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The often provocative and always interesting Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, wrote a very interesting short article in the Harvard Business Review (May 2011), “The Upside of Useless Stuff.“  My link goes to Ariely’s blog where he reprints the article.  While critics contend that marketing just makes people buy useless stuff, Ariely argues that the desire for useless stuff may fuel innovation.  We also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps. 

What do you think?

China represents a huge potential market for all kinds of companies — vehicle sales in China grew more than 32% in 2010 to more than 18.1 million (more than in the U.S.).   As the average Chinese gains more disposable income, many are in the market for a new car.  At the low end of the market — less than 50,000 yuan (about $7500) — three out of four cars sold are domestic Chinese brands.  These brands — like the Tianjin FAW Xiali pictured here — don’t have a great reputation for quality.   Volkswagen, GM, Nissan, and Honda see an opportunity and are responding with lity with lower cost models.  So this is what many of these car makers are trying to do with stripped down variations of traditional models — with new brand names. This article “Foreign Carmakers Try Brands Just for China“  (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, March 3, 2011) provides a good example of international product adaptation.   The decision to use new brand names — instead of the more well-known Western brand names could also be discussed.

With demographics you can see the changes coming from a long way off.  The oldest baby boomers turn 65 this year — and many companies are changing marketing strategies to appeal to this growing market.  This article “How to Market to an Aging Boomer: Flattery, Subterfuge and Euphemism” (Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2011 – non-subscribers click here) provides some great examples about how a diverse range of companies from ADT Security Services, to Kimberly Clark’s Depend brand, bathroom fixture maker Kohler and paint retailer Sherwin-Williams are carefully approaching the new baby boomer.  Great examples of how these companies are adapting promotion, place, and product to better meet the needs of this target market.

Sometimes marketers just shoot themselves in the foot.  Such has been the case for consumer electronics firms trying to reinvigorate the television market.  As prices for HDTVs plummeted, they foisted 3DTV and web connectivity on us — creating mass consumer confusion and delayed purchases.  This article, “How Faulty Marketing Has Stalled TV Sales” (BusinessWeek, January 20, 2011) provides lessons from these mistakes.

Oh Fortune magazine, why do you tease me so?  I saw this article in my print edition of Fortune a couple weeks ago — but they always wait a bit before making it available online.  Well, the wait is over and it is worth it — they even added a nice short video you could show in class.  In-depth pieces on P&G often provide great classroom examples because P&G brand managers are known for conducting consumer research before developing new products.  This article “Can P&G make money in places where people earn $2 a day?” (Fortune, January 6, 2011) and the short 2:45 video below describe P&G’s research efforts to learn more about the needs of rural Chinese consumers.

This offers some good examples of new product development, international marketing, and market research.

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.

I cannot imagine the theater business is an easy one these days.  Better home theater experiences and cheaper video rentals from Netflix and Redbox have reduced demand – while high fixed costs mean they still have to cover investments.  When a customer decides to attend a show, how do you get them to choose your theater?  Hollywood has helped by producing more big budget movies – many using new 3D technology that has yet to move into many homes.  Now many theaters are doing their part to make the viewing experience more upscale with more comfortable seats, fancy food — even cocktails.  To read about this effort, see ”Double Feature:  Dinner and a Movie” (Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2011, non-subscribers may have to click here).

The examples in this article highlight sources of differentiation.  It might be fun to go through the 4 Ps and talk about how each might be enhanced for a more upscale target market.

We love the Nintendo DS and Wii!  It is such a great example to use for market segmentation — and we use it as a chapter opening case scenario in our segmentation and targeting chapter (chapter 4).  Nintendo found a market segment, the casual gamer, that was under-served.  They designed products for this market and soon was selling more game consoles than Sony and Microsoft which targeted hard-core gamers.  Now things are changing.  Sony and Microsoft are attacking the casual gamer market as “Nintendo Goes for the Hard Core with Its 3DS” (Bloomberg Businessweek, October 28, 2010).  Read about it here.

This shows new product development, but also how a product category is moving from growth to maturity.  Nice supplement to segmentation and targeting — and an update to chapter 4 if you are using one of our books.

A disruptive innovation “improves a product or service in ways the market does not expect, typically by being lower priced or designed for a different set of consumers” (Wikipedia – Disruptive Technology).  This Wall Street Journal article “Using the iPad to Connect” (October 13, 2010) describes such an innovation in working with special needs kids.  The iPad plus a $190 software package might replace devices costing from $2500 – $15,000.  It might be interesting to describe this — or show the video in class — and ask students how smart phones or the iPad might disrupt other markets.

The example might be useful when covering new product development or the product life cycle.  NOTE:  also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This article, “How to Adapt Products for Different Markets,” (Inc., October 1, 2010) offers several interesting examples of small firms adapting current products to enter new markets.  The examples show that such re-targeting efforts often require changes to the whole marketing mix.  More good examples to show when teaching  marketing strategy planning, segmentation and targeting or new product development.

The photo to the left is for one of the products mentioned in the article — Violight’s Zapi Toothbrush Sanitizer.