teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

This article, “Philly Cream Cheese’s Spreading Appeal” (Bloomberg Businessweek, December 12, 2011) is a great example that has many classroom uses.  Sometimes I like to describe an extended case study — to help students integrate the marketing strategy planning process — this article is that type of example.  Sales of Philadephia brand cream cheese were pretty much flat (mature or decline stage of the product life cycle) for most of the last decade.  Then Kraft researchers (market research) noticed that heavy users of the product were using cream cheese as an ingredient in their cooking — not simply as a spread for bagels.  Starting in Europe back in 2008, Kraft’s brand managers tapped into social media and the Internet to gather and share recipes using Philadephia brand cream cheese, they promoted it on cooking shows and with contests (Promotion).  In the U.K. the share of customers using cream cheese as an ingredient (effective repositioning) has almost doubled to 37% — and sales are up 20% in Europe (data – it is nice to show case studies in class with real results).  All of this in a mature product category.  What a great example of how to revitalize a brand.  Check out the article for more details on the strategy.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

I love this recent story that David Meerman Scott tells over at his Web Ink Now blog.  The post, “Persona based content marketing at the Nobis Hotel,” describes how this Stockholm hotel uses a deep understanding of its target customers (Scott calls them “buyer personas” — we call them target customers) to create a unique travel experience.  I love how the marketing manager uses customer reviews at TripAdvisor to understand how customers talk about the hotel — and then reflects those same words back in its advertising and search engine optimization.  Scott tells the story well — so jump over to his blog and read more.  For marketing instructors, I think it provides an excellent example of customer behavior, market research, positioning, and social media.

Harley-Davidson’s sales of premium motorcycles  have suffered in the recession — falling more than 40% from its 2006 peak.  Harley cut costs with more efficient manufacturing and labor cuts.  It has also carefully adapted its marketing strategy.  For one, the company is trying to broaden its target market — trying to lure women, minorities, young adults and people outside the U.S.  It must target these new markets with caution; Harley doesn’t want to dilute its carefully crafted macho image.  Harley’s marketing chief notes, “We’re not trying to be everything to everyone, we’re trying to be our thing to more people.”  So Harley has adapted its promotion and products to appeal to new segments.  This is not an easy task — and your macho image might be lost when riders look around and see a growing number of women riding Harleys.  The article provides a nice example to use with marketing strategy planning for product or promotion.  You could ask students for other ideas about how to adapt the company’s strategy for these new target markets.

You can read more about Harley’s efforts in this Wall Street Journal article, “Harley, With Macho Intact, Tries to Court More Women” (October 31, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here).  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

There are plenty of articles (even a whole issue of BusinessWeek) paying tribute to Steve Jobs this week.  As much as we respect Jobs, we weren’t going to join the chorus because we didn’t have anything new or specific to marketing to say.  Then we found this 1997 video of Steve Jobs talking to Apple staff.  Jobs had recently returned to the company he founded (he was booted in 1985).

In the video Jobs explains what he thinks “marketing” is — actually explaining positioning — and introduces the new “Think Different” campaign (for a higher quality version of the ad click click here).

“To me, marketing is about values,” he said. “This is a very complicated world, a very noisy world and we’re not going to get the chance to get people to remember us. No company is. So we have to be very clear about what we want people to know about us.”

You might want to provide some context for your students — most of them being only 5 or 6 at that time.  Our students know the successful Apple of today — but Jobs returned to a company crippled by years of losses and record low stock prices.  Apple’s market share in computers was less than 5% (it now may be over 15% based on recent numbers), there were no iPods, iPads, or iPhones.

This might be a nice addition when you cover positioning or advertising.  It might be interesting to ask if this type of positioning works best for certain types of products, and if so, for what type of product.  We also posted this at Learn the 4 Ps.

Mercedes Benz has struggled in recent years in its battle with other Germany luxury carmakers — both BMW and Audi now sell more than the fabled German icon.  This BusinessWeek article, “A Mini Mercedes with Big Ambitions” (September 22, 2011) describes the B-Class, smaller and more affordable Mercedes Benz — which targets a “younger, hipper clientele.”  The move is an example of expanding a product line downmarket. The decision has implications for Mercedes positioning and brand equity.  There are also questions about promotion to a new target market.  This is also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Wal-Mart has long been positioned as the low-price leader.  Leveraging its supply chain and logistics system, competitors couldn’t match Wal-Mart’s cost structure.  Now at least some consumers perceptions are changing.  In this Wall Street Journal article, “Wal-Mart Loses Edge” (August 16, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here) we read about recent consumer surveys that show the retailer losing its “lowest price” positioning.  In one survey of 1500 Wal-Mart shoppers, “86% no longer thought it had the lowest prices” while in another survey the number was 60%.  Whichever the number, this is a big problem for a retailer that has long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for low prices.  While Wal-Mart’s perception of value fades, stores like Dollar Tree are seeing their perception of value rise.

