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Published on August 24, 2009

Posted by Paul Christ

Highlighted Marketing Stories:

Bud Light Fan Can Draws Criticism (NPR) - With many colleges in the U.S. starting their fall terms this week, this story seems quite timely.  Anheuser Busch's decision to introduce special Fan Cans, where product is packaged in college colors, has raised concerns from some parents and school administrator.  And in some situations the beer company has backed off with their packaging promotion.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard says when the school learned about Budweiser's campaign, it sent a letter to the company asking them to stop. He says, at first, the brewer argued the colors didn't mean anything in particular.

Is the University of Colorado's mainly concerned with fighting promotions that encourage underage drinking or is the main objective to protect its relationship with Coors?

Radiohead Blazes a Marketing Trail (New York Times) - While we are on the subject of colleges, for some time the band Radiohead has had a good size following among college students.  As discussed in this story, the band handles a lot of its own decisions when it comes to marketing, which is quite unusual for such a successful group.

Radiohead’s shift to singles reflects a change in music fans’ preferences. Instead of buying whole albums, they now stream or download just the songs they want. That, along with unauthorized copying, has decimated industry revenues.

Besides pricing and how products are packaged, what other marketing decisions could the band control?

Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts (New York Times) - It seems like a new buzz word for marketing research has been formed: sentiment analysis. The technique taps into the power of Internet search to track what is being said about something (e.g., product, company, person) and then assesses how things are trending such as positive or negative sentiment.

Such tools could help companies pinpoint the effect of specific issues on customer perceptions, helping them respond with appropriate marketing and public relations strategies.

In what unethical ways could a competitor potentially sabotage the results of such research?

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Published on August 19, 2009

Posted by Paul Christ

Highlighted Marketing Stories:

Slicing the Bread but Not the Prices (Wall Street Journal) - The recession has been tough on almost all companies and many have resorted to lowering prices in order to keep customers from going elsewhere.  But as this story explains, Panera Bread Company is taking a different approach and instead of trying to attract customers with lower prices it is attracting customers with stronger product offerings.

"Most of the world seems to be focused on the Americans who are unemployed," says Panera Chief Executive Ron Shaich. "We're focused on the 90% that are still employed."

Is Panera the new "it" restaurant chain and if so do they have long-term staying power?

Managing Risk in a Package Redesign: What Can We Learn From Tropicana? (Brand Packaging) - Poor Tropicana.  They have been pummeled for their change in packaging design.  No doubt their misstep will be a case study in marketing textbooks for years to come.  If you have not followed along then check out this story.

In announcing the move back to Tropicana Pure Premium’s original packaging, a senior Tropicana executive made an interesting point, saying, “We underestimated the deep emotional bond that ‘our most loyal customers’ had with the original packaging…what we didn’t get was the passion that this very loyal small group of consumers have…”

How could marketing research have helped alert the company to potential problems before going through with the change?

How the Web Has Changed Job Searching (BusinessWeek) - The combination of recession and changes in the job search process model have many job seekers bewildered.  Here is a good story examining how social networks are playing a role in job hunting.

While networking is (and has traditionally been) the best way to find a new job, the second-most effective tool is another type of networking: sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, according to a poll released Aug. 17 by placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Is it possible for Facebook to compete against LinkedIn when it comes to networking for jobs?

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Published on August 17, 2009

Posted by Paul Christ

After a short vacation we are back with our look at Highlighted Marketing Stories:

What's in a New Logo? (Fortune) - Here is a fun slideshow-style article that looks at 12 brands, including some of the world's largest, and what happened when they changed their logo.  The best part of the article are the stories behind the changes including industry and customer reactions.

But analysts and customers have been critical of the redesign -- Xerox's biggest makeover in forty years. "The new logo is first and foremost a sphere...and the less obvious 'X' is almost an afterthought," says Gardner. "Xerox owns the letter 'X' in the corporate world. Why would they want to bury the 'X' instead of making the most of it?"

Of the 12 brands shown which one is most likely to be the first to redesign their logo again.

How to Discount (If You Insist) (BusinessWeek) - In tough times companies often resort to discounting as part of their promotional pricing strategy.  But as this story points out, marketers need to be very careful when using this approach.  It also offers examples of how to do it well.

Discounting destroys brand equity, hamstrings investment in innovation, and zaps profitability for companies and their stakeholders. Which raises an interesting question: Can discounting ever be an acceptable strategy for a business?

The article alludes to using other non-price methods for giving the impression of discounting.  What other methods can also be used besides those mentioned?