This short article touches on many different elements of marketing — demographics, targeting, new product development, and advertising.  You could describe the demographic issue in a couple of slides, show the ad below — part of the new “This is How We Dew” campaign — and then ask students what else Mountain Dew could do to appeal to these new target markets.  We have also posted this over at Learn the 4 Ps.

Over the last five years Nike has significantly changed its marketing strategy – especially in product development and promotion.  Following the phenomenal success of Nike+ with its all important (for Nike) target market of runners, the firm has invested in developing more digital products.  While many of my generation (I am 51) recall Nike’s great television advertising, the company has moved almost completely away from the big screen, replacing it with small screen options with YouTube virally distributing longer (1 – 3 minute) ads and Facebook building relationships with loyal users.  Fortune magazine provides an extended article describing changes at Nike - ”Nike’s new marketing mojo” (February 13).  To read more Teach the 4 Ps coverage of Nike, click here.   Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This article might be useful to use when you cover new-product development or advertising and integrated marketing communications.  For those of you using one of our books, you know that we use Under Armour (major Nike competitor) as an opener to our Product chapter.  It might provide a nice contrast to discuss how Nike’s is creating new products that go beyond the shoe.

This article could be assigned — or the highlights could be covered with a quick in-class overview — and then discussed in class.  You might ask students to discuss the value proposition Tide Pods offer.  Will consumers value convenience enough to pay the higher price? Who should Tide Pods target?  What could they do for promotion?  The image in this post is from the print advertising campaign — and the video below is a TV ad.

You might find this article provides good examples when you teach market research and new-product development — with at least one international example.

The article provides some good examples for market segmentation (boys v. girls, differences in play across international markets), market research (researchers “embedded” with families to observe how Lego kids live and play), and product strategy (product design to appeal to girls).  The result is the Lego Friends line of toys.  Lego has put $40 million behind its global marketing effort.  Still it might be a while before we know if this will work.  Lego decided to wait until after the holidays to launch the new line.  Given the importance of Christmas to toy sales, it might be a year or two before we know if Lego has finally cracked the code for the other 50% of the toy market.

• Top 3 tools companies use in “acquiring customers” in 2011:  1) social networking (69%), blogs (39%), and video sharing (26%)
• Top 3 tools companies use in “developing products” in 2011:  1) social networking (61%), blogs (35%), and microblogging (15%)
• Top 3 tools companies use in “gathering insights” in 2011:  1) social networking (69%), blogs (36%), and microblogging (20%)
• Top 3 benefits from customer use of Web 2.0 technologies:  1) increasing effectiveness of marketing (65% of companies reported benefits), 2) increasing customer satisfaction (44%), and 3) reducing marketing costs (41%).

Other trends include rapid growth of social networking — blogs were the leader in many categories just three years ago — now everyone is using social networks.  Marketing is the functional area making the greatest use of Web 2.0 tools.

This article provides examples you might find useful when you cover price, competition, marketing strategy planning, new product development or retailing.
 

You can read more — including examples of some of the marketing research Heinz used to develop the new packaging in “Old Ketchup Packet Heads for the Trash,” (Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2011, non-subscribers may have to click here).  The article provides you with useful examples of customer needs, marketing research, new product development, and functional packaging.

The article, “NeuroFocus Uses Neuromarketing To Hack Your Brain” (Fast Company, August 8, 2011) is very long, but it includes lots of details and examples.  The article mostly advocates the practice — though a few critics are quoted.  I don’t think there is a lot of empirical evidence supporting (or refuting) its reliability and validity as a research method.  Time will tell — in the meantime, it is interesting.  For a related story, see a T4Ps previous post “New Product Development — For Pop Songs?“