learnthe4ps.com - For students of marketing.

Coca Cola has been working the “happiness” angle on its positioning for a few years now.  Five years ago it was the “Happiness Factory” ads — click here for a link to a long version of one of them.  About a year ago a Coca Cola video of a vending machine delivering happiness on a college campus went viral.  The video below shows Coke delivering happiness on the streets of Rio de Janiero, Brazil.  I like how the entire campaign creatively reinforces the “happiness” positioning that Coca Cola has been fostering.  Fun.

One of the goals of this blog is to keep you current on issues that change so fast that marketing text books cannot keep up. A survey of 400 top marketers by the American Marketing Association and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business provided some data on current and future spend on social media. While current spend is less than 6% of the marketing budget — surveyed firms expect spending to approach 10% in the next 12 months. In the next five years, social media spending is anticipated to reach about 18% of the marketing budget. The study also breaks our the projections by market (B2B vs. B2C) and for goods versus services. It turns out that B2B service firms are the biggest spenders. See more of the results at eMarketer, “How Well Is Social Media Fitting into the Marketing Mix” (February 25, 2011).

What does this mean for marketing students?  One more piece of evidence that learning more about social media and how it fits into a marketing mix will be a great route to a job in marketing.

We are seeing more examples of businesses that are effectively leveraging social media that works with customers. This article describes a New York City baker that has found success — and almost 3000 likes on Facebook. This short article “A Bakery Gets Sweet Returns From Social-Media Blitz” (Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2011, non-subscribers may need to click here) offers examples and qualifies the example by suggesting that bars and restaurants may be special cases with social media.

What do you think?  What other small businesses might be able to take advantage of social media?  How?  Offer some examples.

Somehow this article slipped by me – and it is now more than a couple of months old, see “The Future of Selling: It’s Social” (Forbes, December 3, 2011) But it is chock full of great information and ideas from Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman and CEO of OglivyOne Worldwide, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies. He provides some brief highlights of research OglivyOne conducted on sales professionals in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, and China. The results show quite a variance in the role of social media in personal selling across different countries. The article also suggests some strategies for companies and salespeople. While there has been a lot of talk about social media in consumer markets, this suggests opportunity in B2B as well.

For many products, the first place consumers shop is on the internet using a search engine like Google.  Marketing managers know that getting to the top of the “organic” listing.  The organic listing is what appears in the main search area, not the sponsored links (ads) at the top or right hand side.  Because of the importance of appearing on the first page of results — and hopefully at the top of the page — marketing managers often engage in various activities under the category of search engine optimization (SEO).

This article “The Dirty Little Secrets of Search” (New York Times, February 12, 2011), gets behind the scenes and describes how J.C. Penney climbed its way to the top of Google results for many product categories.  The article is kind of long, and goes well beyond what we might typically cover in an introductory marketing class. But for many firms, especially online retailers, SEO can be a very important source of customers. This behind the scenes peak is fascinating. It raises ethical questions, too.  I recommend it.

Is the future of online advertising one of incredibly targeted advertising based on your interests, online activities and Facebook “likes,” or is it one dictated by robust privacy controls that keep those details out of the hands of marketers?

This article at CNN.com “‘Like’ it or not, online ads are getting personal” (January 31, 2011) starts by asking this question. It is my belief that many of my students care very little about their personal online privacy. The article describes behavioral advertising and notes that the Federal Trade Commission is considering a “Do Not Track” list similar to the “Do Not Call” list created to curb telemarketing. It looks like the browser makers are getting out in front of the issue by creating the “no track” option — Microsoft Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox offer the opportunity to “opt out” of behavioral tracking, few users are likely to select this option (that assumes the default is that you will be tracked — but that is another issue).

What about you?  Do you care about your online privacy?  Would you dig into your browser to click a switch that prevented online tracking of your browsing behavior?  Or do you like the more targeted advertising that results from behavioral targeting?

Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” just hit the streets (February 7, 2011).  The package includes a listing and thumbnail sketches of the top employers, a list of 25 from the list that are currently have at least 700 openings each (137,000 available jobs), a slide showing of 25 top paying companies, and more.  You can also link to videos to see some of the best employers in action.

Maybe some of these firms should be in your target market as you develop your personal marketing plan.  It also helps to review the qualities that landed many of these companies on the list — you can look for them when you interview at other firms.  One look at the picture here from Google headquarters might make you envious — and you should realize that few companies offer these perks.

As a Packer fan, I really enjoyed yesterday’s Super Bowl.  As a marketer, I also like the advertising.  The Super Bowl is an expensive opportunity for a firm to get a wide exposure — and more attention since many TV viewers actually want to watch these ads.

As students of marketing, you might want to watch all the ads again and perhaps read some critiques.  Here are a few links to get you started:

• USA Today article “Best Super Bowl Ads” (February 7, 2011) and the USA TodayAdmeter rankings are a long-time ranking based on consumers who watch and react to the ads in real time.
• Wall Street Journal‘s critique, “At Super Bowl Many Ads Fail to Score,” (February 7, 2011 – non-subscribers click here)
• You can find all the Super Bowl ads here.

Did USA Today get it right?  Why or why not?

Colgate Max White One excels at getting your teeth white.   This short (2:11) video shows how Colgate Max White One uses clever advertising and guerilla marketing to position a woman’s smile (and therefore its whitening toothpaste) as a fashion “accessory.”  The campaign ran in Europe with the guerilla part in Paris.

What do you think?  Would this work?  What are the advantages of this program?  The disadvantages?

(UPDATE 12/19/2012, we apologize but Intel has removed this video.)  Intel created this great video to demonstrate why one of its prime target markets — gamers and social media users — need the 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 Processor. I think the video is likely to resonate with this target market.  I have embedded the video below, but you may enjoy it best by clicking through to YouTube and playing it full screen.

What do you think?  Many of you are likely in the target market?   Does the video make its point with you?