teachthe4ps.com - For instructors of marketing.

In our books we classify social media tools like blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter as forms of publicity.  Inc. magazine regularly surveys members of the Inc 500 (fastest growing businesses — so generally small businesses).  A recent survey found a decline from 2010 to 2011 in the number of firms using business blogs – falling from 50% of respondents to 37% of respondents.  The decline appears to be because new firms to the list are not using blogs and not because firms are dropping blogs — among those blogging 92% reported the platform was a success.  This short article, “Where Have All the Bloggers Gone?  Business blogging on the decline” (Inc., April 3, 2012) also includes data on Facebook and Twitter.

This article might be useful to provide some current data on social media usage when you cover that in class and/or if you like to give special attention to entrepreneurship or small business.

Twitter’s efforts to build a viable business model have been inconsistent.  Now the micro-blogging service appears to have a formula that is working.  Advertisers are starting to get on board.  Bloomberg BusinessWeek‘s cover story this week offers a closer look at Twitter, see “Twitter, the Startup That Wouldn’t Die” (March 1, 2012).  It seems to me that Twitter needs to figure out how to deliver a more highly targeted audience to advertisers.  The company certainly has access to tons of data on who each user follows and where they click.  I would bet that many of the new employees they are hiring are figuring out how to turn all that data into targeting gold.  A quick overview can be found in the video below.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

Here in Fort Collins we are proud of the success of local craft brewer New Belgium Brewing.  Driven by the popularity of its Fat Tire brand, the company has grown to be one of the top 2-3 craft brewers in the United States.  The company has largely eschewed television advertising and focuses a great deal on events and print advertising.  The company’s culture and commitment to sustainability are admirable — and make it the dream job of many locals.  So it was great to see the local brand get some national publicity in this article in Bloomberg Businessweek, “New Belgium and the Battle of the Microbrews” (December 1, 2011).  The article provides some background on the craft brewing market and provides a nice example of a woman entrepreneur, Kim Jordan.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

The drive to enhance customer value with more efficient and effective distribution systems leads many warehouse and distribution center managers to various forms of automation.  In our books we refer to this as the physical distribution concept.  Kiva Systems has created a warehouse automation system that relies on robots and software, and yes some human beings, to achieve these objectives.

The video below provides a short (3:20) overview and demonstration of Kiva’s robots in action.  Sorry about the :30 commercial up-front.  An accompanying article “Robot workers take over warehouses,” (CNN Money, November 9, 2011) addresses Kiva’s roots and start-up challenges.  The article might be more useful background material or it could be assigned if you emphasize entrepreneurship in your marketing instruction.  The video is a good fit when you cover physical distribution.

Sanitation is a huge problem in many emerging markets.  The World Health Organization estimates that 37% of the world’s 7 billion people do not have access to hygienic toilets.  Entrepreneur David Auerbach smelled an opportunity (literally as the inspiration came from a particularly nasty bathroom in China).  Auerbach’s new company Sanergy, is using a franchise model as it starts out in Kenya.  Local entrepreneurs pay $500 for a Sanergy toilet (often using local microlenders).  They charge $.05 per use, and the toilets are emptied daily, with the waste brought to fertilizer plants. Read more at “Cleaning Up:  David Auerbach’s Sanergy” (Bloomberg Businessweek, October 13, 2011)

This provides examples of entrepreneurship, franchising, sustainability, and international (developing) markets.

We are seeing more examples of businesses that are effectively leveraging social media that works with customers.  This article describes a New York City baker that has found success — and almost 3000 likes on Facebook.  This short article “A Bakery Gets Sweet Returns From Social-Media Blitz” (Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here) offers examples and qualifies the example by suggesting that bars and restaurants may be special cases with social media.  Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

I find it nice to have short little case study examples for students.  They work particularly well when they describe the success of an entrepreneur.  This is a very interesting story about how a small company got its sweetener on the shelves of Wal-Mart.  You can read about how the company got its name, packaging colors, and used a collaborator with a guerilla marketing campaign to win over Wal-Mart.  Check out the article, “Skoopz:  Sweet-Talking Wal-Mart” in Bloomberg Businessweek (October 21, 2010) or the Skoopz website.

This might work well as an example for B2B selling, entrepreneurship, or marketing strategy planning.

FedEx is targeting small businesses with a series of web parodies.  One commentator in the Wired article “TV Ad Powerhouse FedEx Woos Small Biz with Web Parodies” (February 26, 2010 – UPDATE 7-8-11:  link no longer works and we cannot find the article, sorry) wonders how well this will work.  I watched a couple of the 3 minute videos — they are kind of funny and educate customers on FedEx services at the same time (not an easy task).  They are modest budget productions and the media costs are zero.   The videos I saw had anywhere from 20,000 to more than 400,000 views.   At this point, the payback from the use of YouTube and other social media is hard to predict, but one good way to find out is through experimentation.

The video is a versatile example of many marketing concepts.   It is always nice to have clear, understandable B2B examples.  The video shows how FedEx tailors its strategy for the small business target market and could fit with chapter 2′s discussion of strategy planning and chapter 4′s coverage of segmentation and targeting.   The video might also be shown with a lecture on organizational buying, where we talk about service businesses.  Finally, it also fits with integrated marketing communications and advertising on the web.

[NOTE, January 7, 2011 - sorry, FedEx removed the video.]

In Basic Marketing chapter 20 looks at cross-functional issues in marketing — “Marketing’s Link with Other Functional Areas.”  Note:  the cross-functional chapter is not in Essentials of Marketing.  This video looks at Mama’s Kitchen, a non-profit that functions as a business incubator in Los Angeles.  This might supplement a chapter 20 lecture with an interesting example of production.  If you like to talk about small businesses in your class, you might find the video useful, too.  Link to the video:  “Build a Business in ‘Mama’s’ Kitchen” (CNN Money, January 11, 2010).

This short Wall Street Journal video clip (2:41) interviews the founder of B.R. Guest Restaurant.  He talks about building buzz and creating value as the keys to his restaurants success.