Dear BADM 420 Students,

Before I even get started, I just want to say that I hope all of you have returned home and are safe and your families are doing well. I know this is an insane time and whether you are here in Champaign, up in the suburbs, or back home in Korea I hope you are all doing as well as can be expected given the situation we find ourselves in.

I wanted to reach out and give you all an update on how the rest of the semester is going to play out for BADM 420: Advanced Marketing Management. I realize that a lot of you are seniors and your senior year has been cut short, and there will not be a traditional commencement ceremony this May. Therefore I will be giving a lot of leeway when it comes to the projects and assignments going forward. That does not mean you do not have to do them, but I will be giving you a lot of leeway. So below I have a layout of what you should expect from me over the rest of the semester.

Week of March 22: Getting back in the saddle with sales

• The first week after Spring Break will be simply sales training videos on “Illinois Media Space.”
• I will have a page in compass that has all the videos lined up. Look for the title “Getting Back in the Saddle with Sales” on the class’ compass page and you will see them.
• I will have open “Office Hours” on Tuesday at 8am & 2pm, as well as on Thursday at 4pm on my Professor Wolters YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters I will be having these times available to chat or just share news or just for a place for you all to vent if you like. I will be on for at least the first 30 minutes after the “office hours” begin and I will stay on until all questions or topics have been covered.
• You can send me questions to my email or post them to me on twitter @woltersworld or on Instagram @woltersworld and I will get back to you. I may answer your questions in the live feed as well (though I will redact your name) as others may have the same or a similar question.
• This first week is just for all of us to adjust to the new “normal” we will find ourselves in for the rest of the semester. I am worried about you all and want you to know that if you need anything I am here to talk.

Week of March 29: More Sales Training

• This week we will be focusing on sales training and sales management. As of now I have not filmed enough sales videos to give you a YouTube playlist, so this week we may have two “live classes” that will be recorded and shared with you. I will let you know where we stand on this in Sunday March 29^th’s email announcement I will send out.
• If we do the classes “live” they will be on Zoom or my Professor Wolters YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters Again I will announce this on next Sunday’s email. The full lectures will be available to watch approximately two hours after they are live streamed as it takes time for the system to render and process the videos.
• I will be sending out the Strategic Marketing Project Grades and comments. I have graded half so far and have been very impressed with the work. I am really proud of you all for the amount of thoughtful work that you put into these projects. A number of the clients have contacted me personally to say how impressed they were with your work. I have to film about 50 videos this week (week of March 22^nd) and edit them, so I have had to push back my grading.
• Live Class filming on Tuesday at 4pm and Thursday at 2pm. They will be available to watch approximately two hours after they are filmed.
• Political Marketing Homework is now due by noon on Friday April 3^rd. The form is in the back of the book. Please just email me your write up by then.
• Online Office Hours: Tuesday 8am & 2pm, and Thursday 4pm. I will stay online for minimum of 30 minutes, if there are more comments, questions, or chatting we can go longer. These will be held on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters

Week of April 5: Digital 1^st Consumers & the SOSTAC Model

• We will start work on the digital marketing module. I will be sending out a new set of PowerPoint slides for you to cover all the digital marketing material. It will be on compass on Sunday April 5^th. I am trying to type everything up so you have tons of extra information as well.
• We will go over the digital marketing project, link here if you want to know what you need to do. https://youtu.be/J9db0Uc_Aqs
• We will cover topics relating to Digital 1^st Consumers, Digital Marketing Maturity, and the SOSTAC & RACE Models for social media marketing
• These classes will be live online sessions via Zoom or the Professor Wolters YouTube channel. They will be available to watch at your pleasure about two hours after they are filmed.
• Live Class Filming: Tuesday at 4pm and Thursday at 2pm. They will be available to watch approximately two hours after they are filmed.  
• Online Office Hours: Tuesday 8am & 2pm, and Thursday 4pm. I will stay online for minimum of 30 minutes, if there are more comments, questions, or chatting we can go longer. These will be held on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters

Week of April 12: The Social Media Plan, Content Strategy & Curation Strategy, SEO

• This week we will be using YouTube videos to cover the main topics of the Social Media Plan as well as content and curation strategy development.
• We will also have YouTube videos on Search Engine Optimization.
• I will send out an email on Sunday April 12^th with links to all of the videos.
• Online Office Hours: Tuesday 8am & 2pm, and Thursday 4pm. I will stay online for minimum of 30 minutes, if there are more comments, questions, or chatting we can go longer. These will be held on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters

Week of April 19: Guerilla Marketing, Astroturf Marketing, Personas

• This week we will be using YouTube videos to cover the main topics of Guerilla and Astroturf Marketing, Word of Mouth Marketing, Personas, and a few more digital marketing topics.
• Each team will schedule a Zoom Conference call with the professor to discuss their project and any other issues they may be having.
• Online Office Hours: Tuesday 8am & 2pm, and Thursday 4pm. I will stay online for minimum of 30 minutes, if there are more comments, questions, or chatting we can go longer. These will be held on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters

Week of April 26: What to Know Going Forward

• Your Digital & Social Media Marketing Project will be due by Friday May 1^st by noon. You will need to email the company representative the project and cc’ the professor.
• The Topics this week will cover marketing and general career advice going forward. This may be in live Zoom or YouTube sessions.
• Online Office Hours: Tuesday 8am & 2pm, and Thursday 4pm. I will stay online for minimum of 30 minutes, if there are more comments, questions, or chatting we can go longer. These will be held on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters

Week of May 3: Good Byes

• I will be sending out project evaluations this week.
• Students with any issues will be able to contact me directly.
• You will need to email me your team evaluation sheets.

Major Changes to the Class

As many of you may have noticed there are a few parts of the class that were needed to be altered due to our current situation.

• First off, there will be no final presentation for the projects. I will take the 20% of the grade that the final presentation represented and place 10% extra on each of the Strategic Marketing Project & Digital marketing project, so they each will count as more.
• The presentation evaluations’ points will be folded into the team evaluation points. Therefore, you do not have to evaluate any presentations (as we do not have presentations). This does mean that your teamwork and team participation will play a larger roll in your final grade for the class.

OK, so there is the overview of how things will play out for the rest of the semester. It is not ideal, and I know all of you are going through a lot right now, so I will be very understanding this semester. If your companies are not able to email you back, just do your best from the information you have already collected and develop the projects. Believe me, they will need the marketing help when the world starts working again and your projects will help them get back on their feet. So, good luck #teambadm420 know that I have been really proud of your work and of all of you. Be prudent, don’t panic. We will get through this.

Sincerely,

Mark Wolters