teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

Many of my students are interested in and knowledgeable about the sports apparel and athletic shoe.  Surveys I conduct with my students consistently identify Nike as their favorite brand — far ahead of Apple.  So it pays to be up-to-date on this product-market — in this case about Nike competitor Puma.  It also makes for a good example to use in positioning.  The article, “Puma Is No Longer a Sneaker.  It’s a Lifestyle” (Bloomberg Businessweek, May 12, 2011) describes French luxury house PPR’s efforts to reposition the brand as high fashion.  Will the strategy work?  It might be useful to ask students why Puma is taking this approach.  Clearly there are strong competitors in Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Under Armour in this market — so it may make sense to try to differentiate Puma.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

You may have heard the news last week that Diet Coke snuck past Pepsi for #2 on the soft drink sales rankings – the Wall Street Journal‘s coverage of this is here in “Diet Coke Wins Battle in Cola Wars,” (March 17, 2011 – non-subscribers click here).   Coke and Pepsi provide us with many good examples — including their battle as a good example of competition.

Pepsi has been criticized for some of its recent marketing moves – see “How Pepsi Blinked, Fell Behind Diet Coke” (Advertising Age, March 21, 2011 — this may require a subscription to access).  For more, see “Pepsi Thirsty for a Comeback,” (Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2011 – non-subscribers may have to click here) you can read more about Pepsi’s fall and future plans. The 3:15 video below also provides a quick overview.

Seth Godin recently had a nice post “On pricing power” (February 17, 2011) at his blog.  I have little to add — I just suggest you read it because I think you will like it.

Here is the latest example of the internet threatening to radically change an industry — retail eyeglass sales.  This article in the New York Times, “Defying Conventional Wisdom to Sell Glasses Online” (January 16, 2011).   The article describes a New York start-up Warby Parker.   There are other online sellers of prescription eyeglasses — Zenni Optical and EyeBuy Direct have been around for a few years and sell primarily based on lower prices that start at less than $10 for a pair of glasses.   I have used both of these retailers and while they have pretty limited customer service, I have been pretty satisfied with the experience.  Warby Parker seems to be shooting for a place in the market between the full-service neighborhood optical store and the low price, limited service provider.

The example here could fit into a discussion of market segmentation, competition, technology as an element of the external market environment, place, or retail.

Another example of a company spotting opportunity in Africa (see recent post “The Africa Opportunity“).  This time it is KFC and its parent Yum Brands that are looking to expand in this growing market.  This article, “KFC Savors Potential in Africa” (Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2010 – non-subscribers may have to find article here)  includes some demographic and competitive information that might be useful in class discussions or examples when covering international, demographics, or channels of distribution/retail.

We have reported before on the interesting decisions Panera Bread made about price.  This article, “How Panera Bread Kept Rising Through the Recession” (Bloomberg Businessweek, November 8, 2010) offers more insight on its strategy through an interview with the chain’s Executive Chairman, Ronald Schaich.  By mostly staying the course with its marketing strategy, Panera was further differentiated as its competitors went on cost-cutting sprees.   The example would fit with a discussion of competition, competitive advantage, service, and/or retailing.

This article “When Nimble Firms Face A Winding Road” in Investor’s Business Daily talks about marketing strategy in fast-moving environments.  Examples include Netflix, HP, Boeing and counter-example, Kodak.  The examples might work well when discussing the external market environment, competition, technology, and marketing strategy planning.

Wal-Mart likes to think it is the low price leader — especially for toys.  Well this year Target has aggressively priced its toys – and Amazon also boasts low prices, no sales tax, and free shipping.  This article “Wal-Mart First Shot in Toy War” (Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2010 – use this link if the other doesn’t work) describes the battle between these retailers over toy prices.  The logic for the battle gives some insight into their price objectives and will offer a good, current example if you are teaching price soon — also works well when teaching competition or retailing.

This is a pretty straightforward example of firms adding new distribution channels.  Yet it ties together several concepts and the industry is one many students can directly relate with.  In “Restaurant Franchises Try Truckin’ as a Way to Grow” (Wall Street Journal, October 28, 2010) you can read about a trend where many food franchises are bringing their food to customers via the local food truck.  This is partially in response to consumers needs and competition.  Many of these firms use Facebook and Twitter to let customers know when and where the truck will be operating.

Great example to use for channels — but also as part of the external market (technology and competition).

The article, “Wal-Mart Sees Small Stores in Big Cities,” (Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2010 – link to Google search back door for non-subscribers) describes a change in strategy for Wal-Mart.  The recession has given a boost to dollar stores (see earlier post, “Stores Scramble to Accommodate Budget Shoppers“) and other Wal-Mart competitors — while the world’s largest retailer was busy trying to enhance its appeal to middle-class customers.  Apparently the move alienated Wal-Mart’s core blue-collar customer.  Now the retailer is looking to move into urban areas with stores a quarter to a third the size of its supercenters. The article provides a good example to use when you cover retailing.