Customer Journey Mapping as a New Way to Teach Data-Driven Marketing as a Service

As firms gather increasing amounts of data, the question of how future marketers can use these data to make their marketing more relevant and to make a strategic difference remains. However, students may feel uncomfortable about information systems and database technology, which they may perceive as complex and dry. This case describes how the development of a course on data-driven marketing makes use of service design methods. The experiential learning innovation is based on the optimization of customer journey mapping, which encompasses theoretical marketing concepts, modern database architecture and practical digital marketing knowledge. As a visualization of individual interactions with a product, service, or brand, customer journey mapping helps explain the way an interaction occurs in one moment and how it influences all other moments. By taking the "data as a service" perspective on the customer journey, students benefit from a more innovative and creative approach to data-driven marketing, which helps improve their attention and motivation.