teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

The power of marketing in action.  A recent story on National Public Radio highlights an important environmental problem — indoor air pollution from unsafe cooking in many developing countries.  We have written a case about this problem, a quote provides you with a bit more background:

“Every day, over 2.4 billion people — more than one third of the world’s population — burn solid biomass fuel (wood, charcoal, dung and cola) for cooking and heating.  These fuels are usually burned indoors in open pits or traditional cook stoves.  About two-thirds of the people using this fuel have no electricity, so the open fires often burn into the night to provide light….  It is estimated that htis source of pollution contributes each year to the death of 1 million children under the age of 5, and it is a leading cause of miscarriage and women’s health problems.”  (quote from the case Bright Light Innovations:  The Starlight Stove, Essentials of Marketing and Basic Marketing — our text books).

The case was written a few years ago and focuses on Nepal, but this NPR story provides an update from India.  It describes how Envirofit (the company we base our case on) has designed a successful marketing mix that is now making inroads in India.  A great listen (or read – the text of the story is on the same page) – “Smoke Clears On Safer Cookstoves For World’s Poor” (National Public Radio, September 21, 2010).

The story is of great personal interest.  The Envirofit Cookstove was a project that came out of the Engine’s and Energy Conversion Lab at Colorado State University.  I (Joe) have watched the lab develop creative energy solutions that benefit mankind.  I wrote the Bright Light Innovations case in our text book and still enjoy teaching it in class.

Here is the latest take on the ethics of marketing to disadvantaged consumers.  Nestle has begun sailing a “supermarket barge” down the Amazon River and its tributaries.  The company has adapted some of its products with cheaper ingredients and smaller packages — to offer them at prices low-income shoppers can afford.  Sounds like good marketing — adapting the marketing mix to fit the needs of a target market.

Not so fast.  The program has drawn criticism from many corners — showing the power of a few prominent voices on the internet to influence public opinion.  This article in the Atlantic “Nestle Barge to Ply the Amazon, Bringing Ice Cream and Rage,” (June 21, 2010).  The debate raises interesting ethical and social responsibility questions.  It also raises questions about Nestle’s strategy and implementation of this project.

This issue might be discussed one one of the first few days of school around issues of micro- and macro-marketing (we cover these in chapter one of our books — along with social responsibility).  It also provides a nice ethical debate to have in the segmentation and targeting chapter.

Seth Godin is great and I always enjoy following his blog.  In this blog post, “The brand, the package, the story, and the worldview,” Godin offers advice to African chocolate maker Madecasse on how putting a story on its package might help its sales.  Could be a good example, or turned into a mini case for discussion.

I am becoming more and more a believer in the power of stories.  I think they help in marketing and for teaching marketing.  If you are interested in learning more about stories, you might read Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind:  Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future” (this morning I listened to the “Story” chapter on my way in to work) or the Heath brothers “Made to Stick.“  I know we all use stories (extended examples) to supplement our teaching, but what I am reading has me thinking about how I can develop better stories.

This 5 minute video clip is an interview with P&G’s new CEO Bob McDonald and A.G. Lafley, its recently departed CEO. They talk about P&G’s focus on developing markets as its source of growth. They mention that demographics drive this focus. The clip would have a nice tie-in with demographics as we talk about it in chapter 5. While the video clearly demonstrates the opportunity here, it might be fun to show the clip in class and ask students – “what P&G should do with its marketing strategy to appeal to this target market?” it might also provide an example of an opportunity that could be discussed with chapter 2.

This article (“Fertilizers on Wheels,” The Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2009, no subscription? click here) and short video (2:39, see below) describe the marketing strategies for two different firms selling fertilizer to farmers in rural India.   The video provides an interesting addition to class because it gives students a look at rural India.  The topics covered include selling to businesses, integrated marketing communications, and distribution – all in the international context of a developing country.  I showed this video in class after lecturing from our first promotion chapter.  I asked students to think about why I thought this reflected IMC and to note the different types of Promotion they observed.  A variety of different forms of promotion (even sales promotion) are demonstrated and can be tied to the AIDA model.

“PC Makers Cultivate Buyers in Rural China,” The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2009 [subscription required or google the article title].  This short article describes how PC makers have adapted their marketing mixes to better meet the needs of relatively low income rural Chinese.