teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

We are coming up on Super Bowl Sunday — the biggest day of the year for the NFL ad agencies.  Many advertising agencies will have their success measured by 300 people who watch the Super Bowl with a dial in hand — and turn that dial up and down as they like/dislike the ad as they watch.  Perhaps like many of you, I like to show and discuss Super Bowl ads in class.  I usually spend about 15 minutes my first teaching day following the Super Bowl to show my students 2-3 of the top ads in the USA Today Ad Meter.  I also show one near the bottom of their rankings.  I ask my students if the top ads are better and why.  I use this to try to get them to realize that ads should be tied to specific objectives.  Is being a “top 10″ ad in popularity on the USA Today Ad Meter a valid objective?  An Advertising Age article, “How USA Today’s Ad Meter Broke Super Bowl Advertising” (January 30, 2012) provides me with a bit more meat for my class discussion next week.

Ikea’s target market includes urban young people — many of whom live in relatively small big-city apartments.  A lot of Ikea’s offerings are optimized to this segment.  One challenge for Ikea is demonstrating how their products make a small apartment bigger.  One way is to create a small apartment in their stores — but to get to more customers, you could bring the small apartment to them.  Ikea knows its urban market often travels on the metro (subway).  So they built a 54 square meter (about 580 square feet) apartment in a Paris metro station.  The apartment’s windows allowed customers to see Ikea’s furniture and cabinets in action.  Five volunteers lived there for a week — they even threw a party.

This is an interesting example of creative promotion.  Ikea got some buzz — so more than just metro riders in one station got to see this.  Will it generate interest?  Sales?  It is a good example of trying to break through the clutter of advertising.

I guess this campaign is more than a year old now — but it is fresh and new to me.  John St is an agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  It is hard to call any agency an “ad” agency as most — like John St do all kinds of promotional efforts.  The clever video below demonstrates a wide range of its services in a cute way.  It actually fits as a B2B and B2C example at the same time — and it also demonstrates integrated marketing communications.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

The Wall Street Journal asked some advertising execs what they see coming in 2012 — and you can read about it in “*&%@#! and Other Ads Trends for 2012” (January 4, 2012 – non-subscribers may need to click here) — or by watching the video below.  There are more trends in the article. It might be fun to ask your students — as I have over at Learn the 4 Ps — to choose one of these trends and evaluate its impact on their career planning.  I think it helps for students to learn to scan the environment and watch the future.

The title of this article from Adweek says it all “The 10 Most Watched Ads of 2011 on YouTube” (December 21, 2011).  We featured several of these on Teach the 4 Ps. This might give you something entertaining to watch over break.  I am sure you will find something new and interesting to entertain your class next semester.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This article, “Using Google’s Data to Reach Consumers” (New York Times, December 22, 2011) describes a clever campaign Vicks used for its new Behind Ear Thermometer.  To identify a target market Vicks’ marketing managers first looked to smartphone users who were more likely to buy the $40 thermometer.   They ran ads on popular apps like Pandora, which also allowed them to target demographic characteristics, including gender and whether a user was a parent.  Next, it turned to Google Flu Trends an online database that shows which parts of the country have greater flu activity.  Vicks targeted parents in high flu incidence areas who received banner ads stating:  “Flu levels in your area are high, be prepared with Vicks revolutionary Behind Ear Thermometer.”  If they tapped the ad, location services told them of the nearest retailer carrying the thermometer.

This case study is one of the best examples of digital advertising I have read lately.  A nice example of using analytics to identify a target market and a great use of mobile advertising.

AdAge shows us a list of 14 “Stats that Mattered for Media and Marketing in 2011” (AdAge Stat blog, December 12, 2011).  A few of my favorites:

• 71% of P&G’s advertising spending was outside the U.S. — up from 22% in 2011.
• Nuclear families account for just on fifth of all U.S. households, but 34% of the spending.
• Discretionary spending — just over half have less than $10,000 per year to spend on non-essential goods.  A lot of firms chasing less discretionary dollars.

We cover a lot of demographic information in chapter 5 in Basic Marketing, so you might find some of this useful to supplement that chapter.  Of course the advertising spend data works with any advertising chapter.

It sure sounded like a great idea.  The idea, draw attention to global warming and the plight of polar bears.  The bears have been a Coca Cola holiday symbol for almost 100 years — so the actions also fit with the brand’s heritage.  Coke did this by changing the iconic red cans to white for the holidays.  It sure sounded like a good idea.  Unfortunately, the new cans confused consumers — especially Diet Coke drinkers who confused the white can with their familiar silver Diet Coke cans.  This article, “Bad News, Bears:  Coke Pulls Back on White Cans in Holiday Campaign to Save Polar Bears” (brandchannel, December 1, 2011) describes many interesting elements to the story.  For example, by monitoring social media, Coca Cola marketing managers heard complaints early.  This case is also a demonstration of a low involvement product that consumers buy out of habit.   In the end, it probably marks a mis-step by the soft drink giant.  But I would say, if you take chance, you will make mistakes sometimes.  And this whole outcome, like the New Coke introduction 25 years ago, may yet generate positive publicity for the brand.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This article has examples that can be used in teaching consumer behavior, market research, brand management, packaging, and advertising & promotion.

The iPhone has considerable market share and mind share among consumers.  So how do you break into that market?  Maybe you start by copying Apple’s iPad and iPhone.  Then you try to differentiate your phone with a larger screen and 4G connection speed.  Of course explaining technical differences in an ad can be a challenge.

So Samsung tries to make fun of Apple diehards with this latest ad.  Does it work?  I would imagine that Apple fans hate it and Apple haters love it — but those two groups are probably not Samsung’s target market with Galaxy (they are already too loyal).  How does it work for smartphone buyers who are not strongly pro- or anti-Apple?

Either way, this is a good example of comparative advertising.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

One of the world’s leading market research firms, The Nielsen Company, occasionally shares some of its “Top 10″ lists.  In “Kid Wins in October’s Most Popular New Spot, Kid Loses in the Best-Remembered” (AdAge, November 11, 2011), you can see lists of the 10 most likeable and 10 most remembered TV ads from October 2011.

I suggest you review the research methodology (described in detail below each list), as the indices provide an opportunity to demonstrate both a market research technique and the value of an index to simply report findings.

Interestingly, there was no overlap across these Recall and Likeability Indexes for October 2011.  the Travelocity ad below was the most remembered — recalled more than twice as much as the average ad.  This finding might lead to a discussion about whether either is an appropriate measure of advertising success?  I usually let my students debate that a bit before reminding them that we need to tie the measure to the organization’s promotional objectives.