Nike shows support for mothers in this recent video. In time for Mother’s Day. This video offers can be integrated into and foster discussion on many different topics including:
April Fools!
While Volkswagen plans for at least 60 percent of its sales in Europe to be hybrid or EV by 2030, they are not there yet. Nor are they among the most committed to such a conversion.
Still, the company’s marketing group thought an April Fools’ joke announcement of a name change to Voltswagen might be fun. Unfortunately, it looks like a draft of the joke press release went out a few days early. Then the final “joke” went out two days before April 1. Read more about what happened in “Volkswagen of America said its name was changing. Now it admits it was just a disaster of an April Fool’s stunt.“
Many companies are seeking ways to lower their carbon footprint. Some, just because they want to do the right thing. Others because they want to build a better reputation with millennials. Some for both reasons. Here are a couple of short articles from Fast Company, that provide some good examples you might use in your class.
The title of the first one gives the top level overview, “Coke’s newest bottle is made from paper“. Consumer throw away millions of plastic Coke bottles every year. Is this a practical and environmentally friendly solution?
As you probably know, eating a more plant based diet might not be healthier just for you — but also for the planet. So a company like Sweetgreen (a restaurant chain focused on salads) is already ahead of the game. It is leaning into that with other efforts to lower its emissions. Read more in “How Sweetgreen plans to cut its carbon footprint in half in the next 6 years.”
Over the last year, many of us have had conversations with our students about how the pandemic might permanently change consumer behavior. While the short-run changes (greater sales of Peloton bikes, more home projects – go Home Depot, and lower sales at restaurants and movie theaters, and of course no indoor concerts) are interesting, I think the fun stuff is thinking about which changes will stick. I like to use this topic as a way to get my students thinking. So I ask them, “Which pandemic changes in consumer behavior are likely to stick?” I often use this as a small group activity so they can chat with classmates.
After soliciting their ideas – and of course asking them “why?” I like to share with them what some of the so-called experts think. This article at McKinsey.com “The great consumer shift: Ten charts that show how US shopping behavior is changing” has lots of good stuff to share with your students — and here is another article. You can cut and paste some of the charts (data is good) into your PowerPoints and either confirm or supplement they ideas they come up with.
As regular readers of this blog know, the recently published 17th edition of Essentials of Marketing includes several examples each chapter of companies, brands, or practices that demonstrate “Marketing for a Better World” (#M4BW). Marketing managers are not always looking to do the right thing for society — but many are finding ways to increase profits and make for a better world. This article “Supply Chains as a Game-Changer in the Fight Against Climate Change” (BCG, January 26, 2021) includes lots of practical advice you might share with your students.