‘Marketing Principles’ textbook debuts in the River City
VCU’s first free, open-source marketing text, written by VCU Business faculty with Brandcenter students, delivers interactive chapters to reduce costs.
By Susie Burtch
Virginia Commonwealth University’s first free, open-source marketing handbook for undergraduates began with an affordable course content award from VCU Libraries.
Jodie Ferguson, Ph.D., professor and director of the Customer Experience Laboratory, and César Zamudio, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing, saw the opportunity immediately: Here was the perfect solution to their students’ complaints about high textbook costs. They merely had to write, illustrate, produce and post a new textbook, accessible online and free for all.
Bringing together seven contributors to put out this book
in two years was pretty phenomenal, but everybody was
all in on getting this done for our students.– Jodie Ferguson
“Marketing Principles from the River City” explores fundamental concepts from research and consumer behavior to pricing and promotion. The textbook is intended as an introduction for students, a refresher resource for majors and a reference for marketing practitioners outside the university. With each chapter written by the professor specializing in that area, Ferguson admits, “it was a heavy lift to ask faculty on top of their normal activities.”
Indeed, faculty members come to life in the book’s final section, “About the Authors.” Here, the contributors are identified not by the usual headshot, but by personalized photographs revealing clues as to their personality. Zamudio, for example, shows his favorite video game, while Ferguson holds a Gatorade bottle—a nod to her past agency work for the brand. Matching professors to identifying visuals is an aspect of the book fully fleshed out by two VCU Brandcenter student interns who worked on the project—copy editor Nathan Sisack (Copywriting, 2025) and art director Zofia Farley (Art Direction, 2026).
I love the idea that this book is not only free but also
just a tap away on our phones. The text needs to come from
experts, but it’s cool to have us translate that for our generation.– Zofia Farley
“It doesn’t even feel like a textbook,” she added. “The interactive aspect makes it more like playing games.” The book includes drag-and-drop, matchup and other exercises designed to get instructional lessons across. To avoid copyright issues with visuals, Farley photographed Richmond scenes, landmarks and local products to illustrate concepts and tie the book to its roots. “It’s a picture-book-style guide to the words,” she explains—clearly emanating from River City.
It’s all about putting students first — having them save
and learn. It’s a unique project, but our marketing department
is unique. I don’t think we could have pulled it off in any other school.– César Zamudio
While Ferguson describes herself as “more of the project manager,” Zamudio oversaw the book’s creative direction. He felt strongly that the textbook needed to have “a contemporary Gen Z feel,” with modern examples and scenarios. For instance, the term “modified rebuy” is exemplified by a bakery which suddenly needs to purchase a different kind of flour to add gluten-free bread to its menu. Photos of cellphones and coffee shops abound.
A survey completed after the textbook’s release suggests it was well received by students. And because it’s digital, it’s easy to add content, modify examples, refine AI-related sections and include new market segments as needed. Publishers issue new textbooks every few years, but the VCU book can be updated as often as necessary.
Zamudio calls it “a living document.” “The sky’s the limit,” he said. “Other institutions can adopt this book if they want to use it in their classroom. But in the end, the VCU marketing department hangs together and worked to produce this book together. We like each other, and we really care about putting our students first. Always.”
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