It isn’t only Google and Facebook that tracks customers for advertising purposes…

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Online music streaming service Spotify believes that it can someday become one of the advertising powerhouses. But like its rivals in the advertising business, Google and Facebook, the company needs to collect and analyze lots of data on its customers. Spotify knows more than just what its customers are listening to, it also knows what they are doing and what you are going through.

The Spotify app can gather data from customers’ phones’ including accelerometer, gyroscope, and location data. This might be analyzed to find out if and when a customer works out or walks their dog.

And “Spotify (also) knows that you started playing Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” at 23:03, listened to it for one minute, then searched for “break up” and listened to the entire four hours and 52 minutes of the “ANGRY BREAKUP PLAYLIST” without any pauses. Spotify might know to serve this listener ads about ice cream or (maybe a few weeks later) ads for online dating services.

Right now, Spotify is investing a lot in data science to figure out what all that data it collects can be used for. Privacy? Read more in “All the Ways Spotify Tracks You – and How to Stop It,” Wired.

Behind Costco’s Treasure-Hunt Shopping Strategy

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This Wall Street Journal video “Behind Costco’s Treasure-Hunt Shopping Strategy,” describes Costco’s marketing strategy. (see also this article at Business Insider).  Surprisingly, the store makes it hard to shop there – for example, it changes the location of some products and have limited selection. You might question whether this is customer oriented. But it seems to address other customer needs – including the joy of shopping and the fun of finding bargains.

This video might be fun to show when covering consumer behavior (Chapter 5) or retailing (Chapter 12). It might also be shown after the video, “A Brief History of Retail.”

 

 

Schwinn Partners with Good Co. Bike Club to Promote Cycling in the Black Community

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Soon after the pandemic hit New York, Brooklyn cyclist Drew Bennett posted on his Instagram Stories that he was going on a bike ride and if anyone wanted to join, they should meet at the Brooklyn Museum. He was surprised to see 17 cyclists show up. Bennett (and cycling) struck a chord with folks and the Good Company Bike Club was born. A few weeks later, a Juneteenth celebration boasted 1500 riding around New York City.

Seeing an opportunity to connect with an oft ignored market segment of Black cyclists, Schwinn partnered with Good Co. Bike Club and features the group as part of its #IAmACyclist campaign. You can hear more of Drew’s story here and see Good Co. Bike Club featured in an ad. As a cyclist, I love it!

Unrest following George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a police officer in 2020, many brands are waking up to connect with and support marginalized groups. This type of partnership may be seen as taking advantage of a moment – and some might question Schwinn’s sincerity – which might lead to an interesting class discussion.

Inflation worries influence consumer behavior; how do companies respond?

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Several product categories have seen costs spike during the pandemic. While supply chains get plenty of well-deserved blame, there are more reasons than that.  These videos might provide an opening to discuss this topic in class. The Wall Street Journal video “The Surprising Ways Inflation is Hitting Diapers” (August 4, 2021), describes how diaper makers costs have risen – everything from raw materials to freight costs. In addition, changing demographics (fewer babies born) has the two big diaper companies raising prices to offset lower unit sales. The result has been an increase in diapers prices of 12% in the last year.

Along the same lines, coffee prices have also soared (up more than inflation over the last five years)– see another WSJ Video “Your Coffee Is Getting More Expensive. Here’s Why.” This article describes how shipping costs have contributed to those rising prices. Together, these articles can show your students how prices are influenced by demographic trends, raw material costs, and freight costs. And coffee (maybe diapers) are product categories students understand.

Give yourself a break, and lower your cognitive load while teaching…

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I have always enjoyed Harvard Business School Publishing’s offerings. I teach a lot of MBA classes and use many of the site’s readings and cases to supplement my teaching. I have found the HBSP a wealth of support beyond just the materials it provides for its students. And over the last year, it seems like the site has doubled down on its support — or maybe just the challenge of pandemic teaching sent me there more often. Any educator can get an account at the site and that gives you access to lots of resources — including sample cases and articles.

One area that has been useful to my teaching is HBSP’s Inspiring Minds section – “motivating lessons and practical advice from the best in class.” I am always looking for tips on how to improve my teaching and you can find tons of ideas here.

A recent article by Bill Shiano, “Reducing Cognitive Overload While Teaching” really struck home with me. And while some of the examples are designed for the challenge of teaching synchronously online, the tips valuable for traditional in-class teaching as well. Especially in an online course (I taught only on Zoom last year), there are so many things to manage. As you get ready for fall — which may include (now or later) online, hybrid, or face-to-face teaching — consider checking out Schiano’s tips.