learnthe4ps.com - For students of marketing.

What drives word-of-mouth? This short article at eMarketer “Good Experiences Motivate Women to Share Product Info,” (October 22, 2010) presents research that shows why women seek and share information. As an online survey, I am a bit suspicious of the representativeness of the sample, but it does give some insights to an important issue.

What do you think?  What motivates you to tell others about your experiences (good or bad) with a brand?

Branded content ties a brand to some form of entertainment or useful information. It goes beyond sponsorship because typically the content is “found” when customers search online — or it is passed along to friends (think viral ad).  Levi’s offers an example of branded content; it brought rock band Nada Surf live to the Levi’s Facebook page. Levi’s picked up 45,000 new “Likers” with the promotion. As you may know, after a Facebook user indicates they “Like” a brand, the brand’s content appears on the user’s Facebook news feed — and can be seen by the user’s friends. Read about it in “Levi’s Rocks Facebook With Branded Content,” (ClickZ, October 29, 2010)

As a consumer, what do you think of Levi’s efforts?  Is this a way that might win your loyalty?

As we get closer to the end of the semester we get closer to covering pricing.  This is always a challenging topic.  It is nice to see a couple of recent Wall Street Journal articles that address timely pricing challenges. In “Dilemma Over Pricing,” (WSJ, October 21, 2010) rising commodity prices are pressuring profit margins at companies ranging from General Mills to Domino’s and Harley Davidson. Of course the economy has many cautious, price sensitive customers — so firms are treading carefully. In “Raising Prices Pays Off for Some,” (WSJ, October 27, 2010), you can read how a few small companies have raised prices in the current environment.

What do you think about setting prices?  What should firms do when their costs go up and customers are price sensitive?

Terrachoice Environmental Marketing has released its third annual report on greenwashing – “The Sins of Greenwashing:  Home and Family Edition, 2010.“  The report finds, among other things, that more than 95% of products making a green claim were found to commit at least one of the 7 sins of greenwashing.  If you are not up for reading the whole report, you can read highlights of the report posted at Greenbiz.com.

Many moms can relate to this story – “Mom always does her very best. But, face it, motherhood is never easy.” Consequently, many are likely to enjoy the video — and pass it along to their friends. I like the idea of a more targeted viral video. It also fits into a campaign by 8th Continent that you can find at the brand’s Facebook page.

What do you think are 8th Continent’s promotion objectives with this campaign?  Do you think it will work? Will it help 8th Continent build awareness and sell more soy milk?

Some B2B firms have jumped on the social media bandwagon.  Attracted by the relatively low costs.  But it seems to be rough going:  “For ‘B-to-B’ Companies, Finding Facebook ‘Friends’ Can Be a Struggle,” (Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2010 – non-subscribers link here and click on article).

What do you think? Where are the opportunities for social media with B2B?  Are some industries better targets?  How could a B2B company make its Facebook page and news feed more useful?

I previously posted about a New York Times article that detailed new research about how to study.  The author of the article has since been interviewed by NPR.  His short list of tips might help you study better for that next exam.  Check out “Think You Know How To Study? Think Again” (NPR Talk of the Nation, October 21, 2010) where you can read the list of tips or link through to the longer interview.

I have suggested that students need to think about their personal brand.  This blog (Student Branding Blog) looks like it might be an interesting source for thinking about your career in that manner.  I have not had a chance to thoroughly vet the site, but I offer it as place to check out when developing your own personal marketing plan.

Consumer interest in making sustainable choices may be limited. Sun Chip is ditching its environmentally-friendly compostable (but apparently much noiser) bag. Sales of the snack dropped after the new bag was introduced (“It’s Better for Whose Environment?“, Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2010 – note this link takes you to a back door for non-subscribers). This sentiment is also expressed at Adweek, “Consumers Don’t Warm to Eco-Friendly Products” (October 12, 2010).

Is there only a small segment of consumers interested in sustainability?  Is the “price” for making socially responsibly purchase too high?  What can firms do to make sustainable products more appealing?  Should the government get involved to help promote this behavior?

I am not sure if I agree with everything here.  I am reluctant to tell anyone to use Madonna as a role model.  On the other hand, it is a great example of how marketing concepts apply to the development of a personal marketing plan.  So I encourage you to check out “Madonna’s 6 Secrets to Personal Branding Mastery” (copyblogger,  October 14, 2010).