teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

This seems pretty obvious once you read it, but I never thought about teaching my students about the value here.  When B2B marketers are trying to break into new accounts, it seems pretty straightforward that potential new customers will search on the company and key executives.   For more, check out the article, “How search marketing can help your online reputation” (BtoB, March 10, 2010).

Observational research is becoming more mainstream for retailers.  You may have read Paco Underhill’s Why We Buy, which describes many interesting elements of consumer shopping behavior.  This article (“In Bid to Sway Sales, Cameras Track Shoppers,” The New York Times, March 19, 2010) offers some current examples and raises ethical questions around consumer privacy.  The article could be assigned, or used as an example when talking about market research, ethics, or retailing.

…and takes not-so-subtle play on the Apple iPad.

This is pretty amazing, especially when you look at the graph below.  There are a lot of articles on this recent bit of news, here is an article from Fortune (March 17, 2010) “How Facebook overtook Google to be the top spot on the Internet.”  Where are we headed?   Interesting example to use when discussing competition, the Internet, or social media.  Note – this is only in the United States.

If you follow social media closely, then a lot of what DreamGrow Social Media predicts is not new.  Of course the predictions from social media (or various other new media advocates) never seem to come as quickly as they expect.  We also know that many of our readers are still trying to get their arms around social media and its impact on marketing.  So part of our goal here at Teach the 4 Ps is to provide quick pictures of the social media landscape — and this slide show gives you some ideas about what is yet to come in 2010 or 2011, or 2012…

Many U.S. school districts face budget cuts and are therefore looking for new sources of revenue.  Some have turned to advertising on their websites.   In “Ads appear on school websites” (USA Today, March 18, 2010) we see the latest place advertising pops up.  In our books the advertising chapter has a boxed teaching scenario titled “Ads Everywhere” — then we specifically address advertising in schools in the last chapter in both Basic Marketing and Essentials of Marketing.

This Old Spice commercial has taken the top spot on the Ad Age Viral Video Chart — moving past Doritos with more than 2 million views last week. It takes an interesting approach in its battle with Axe (if it even competes with Axe – different target markets?).  Axe’s ads target 16 – 24  [13-18?] year old males.  Just go to YouTube and search “Axe commercial” for examples. I have kind of stayed away from the Axe ads which are pretty sexist and might offend some of my students – but if you are up for it, search YouTube for the Axe “Clean Your Balls”. Old Spice seems to be taking a different tack by targeting women, who they figure will buy Old Spice for their man (who may be a bit older than the Axe target market).

One way to use these in class would be to show the two ads and ask students if they seem to be targeting different market segments and buying behavior. It could be a nice lead-in to some discussion about segmentation, targeting and/or consumer behavior. You can also see how Axe uses the internet to get racier ads (that would not get past network censors) in front of its target customers — and for a lower media cost no less. Note that the Old Spice ad is running on TV.

“Why Bertolli Is Using Webisodes to Promote Frozen Dinners” (Brandweek, March 4, 2010) is the text of an interview with Gaston Vaneri, the marketing director who oversees Unilever’s U.S. frozen food business.  Vaneri provides a nice explanation of Bertolli’s rationale for this campaign — which can be viewed at www.intotheheartofitaly.com — feature some celebrities head to Italy and learn about Italian food.

What happens when Rocco DiSpirito, Marisa Tomei, and Dan Cortese travel to Italy to unlock the secrets of Italian Passion for food and life and uncover the inspiration behind Bertolli Frozen Meals? The new web series – Into The Heart of Italy!

It might be fun to show one of the webisodes and then discuss why Bertolli is doing this type of marketing.  With the insights from the article and your own thoughts, it could lead to an engaging discussion on Promotion.

This story “Buying green, but not for the planet,” ran on the Marketplace public radio show (March 10, 2010).  This story might provide a nice example to use when talking about consumer behavior and consumer needs.  Many consumers are buying environmentally-friendly products — but not for the presumed “green” benefits.  It certainly suggests that some of these firms could promote other benefits.  The transcript of the show is also available at this site.

For a nice green example of segmentation and targeting, see “Electric Car Strategy: Follow the Fleet,” (The New York Times, March 1, 2010).  Definitely shows how to tie characteristics of the market (technology, customers, company, and competition) to the target market.