teachthe4ps.com - teaching the 4 ps

This is an interesting video from the Wall Street Journal (July 30, 2010) provides a nice, easy-to-understand tutorial that explains Internet cookies.  At 7:14, it is a bit on the long side, but provides a pretty straightforward explanation of a technical issue of importance to our students.  Many of our students (and many of us) may not be familiar with behavioral targeting but it is clearly the future of advertising — unless concerns about privacy hang it up.  This might be shown in class to stimulate a discussion about online privacy.  My students seem to have a wide range of opinions about privacy — I am often surprised by their openness on Facebook for example.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has brought a class action lawsuit against Coca Cola.  CSPI claims that Vitaminwater’s health claims violate FDA guidelines.  Each 20 oz bottle of Vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar and 125 calories.  Vitaminwater’s health claims may violate the FDA’s jelly bean policy — where you can’t claim that a jelly bean is healthy because is has no cholesterol.  See “Is Vitaminwater Really a Healthy Drink?” in Time (July 30, 2010).  [Note:  Also posted at “Learn the 4 Ps.”

Hmmmm.  This could be an interesting in-class discussion on a variety of levels.  There has long been a debate about the ethics of advertising to children.  Then there is the issue about the role of government.  Now the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission has developed the Admongo website (www.admongo.gov) and game to teach kids about advertising.  The article in The New York Times, “In a World of Ads, Teaching the Young How to Read Them” (April 26, 2010).  The article notes…

The initiative seeks to educate children in grades four through six — tweens, in the parlance of marketing — about how advertising works so they can make better, more informed choices when they shop or when they ask parents to shop on their behalf.

While I could review the game and site, I know that good market research should be done with the target market.  Well I happen to have a fifth grader — right at the heart of the target market for the government effort.  So I asked Mallory to play the game and offer a brief review.  I know, bad marketing research to use a sample size of one.  After about 10 minutes — she had to get ready for school — it got a tentative thumb’s up.  She said it was “pretty good.”  When I asked if she would play it again if her dad did not force her, she said “Probably, maybe it would be more fun if I got to the higher levels.”   I asked about how fun it was compared to other online games, and she said, “I guess it is almost as fun as Bush Hot Dog” – I figured that was an endorsement.  I will let you know if she really goes back for more on her own.

In our text books the last chapter evaluates marketing from a micro- and macro- perspective.  This article could be used to discuss the ethics of advertising to children and the role of government.

This video looks at consumer interest in “green” products and points out how the “FTC Gets Tougher on False ‘Green’ Marketing,” (3:05, WSJ Video, April 17, 2010).  The video could be shown in a number of different class sessions.  It obviously fits with legal issues in advertising as well as with ethics and corporate social responsibility.  In our books it fits with some discussion of greenwasing in the last chapter.

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