Archives for 2012

Are shoppable videos the future?

December 21, 2012 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

New video technology allows viewers to “click” on parts of a video and pull up window. This may take product placement to another level. The video below (note: this is a Flash video that may not work on iPads or iPhones) operates as a video advertisement that allows a viewer to click on products they like and learn more. Also posted at Learn the 4 Ps.

You can read more about this type of advertising at “New Shoppable YouTube Videos Are the Walkmans Of Advertising” (Fast Company, November 12, 2012).

This might be fun to show when you cover advertising – as a sneak peak at the future. The students might enjoy seeing the prices on a few of the Gucci products (wow, someone pays more than $3000 for a purse?). It can be hard to click on the Gucci logos — so you might want to pause the video when a logo appears and then click on the logo. The technology needs some work if you have to act that quickly.

Ask students about the pros and cons of this approach. So they don’t get wrapped up in the technology of this particular example, you can tell them that an advertiser could be more discreet and not show the logo like Gucci does — and then the links could be placed in television shows.

What skills are employers looking for today?

December 17, 2012 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

As your students prepare personal marketing plans, they might want to know what skills employers are seeking these days. They should be finding ways to build these skills — or demonstrate in their resume that they possess those skills. They should have a promotion plan that provides evidence that they have these skills. This article at the Wall Street Journal, “Must-Have Job Skills in 2013” (November 18, 2012) highlights four skills: 1) clear communications, 2) personal branding, 3) flexibility, and 4) productivity improvement.

You might assign this article to your students and ask them to provide a proof statement that shows evidence of how they possess two of these skills. Then ask how they would make sure a prospective employer knows they have that skill. We have posted this article and these questions at Learn the 4 Ps.

Using Big Data to Add Service Qualities and Enhance Marginms

December 17, 2012 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

In our books we discuss a strategy for differentiation by adding service qualities to products that are goods dominant. GE has begun to place computer chips that track the performance of many of its industrial products, like for example jet engines. The chips wirelessly communicate real-time data (lots of it) back to GE. This data helps GE monitor the performance of its products and predict problems or maintenance needs. This is just part of GE’s strategy, you can read more in this Bloomberg Businessweek article, “GE Tries to Make Its Machines Cool and Connected” (December 6, 2012).

What is the future of digital advertising?

December 9, 2012 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

I don’t think that anyone questions that the future of advertising will be dominated by digital media. But how will that work? What media will predominate? Mobile phones? Tablets? PCs? Search? Banner? How quickly will we transition? Who will be the key players?

These are great questions for marketing managers — and those of us teaching marketing to tomorrow’s business leaders. Those of us teaching need to understand the world our students are about to enter.

An acknowledged leader in predicting the future is Business Insider and its BI Intelligence Unit. While most marketing professors will not be able to afford the annual subscription fees, BI Intelligence has been kind enough to share the 137 slides that offer some very interesting predictions. You can move pretty quickly through the deck and learn a lot from these experts. So I encourage you to check out “The Future of Digital” (November 2012). We think that students should know this as well — so we have also posted it at Learn the 4 Ps.