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.

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

…a tool that can swiftly analyze large numbers of opinions on the Web, including blogs, the microblogging site Twitter, and social networking service Facebook. It’s called Mass Opinion Business Intelligence and it was developed by an Irvine (Calif.)-based company called WiseWindow. It coughs up a continuous, real-time feed of relevant consumer sentiment, gathered from millions of sites.

The article cites a number of different examples that might be useful in class.  An accompanying slide show of “Most Loved — And Hated — Tech Companies” shows a real example that maps 10 tech companies on a 2×2 matrix — see below.  Check out the slide show and article for a full explanation.

You might ask students:  What else Apple could to do make the iPad more appealing to senior citizens?  Encourage them to think about each of the 4 Ps.  [NOTE:  This article has also been posted over at our “Learn the 4 Ps” blog for students.

“Comparison Shopping With New Apps” (Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2009).  This video might be nice to show in class while talking about information search and consumer behavior or in retailing when discussing strategy for retailers.  The straightforward question is how will this change in consumer shopping behavior impact marketing managers?  The discussion might look at the retail level, but could also consider consumer packaged goods companies.

A new generation of apps for the iPhone and other gadgets can help make shoppers smarter. WSJ’s Geoffrey Fowler and Dow Jones’s Mike Casey explain how they work and why some retailers aren’t happy with the new tools, in the News Hub.