teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

There are plenty of articles (even a whole issue of BusinessWeek) paying tribute to Steve Jobs this week.  As much as we respect Jobs, we weren’t going to join the chorus because we didn’t have anything new or specific to marketing to say.  Then we found this 1997 video of Steve Jobs talking to Apple staff.  Jobs had recently returned to the company he founded (he was booted in 1985).

In the video Jobs explains what he thinks “marketing” is — actually explaining positioning — and introduces the new “Think Different” campaign (for a higher quality version of the ad click click here).

“To me, marketing is about values,” he said. “This is a very complicated world, a very noisy world and we’re not going to get the chance to get people to remember us. No company is. So we have to be very clear about what we want people to know about us.”

You might want to provide some context for your students — most of them being only 5 or 6 at that time.  Our students know the successful Apple of today — but Jobs returned to a company crippled by years of losses and record low stock prices.  Apple’s market share in computers was less than 5% (it now may be over 15% based on recent numbers), there were no iPods, iPads, or iPhones.

This might be a nice addition when you cover positioning or advertising.  It might be interesting to ask if this type of positioning works best for certain types of products, and if so, for what type of product.  We also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps.

STA Travel is a discount travel agency for students.  This is a fun ad that targets our student market.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This video, “Product Placement Goes Digital” appeared over at Slate.com (September 14, 2011).  The video clip briefly highlights the technology used to digitally place products into television shows after the show has been produced (or even after it has already run on the air).  The video alludes to some ethical issues that might be brought out in a follow-up class discussion.

The video might be a nice addition to your discussion of advertising or integrated marketing communications — as it shows how advertisers and programmers are responding to increased DVR use (and consequently greater zipping through commercials on television).  We have also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps.

‘Tis the season to sell, sell, sell.  Retailers, and marketing managers more generally, are always looking to give the consumer a reason to buy.  So today we have a couple of articles that show how that works.

First, an article in the Wall Street Journal that describes how retailers create 13 (or more) shopping seasons as a way to encourage more impulse shopping.  There are a lot of great examples of retail promotions in “A Season (or 13) for Shopping” (August 17, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here).

My second article on seasonal promotions taps into the recently ended Islamic holy month of Ramadan.  International examples are always nice to add as class examples — and I don’t see many examples from the Middle East.  This article in BusinessWeek is short and offers taglines and explanations for campaigns from McDonalds and Tang among others.  See “Islam’s Holy Month:  A Time for Self Promotion” (August 25, 2011).

That (see title) is the goal of neuromarketing research firms.  These market research providers use MRIs and EEGs to check out how your brain responds to various stimuli — like different olive oil labels.   The research firm NeuroFocus claims to see things consumers don’t even know about themselves.  For example, did you know that snackers “enjoy” a “sense of giddy subversion” when they have that orange dust from Cheetos on our fingers?  I didn’t know that either.   NeuroFocus looked at how women responded to Baked Lays — and the results influenced the subsequent advertising campaign and the introduction of single-serving packages.

The article, “NeuroFocus Uses Neuromarketing To Hack Your Brain” (Fast Company, August 8, 2011) is very long, but it includes lots of details and examples.  The article mostly advocates the practice — though a few critics are quoted.  I don’t think there is a lot of empirical evidence supporting (or refuting) its reliability and validity as a research method.  Time will tell — in the meantime, it is interesting.  For a related story, see a T4Ps previous post “New Product Development — For Pop Songs?“

Wal-Mart has long been positioned as the low-price leader.  Leveraging its supply chain and logistics system, competitors couldn’t match Wal-Mart’s cost structure.  Now at least some consumers perceptions are changing.  In this Wall Street Journal article, “Wal-Mart Loses Edge” (August 16, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here) we read about recent consumer surveys that show the retailer losing its “lowest price” positioning.  In one survey of 1500 Wal-Mart shoppers, “86% no longer thought it had the lowest prices” while in another survey the number was 60%.  Whichever the number, this is a big problem for a retailer that has long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for low prices.  While Wal-Mart’s perception of value fades, stores like Dollar Tree are seeing their perception of value rise.

While fewer consumers perceive Wal-Mart as the low price leader, what is the reality?  The article reports mixed objective evidence.  In comparisons with Target, with one study by Morgan Stanley showing that in Chicago Target is about even with Wal-Mart (though Wal-Mart was more than 20% lower priced than Safeway and Supervalu) and another study by Goldman Sachs showing Wal-Mart 6.2% lower than Target overall.

This case study could provide interesting fodder when you discuss positioning.  We define positioning in our books as “how consumers think about proposed or present brands in a market.”  You can remind students that perception is what counts among consumers.

You might recall that a few years ago Wal-Mart changed its tagline from “Always Low Prices – Always” to “Save Money.  Live Better.”  Wal-Mart wanted to appeal to a more upscale crowd and develop a greener image.  Perhaps this change de-emphasized the previous price positioning.  The new dual positioning may not be as clear to consumers — opening opportunities for dollar stores to take the lowest price mantel from Wal-Mart.

This opens the door to a good discussion with your students.  Asking them:  What should Wal-Mart do now?  Change its positioning?  Or try to re-gain the low price position?  Given its history and strengths, it seems clear to me that the retailer needs to regain the consumer perception of value.  Perhaps there is a need for more advertising?  Or should the store revisit the everyday low pricing model it has traditionally used — perhaps the hi-lo pricing models of some competitors have helped confuse the market and harmed Wal-Mart’s positioning.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

A few weeks ago we posted the “Ethics of Sunscreen” – from Seth Godin – and a counterpoint as well.

My friend Stefanie Boyer (Bryant University) has pointed out some additional reading which will give you an even better background on this issue.  She pointed us to the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Sunscreen Hall of Shame.  EWG points out specific, deceptive claims being made by some brands — and also suggests better brands.  The site also includes a page with some surprising, scientifically backed claims, “Sunscreens Exposed:  9 Surprising Truths.”

I am using all this information as part of my “Is Marketing Good or Evil?” exercise in class tomorrow.  I ask students this question and then provide some examples on both sides of the debate.  Like most tools, marketing can be used for good or evil — it is really who uses it.  The question that continues to be debated is the extent to which regulation should be introduced to prevent abuse.  No answers, just useful questions for our students to consider.

Thank you Stefanie!

This infographic “The Sneaky Psychology of Advertising” (BuySellAds.com, June 20, 2011) provides some interesting examples of consumer and advertising research.  Several of the ideas originally appeared in academic outlets including the Journal of Consumer Research and Psychology Today.  You might find the results of some of the studies will make interesting examples to use when you teach consumer behavior or advertising.  Are some of these tactics unethical?  What do you think?

I also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps – I plan to take a look at student comments there before I teach advertising.  I think it will give me an idea about how students view advertising — you might like to do the same.  So come back to the student post in a few weeks to see if we have any action there.

I think this speaks for itself.  Clever.  Not sure if my students would agree — or get it — but I did post it at Learn the 4 Ps.

This is a great case study for a creative, clever, and contemporary campaign put together by the Droga5 advertising agency for Bing.  The 3 minute video tells a great story that will work well in a class on integrated marketing communications.  The case study includes details on the results — which are nice for students to see.  Of course most of your students are in the target market for the campaign and will be familiar with hip-hop artist Jay-Z. We also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps.