MK 325 - Marketing Strategy: Focus on Italian Wine & Food

The course introduces students to strategic marketing, and invites them to apply these principles to Italian wine and food businesses through the use of local case studies. In studying these businesses principles, students will also gain a better understanding of Italy, Italians, and their relationship with the local produce.

The course teaches students about the Italian agri-food system’s functions and structure; the components of the marketing mix; strategies for positioning products; and the effectiveness of different marketing strategies adopted by food and wine businesses.

The course focuses on the Italian experience and uses case studies in Tuscany and the province of Siena to illustrate the issues discussed, but the principles discussed can be applied to businesses around the world.

We will also discuss strategical marketing issue related specifically to organic products, wine routes and agritourism enterprises, and will consider the role of the European Union and its policies’ impact on the wine and the food marketing by examining the “typical” products recognized by the EU given the designation of PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), and TSG (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed).

For the group project, students will create and develop a marketing plan for a local food or wine businesses identified by the professor. The business which is the focus of this project will be introduced and discussed in class, and students will visit the business and meet with managers in Week 8. Students will be thoroughly assisted by the professor, who will monitor their progresses and address their work.