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I found this to be an interesting example of targeting influencers — because Chevy did not target “car buys” but instead targeted “tech guys”.   Jason Falls posts this on his blog, Social Media Explorer, “Targeting Influencers: A Case Study With Chevy Volt” (March 17, 2010). Jason Falls, Robert Scoble, and Guy Kawasaki are well known in the tech field.  The video is interesting in part because it includes Volt’s product manager Cristi Landi who explains the selection of these influencers.  This is a great example of one of the many experiments in social media that marketers are engaging in today. What do you think? Will this work? Is it the wave of the future?

This could be used in a variety of places in your marketing course — in consumer behavior (influencers), product life cycle (early adopters), or in Promotion (social media). Note, for some reason I was unable to embed this video but you can find it with the blog post.

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.

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.

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.

Another study questioning the value of demographics described in AdWeek, “Are Demographics Dead? Study suggests looking at ‘life stages’ could yield greater insight” (February 23, 2010).

Media behavior in today’s fragmented landscape is best evaluated by looking at the “life stages” that people experience as opposed to their demographic profiles.

We are not quite ready to drop demographics from our text books, but as users of Basic Marketing and Essentials of Marketing know, we consider the family life cycle (see chapter 5) an important influence on consumer behavior.

As some of you may know, I have done a  fair amount of academic research on trust.  I believe that trust is a very important factor in marketing.  This article cites a recent study on trusted brands, “Study: Amazon.com is most trusted brand in U.S.” (CNET News, February 22, 2010).

“Distracted Customers’ Wait Times Fly,” from Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. Thanks to Shuoyang Zhang for this suggestion.  Click through for a listen.

A study in the journal NeuroQuantology found that people forced to wait, for example in line, experienced the time spent as being far less if they were amused and distracted. Cynthia Graber reports.

This is a new podcast I will have to add to my playlist.  I already listen to the 60-Second Pscyh for psychology research.  If you are a podcast listener and science lover — check these out.

Campbell’s Soup engaged in some unusual consumer research to make decisions about soup packaging — and consumer will see the results this fall.  The video below and article, “The Emotional Quotient of Soup Shopping,” The Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2010 – subscription may be required, if you do not have a subscription, try entering the title of the article in a search bar for the back door to the article).

For two years, Campbell researchers studied microscopic changes in skin moisture, heart rate and other biometrics to see how consumers react to everything from pictures of bowls of soup to logo design.

This “neuromarketing” approach is a fresh attempt among consumer-good companies to understand how consumers really respond to marketing and advertising.

This video example might supplement a class session on packaging or marketing research.

This story “In Search Of The Elusive Male Shopper” was on NPR’s Weekend Edition this morning (February 13, 2010).  If you go to the site, you can read the text of the story or listen to it.  While there is an obvious Valentine’s Day tie-in, the story describes differences in how men and women shop.  A number of great examples that can be used to talk about segmentation or consumer behavior.

I just listened to an interesting report on American Public Media’s (radio) Marketplace Money show – “Warehouse clubs scream ‘bargain!‘” Click through to listen – or simply read the text of this story. It highlights how warehouse clubs understanding of consumer behavior drives their marketing strategy.  Would probably provide a good example in discussing retail or consumer behavior.