teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

Have you ever been felt stalked on the web?  We have found it downright creepy when ads start following us all around the web.  Recently Joe went to the iRobot website to get the latest on the Roomba which we have as a chapter opening case in our books.  For the next month, he kept seeing ads for the Roomba as he surfed the web.  It can get very creepy.

A previous T4Ps post “How Advertisers Use Internet Cookies to Track You” includes a video with some background on hot it works.  A recent article at PCWorld, “Help!  A Web Ad Is Stalking Me” (June 20, 2011) offers a lot of detail and insight on how it works.

We find that our students notice the “creepy ads” and sometimes ask about them.  Now after reading this article, we have a much better idea about how to answer the question.  I am not sure I will give my students this level of detail, but it will help me understand how things work.

The whole topic of behavioral targeting raises a lot of interesting questions.  Technology offers marketers many new targeting capabilities.  But just because they can do this, does it mean they should do this?  The article might help you lead a thoughtful discussion about the ethical implications of behavioral targeting.  The article could also provide you with useful background and examples to use when you cover segmentation and targeting as well as online advertising.

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Sometimes marketing managers are afraid to rule out segments of the market.  But that is what targeting and positioning is all about — making decisions about which target market our offering will serve and which it will not.  By designing a marketing mix that appeals more to one market segments, you will probably make it less appealing to others.  That is almost always a good trade-off.  Dr Pepper Ten makes it clear that this soft drink is for men — and a great example of targeting for our students.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Intel created this great video to demonstrate why one of its prime target markets — gamers and social media users — need the 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 Processor.  I think the video is likely to resonate with this target market.

I have embedded the video below, but you may enjoy it best by clicking through to YouTube and playing it full screen.  File under segmentation, target market, advertising and viral video.

Many of my students enjoy sports — and examples of creative marketing by sports teams tends to capture their attention.  This article in the Wall Street Journal, “NBA Game Promises to be a Turkey?  Call In the Turks — or the Filipinos,” (January 19, 2011 – non-subscribers may have to click here)  shows some classic target marketing efforts by the National Basketball Association — and they seem to be working.  For example, the Sacramento Kings, one of the worst teams in the league, are drawing big crowds on Jewish Heritage nights in Toronto, Washington, Atlanta, and Boston.  Why?  They have the leagues only Israeli, Omri Casspi.  Teams have give away yarmulkes and provided kosher foods to further appeal to the Jewish fan.

You might want to show this video in class, and then ask your students what other organizations could offer similar special nights?  How could they increase their appeal to such a target market?   This was also posted over at Learn the 4 Ps.

BredaPhoto International Photo Festival is an annual event in the Netherlands.  The company developed a clever campaign that clearly identified a target market – and personally invited them to the 2010 festival.  I really like the targeted communication, that the promotion is for a non-profit organization, and that it worked.  Plus, the short (1:51) video format makes it a great in-class use of media. This is a great example of low-cost, highly targeted media — that grabs attention.

Want to embed the video below right into your PowerPoints?  Click here.  Note, also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

This Wall Street Journal article “Pizza Chain Seeks Slice of Bicultural Pie” (December 29, 2010 non-subscribers may have to click here) describes the 100 store Pizza Patrón restaurant chain’s changing marketing strategy.  The firm has focused on a Spanish-speaking target market, but now looks to reach out to new target markets that includes whites and African-American youth.  The article describes Pizza Patrón’s marketing research and some of its strategy plans.

The article provides an interesting strategic counter-attack when you consider all the companies trying to appeal to the growing Hispanic market.  The example also fits with a discussion of segmentation, marketing strategy planning, and even market research.

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.

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.