Lesson series

MARKETING PRINCIPLES

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Course Overview

This course introduces learners to the core principles and strategies of marketing and how they influence consumer behavior, brand development, and business success. Through real-world examples, applied activities, and structured lessons, students explore how organizations identify customer needs, develop value-driven offerings, and communicate effectively in competitive markets. The course emphasizes practical marketing thinking, ethical practices, and real-world application across traditional and digital channels.

What You’ll Learn

By completing this course, learners will be able to:
  • Understand the role of marketing in business strategy and value creation
  • Analyze consumer behavior and target markets
  • Apply the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) to real-world scenarios
  • Develop basic marketing strategies and promotional plans
  • Recognize the impact of branding, positioning, and customer relationships
  • Understand ethical considerations and social responsibility in marketing

Learning Experience

This course includes a mix of:
  • Structured, lesson-based instruction
  • Real-world marketing examples and case studies
  • Interactive activities and group discussions
  • Applied marketing exercises and projects
  • Assessments designed to reinforce strategic and ethical marketing practices 

Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, learners will have a strong foundation in marketing concepts and practical skills applicable to business, entrepreneurship, and organizational settings. Students will be prepared to analyze markets, support marketing initiatives, and apply marketing principles in academic, professional, or entrepreneurial contexts. 

Course contents

Course instructor

Dr. Dawn Lindsey

Dr. Dawn Lindsey’s entrepreneurial journey began at age seven, when she first earned money guiding blind community members through town. Raised by a mother who successfully ran multiple home-based businesses with only a second-grade education, she learned early that ingenuity, determination, and work ethic create opportunity. Despite not completing high school, she founded Malotane Building Services, becoming one of the first Black woman-owned construction companies in South Africa and earning international recognition for her leadership in housing development. After immigrating to the United States with just $2,000 and her youngest child, she built Next Generation Fuel into one of the few Black woman-owned oil and gas companies supplying Fortune 500 organizations and later founded Vari-Tek LLC, serving infrastructure and construction markets.

Alongside building multiple successful companies, Dr. Lindsey earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business, a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, a PhD in Public Policy, and a Doctoral Certificate in Educational Leadership, and she is a licensed Business Educator with the Indiana Department of Education. Drawing on decades of business leadership and lived experience, she created the accredited Youth Entrepreneurial System (YES), the foundation of IndyEXCEL’s business education model, designed to equip youth and aspiring entrepreneurs with practical skills, economic knowledge, and pathways to ownership, independence, and generational wealth.