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and discriminatory attitudes, either towards students or teachers. We trust that together we can create a safe space where we can make mistakes and learn without having to suffer the prejudices of others.

Contents


1. Product Introduction

  • Product policy
  • Product and marketing
  • Influence of the environment on the brand
  • Product levels
  • Product classification

2.Product life cycles

  • Life cycle stages and their strategies
  • Special life cycle profiles
  • Factors underlying the life cycle
  • BCG matrix

3. The brand and its strategic matrices

  • The multi-product company
  • Product line and portfolio
  • ABC Model
  • McKinsey Matrix

 

Activities and evaluation system


SE1. Partial Exam 1 (20%)

SE2. Final Subject Project (40%)

SE3. Active Participation (1 class activity) (10%)

SE4. Final exam (30%)

Any form of academic fraud will be sanctioned in accordance with the center's assessment regulations. If signs of fraud are detected, including the improper use of generative artificial intelligence tools, the subject's teaching staff may call the student for an individual interview with the aim of verifying their authorship.

Bibliography


Basic

What is Branding? Matthew Healey. Ed Gustavo Gil, SL (2009)

Buyology, Truths and Lies About Why We Buy. Booket (2012)

Change by Design. Tim Brown

The purple cow. Seth Godin. Booket. (2011)

Marketing Manager. Kotler Keller. Pearson 14th edition (2012)

Complementary

A Handbook for Revolution: Empathy. Roman Krznaric. Random House Group Company (2014)

Blue Ocean Strategy. W. Chan Kim (2008)

Business Model Generation. Alexander Osterwalder (2010)

Creative Confidence. David Kelley

The 22 immutable laws of the brand. Al Ries and Laura Ries.

Strategic Maps. Kaplan and Norton. Harvard School Press. Management 2000. (2004)

Side marketing: new techniques for finding the most groundbreaking ideas. Kotler. Pearson (2005)

NeedFinding: Design Research and Planning. Dev Patnaik. Third Edition (2014)

The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets. Brant Cooper, Patrick Vlaskovits. (2013)

Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy. Dev Patnaik. Pearson Education. (2009)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1rF1id3nLo

TED Talk: Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy.