teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

We have posted on the emergence of Africa before, but this story “A Continent of New Consumers Beckons” (Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2011 – non-subscribers may have to click here) provides more examples and some data you might enjoy sharing in class.  The article is part of a series at the WSJ called Africa Rising and includes articles on doing business in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia (Ethiopia article – link for non-subscribers).  For example:

• McKinsey & Co. predicts consumer spending will grow to $1.4 trillion by 2020.
• The number of middle class consumers (defined as those who are able to spend on more than just the necessities) in Africa now exceeds those in India.

The article includes some great photos that show a side of Africa many students don’t expect — a side that looks a lot like the U.S.  Also click on the Interactive Graphics tab to get an interactive time line and refresher on African history.

The oldest of the baby boom generation are reaching retirement age.  How are companies preparing for these customers?  A series of short articles in Fast Company (February 2010) highlight some people and companies that are preparing for the onslaught:

• Volvo is studying older drivers to figure out how to develop cars that keep roads safer.
• At the MIT Agelab, researchers have developed a bodysuit that helps researchers empathize with the physical challenges faced by the elderly.
• GE’s industrial designers also try to emphathize with the elderly while developing new applicances and lighting to better meet their needs.

See the table of contents of this issue — right side “Fast Talk” for a few more.  These examples can work at many places in your course including demographics, consumer behavior, marketing segmentation, marketing research, or new product development.

This year our planet’s population will reach 7 billion people.  This really is a stunning number and this video helps students understand it.   Thanks to my colleague Shuoyong Zhang for suggesting this post.

If you use Basic Marketing, the National Geographic video below would be a great way to start class when you cover chapter 5 on “Demographic Dimensions of Global Consumer Markets.”  In Essentials of Marketing (our shorter book) we cover global population growth in less detail in chapter 4 in a section on cultural and social trends.   The short (2:54) video might also be used to stimulate a discussion on the implications of population growth for marketing strategy planning.  The National Geographic site has more multimedia to help you understand 7 billion — see this clever (1:53) animation “7 Billion:  World Party” and a terrific photo gallery (you know how terrific National Geographic’s photographers are).

The fast-growing Hispanic and Latino population are commanding the attention of many consumer products firms.  This short article “How Marketers Are Courting Latino Consumers” over at ClickZ (October 15, 2010) gives some short example of tactics used by NBC Universal’s Telemundo, General Mills, Yahoo!, and Univision.

The article might give you some examples to use in class when teaching about demographics, Hispanic consumers, and/or promotion.

This article in the New York Times describes how some stores are adapting their marketing mix to better meet the needs of budget shoppers. See “Stores Scramble to Accommodate Budget Shoppers” (September 21, 2010).   I think it would be interesting to use this as an example when talking about demographics and income — we hit that in chapter 5.  Then encourage the students to think of creative ideas to better meet these customers’ needs.  Encourage them to consider the whole marketing mix — and think outside the box. Note: also posted at our Learn the 4 Ps blog.

This article “The iPad Leads Apple to the Elderly” (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, August 12, 2010) describes how the ease of use of the iPad appeals to the elderly. The examples are mostly from Japan — where a fast growing elderly population make it a prime target market. The examples here work when talking about opportunities (chapter 2 in our books), demographic trends or market segmentation.

You might ask students:  What else Apple could to do make the iPad more appealing to senior citizens?  Encourage them to think about each of the 4 Ps.  [NOTE:  This article has also been posted over at our “Learn the 4 Ps” blog for students.

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.

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.

This 5 minute video clip is an interview with P&G’s new CEO Bob McDonald and A.G. Lafley, its recently departed CEO. They talk about P&G’s focus on developing markets as its source of growth. They mention that demographics drive this focus. The clip would have a nice tie-in with demographics as we talk about it in chapter 5. While the video clearly demonstrates the opportunity here, it might be fun to show the clip in class and ask students – “what P&G should do with its marketing strategy to appeal to this target market?” it might also provide an example of an opportunity that could be discussed with chapter 2.

This article (“The Hispanic Market Is Set to Soar,” Adweek, November 2, 2009)provides a detailed preview of the demographic shifts expected in the 2010 Census. The focus of this article is on the implications for agencies and media outlets.