February 19 — Final project topic strategy
Week 5 · Thursday
Key takeaways
- Avoid large, established brands (Knicks, Air Jordan) for the final project — their existing marketing makes finding impactful improvements difficult.
- Focus on small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) with clear growth potential — you can apply strategic skills to create tangible, measurable improvements.
- The research dossier is a living document. The first submission (due Tuesday) is a low-stakes check for direction, not a final draft.
- Use the class’s AI tools (slide decks, NotebookLM) to review material, find citations, and generate mind maps.
Topics covered
Final project selection
Three options for your project:
- Hyper-niche campaign for a large brand — one product launch or regional initiative
- Create a new brand — fictional, built from scratch
- An SMB (recommended) — a real small-to-medium business with clear marketing gaps
Research dossier
- First submission due Tuesday
- Share as a Google Doc with editor access
- 35 points for completion and direction — not graded on depth yet
Customer personas
Core component of the dossier: bio, daily schedule, goals and pain points, and how they interact with your product. These will be developed further as a separate assignment.
Class resources
- Slide decks from lecture transcripts
- NotebookLM for AI-generated mind maps and Q&A from transcripts
- Office hours available via Canvas