teachthe4ps.com - teaching the 4 ps

We are amazed at how little concern our students (and my kids) have about their privacy.  Are our students aware of what they sacrifice and the potential future problems they may encounter with this carefree attitude?  You might find it helpful to assign or discuss “Rogue Marketers Can Mine Your Info on Facebook,” in Wired, January 5, 2010.

Here is an article bound to generate some classroom interest.  “Why it costs more to be a woman,” appeared on the MSN Money site (December 15, 2009).  You could assign the reading or simply read it for ideas you could inject into a class discussion of pricing.  I can see providing images of some of the examples with actual prices — perhaps finding images and prices at a site like Amazon.com or Drugstore.com.  Then the class could be asked why these companies have chosen this pricing strategy?  Is it legal?  Ethical?

More and more companies are using the courts to challenge competitors advertising claims.  This three minute video (link only – the NYT doesn’t let you embed videos in blogs) would be great to include in a discussion of comparative advertising or legal issues for advertising.  Some good examples and an informative discussion are included as well.  There is a related article, “Best Soup Ever?  Suits Over Ads Demand Proof” (New York Times, November 21, 2009) for more background.

A pretty straightforward article (“Europe Inc. Takes Aim at Price-Fixers,” BusinessWeek.com, October 22, 2009 ) that talks about price fixing probes in Europe. Good current examples to use when discussing pricing in class – or the legal environment in chapter 3.

This article deals with a very interesting legal and ethical issue with social media (“U.S. Seeks to Restrict Gift Giving to Bloggers,” The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2009, subscription required – don’t subscribe? click here).  The government continues to try to stay ahead of technology and promotion.  As we have all seen, online reviews and bloggers are having an increasing influence on consumer decision-making.  Now bloggers have to disclose if they receive any money or free products from a marketer.

Looking for some multimedia to enhance the in-class (or out-of-class) experience?  Here are three options.

1. You could assign the students to listen to the NPR radio coverage of this issue in their story “FTC: Bloggers Must Disclose Paid Endorsements.”
2. Or have students check out (or show in class) the SocialSpark website, which calls itself “a blog marketing network that connects advertisers with bloggers through an online marketplace.”
3. Finally, there is a WSJ.com video (see below) where some experts discuss the challenges of actually enforcing this law.

You could show some of these in class and discuss the ethics involved.  It might be interesting to pose the question:  If more bloggers shill for marketers, does this source of information lose credibility with consumers?

“Verizon ad – There’s a Map for That – HD version,” (0:31)  YouTube.com. Most of our students have cell phones – and this is a market they tune into.  Of course Apple has its “There’s an App for that” campaign to promote the applications available for iPhone users.  AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, has been criticized of late for its poor network – which happens to be one of Verizon’s strengths.  This ad provides a current example of competitive advertising.

UPDATE (11-3-09) – AT&T sues Verizon for the ad.

UPDATE (11-19) — Maybe that lawsuit was not such a good idea.  “AT&T’s Verizon Lawsuit Gives ‘Map for That’ Ad New Life,” AdAge.com, November 19, 2009

UPDATE (11-19) — “AT&T Loses First Legal Battle,” at Slashdot.com