While fewer consumers perceive Wal-Mart as the low price leader, what is the reality?  The article reports mixed objective evidence.  In comparisons with Target, with one study by Morgan Stanley showing that in Chicago Target is about even with Wal-Mart (though Wal-Mart was more than 20% lower priced than Safeway and Supervalu) and another study by Goldman Sachs showing Wal-Mart 6.2% lower than Target overall.

This case study could provide interesting fodder when you discuss positioning.  We define positioning in our books as “how consumers think about proposed or present brands in a market.”  You can remind students that perception is what counts among consumers.

You might recall that a few years ago Wal-Mart changed its tagline from “Always Low Prices – Always” to “Save Money.  Live Better.”  Wal-Mart wanted to appeal to a more upscale crowd and develop a greener image.  Perhaps this change de-emphasized the previous price positioning.  The new dual positioning may not be as clear to consumers — opening opportunities for dollar stores to take the lowest price mantel from Wal-Mart.

This opens the door to a good discussion with your students.  Asking them:  What should Wal-Mart do now?  Change its positioning?  Or try to re-gain the low price position?  Given its history and strengths, it seems clear to me that the retailer needs to regain the consumer perception of value.  Perhaps there is a need for more advertising?  Or should the store revisit the everyday low pricing model it has traditionally used — perhaps the hi-lo pricing models of some competitors have helped confuse the market and harmed Wal-Mart’s positioning.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

As consumers get better at avoiding traditional advertising, marketers keep looking for better ways to get their message in front of consumers.  Enter social gaming — games on sites like Facebook.  P&G’s Bounty brand of paper towels appears prominently in Electronic Arts’ Playfish social game “Restaurant City.”

Often times marketers will just stick their product into a game just to build awareness — even if there is no connection to the brand.  At least in this case Bounty’s appearance in the game reinforces its positioning.  Players who unlock rolls of Bounty towels are able to clean more quickly than the standard paper towels.  They can also unlock a Bounty janitor who is 30% more effective at cleaning than the regular janitor.  A tie-in with Facebook helped Bounty gain more than 500,000 new fans at its Facebook page (how can more than 1.2 million people “like” a brand of paper towlels on Facebook?).  Read more at “P&G’s Bounty Picks Up Fans From Social Gaming” (AdAge, June 30, 2011)

I just like the long version of this advertisement for a newly launched cell phone by NTT Docomo.  The phone is made of domestic woods produced from a Japanese forest.  A fun example of using advertising for positioning.  The ads embedded in the video make watching it a bit annoying.  Hmmm.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Many of my students are interested in and knowledgeable about the sports apparel and athletic shoe.  Surveys I conduct with my students consistently identify Nike as their favorite brand — far ahead of Apple.  So it pays to be up-to-date on this product-market — in this case about Nike competitor Puma.  It also makes for a good example to use in positioning.  The article, “Puma Is No Longer a Sneaker.  It’s a Lifestyle” (Bloomberg Businessweek, May 12, 2011) describes French luxury house PPR’s efforts to reposition the brand as high fashion.  Will the strategy work?  It might be useful to ask students why Puma is taking this approach.  Clearly there are strong competitors in Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Under Armour in this market — so it may make sense to try to differentiate Puma.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Air New Zealand’s creative agency, .99, put together a funny pre-flight video that took off as a viral video.  Within a few hours of posting the video it was the ninth most tweeted about video on Twitter.  It features Richard Simmons — many of our students may wonder who this guy is — so maybe it won’t work in class without a bit of a history lesson (click here for Simmons’ Wikipedia entry to learn or refresh your memory about the fitness guru.).  It could be fun to show in class.

I wondered if the quirky humor fits Air New Zealand’s personality.  I didn’t know much about the airline’s positioning, but one of the “Guiding Principles” at its website indicates:  “Our workplace will be fun, energising, and where everyone can make a difference.”  Their This suggests that the video may fit and reinforce their positioning.  Then I read about the airline’s risque and fun “Nothing to Hide” advertising campaign — featuring real employees in body painted uniforms.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.