Introduction Current events play a major role in the course: they are an essential part of class since they help to apply theories to practice. They also bring excitement and relevancy to our discussions! Therefore, you are encouraged to read recent articles related to marketing in newspapers and business magazines, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, The Economist and even in publications like Time and Newsweek. Other suggested business journals are Harvard Business Review, Advertising Age International and various online sources. You can contribute to the learning process by sharing your insights with your fellow students during class discussions. Assignment To structure this effort during the semester, you must participate in the projects as listed in the class schedule. Each project involves reading two related articles about a particular product, service or a company’s successful or failed marketing strategy (or, for example, an interview with one of its executives) and handing in (on the designated days as listed in the course syllabus, always at the end of class) an Executive Brief: a short write-up (typed, single spaced, one to two pages) on the – combined – material in these two articles. A copy of the articles (that should deal with the same product, service or organization) should be stapled to your brief; thus, only including a link is not sufficient! A complete citation and the source and date of the article should appear at the top or bottom of the summary. Do not e-mail your Executive Briefs to me as these will not be accepted. In your Executive Brief, you should summarize the marketing strategy described in the articles and identify the marketing outcome (such as the success or failure of the new product or venture). Briefly indicate what marketing concepts or text materials explain the outcome, and state your own opinion on these issues. Be sure to include your name, the date, the time slot of course you are enrolled in and your e-mail address at the top of your brief. I will evaluate all briefs that are handed in; if you don’t hear from me (in class or by e-mail) within a week after you hand it in, you will get credit for this project. Please write the paper on marketing strategies of designer Christian Louboutin. Include links to the 2 articles used.