learnthe4ps.com - For students of marketing.

What is that next big thing? Many of today’s trendsetters can be found in high schools. So Jeremy Hobson reporter for the radio program Marketplace visited a New Jersey high school where he interviewed students and a tech teacher. You can listen to the radio story at “The next generation unfriends Facebook” (May 3, 2013). It is 12 minutes long, but worth it. Scroll down for the Audio Extra — a four minute interview with the tech teacher.

While we should be cautious in how we interpret the results of a small convenience sample, there are some quick takeaways that merit attention:

• Facebook is fading in popularity
• Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram are hot
• These kids care about privacy issues — I had not heard that before

What are your favorite apps? websites? social media tools? Are you spending less time on Facebook?

When Cape Town Tourism sought a creative way to increase visits to the South African jewel (see photo to the right), it decided to highlight its “unexpected side.” Cape Town Tourism understands that many of the city’s charms are those “never heard of places” that don’t even make it into the travel guidebooks. They designed a creative Facebook campaign that offered people a “virtual” trip to Cape Town; a trip they could “share” with their friends. Results data from this case study indicate the campaign worked.

What do you think of this campaign? What other products might be sold in this way?

Facebook is now combining data from outside the social network with the data it already has to better target advertising. For example, Facebook knows its users “likes” and their friends — and has access to their attitudes and behaviors from their posts (though it is not clear if they have figured out how to effectively mine “posts” or pictures — I know they are working on developing this capability). Facebook has signed agreements with outside data vendors, so it can create individual customer profiles that include – where some shops, public data like car registration, retail purchases (from loyalty cards), and browsing history.

The approach appears to be winning over advertisers. In this Wall Street Journal article, “Buy Signal: Facebook Widens Data Targeting” (April 9, 2013, non-subscribers may need to click here) you can read how General Motors, Hyundai, Pepsi, and Neiman Marcus have increased their spending on Facebook advertising because of the more precise targeting. Continued spend will certainly depend on the results.

The article also raises concerns of privacy advocates. For a more informed discussion of these types of privacy issues, click “Privacy” from the tags on the right side of this post — and view some of our previous posts on this topic.

We are curious what you think of this? On the one hand, Facebook might learn more about you and serve up more relevant advertising and content. On the other hand, there is something that might be a bit creepy about Facebook knowing us so well. Does this change your feelings about Facebook? Will you post differently?

In marketing communications, we have a tool called the AIDA model, which refers to four  Promotion (marketing communication) “jobs”: 1) getting attention, 2) holding interest, 3) arousing desire, and 4) obtaining action. If we think about this in the sales of automobiles (or SUVs in this case), the marketing manager needs to find ways to get attention and hold interest for the brand. Usually a dealer’s sales force helps arouse desire (test drive?) and obtain action (close the sale).

This clever promotion from Land Rover provides an example of the AI part of this model. Like many SUVs, Land Rover likes to promote the idea that their vehicle helps the driver escape from the ordinary. To encourage the next generation of Land Rover owners, the company developed the LR 4 “Escape” key. The short video below demonstrates the promotion — and some impressive early results.

Creativity and idea generation are some of our favorite topics at Learn the 4 Ps. Whether you need to come up with a new product idea, an advertisement, or an idea for that English essay, creatively generating a range of options is needed to identify breakthrough opportunities.

The last couple of decades have seen a burgeoning of scientific research has been going on with respect to understanding creativity and idea generation. A Wall Street Journal multimedia package ”Tactics to Spark Creativity” (April 2, 2013 non-subscribers might need to click here) describes a few of the latest findings.

I have embedded the WSJ video below, where you can see how some companies foster creativity in the workplace. You might also check out one of the e*Trade babies commercials or the EnviroMixer app which are mentioned in the story.

What tactics spark your creative side?

What do you think?  Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+ LinkedIn, or Pinterest?

A recent survey by the Wall Street Journal, offers some insight into what small businesses are finding works best among social media tools. The results suggest good news for LinkedIn — but less promising results for Pinterest, Google+, and Twitter.  The survey examined which social media tools firms are using — and which hold the most potential. I wish the survey broke out different markets or types of customers (B2B vs. B2C for example) as it would be nice to know if that mattered (I suspect it does).  You may be using LinkedIn as part of your job-hunting process, but it also represents a marketing opportunity.  You can learn a lot about social media tools of the future in ”Small Firms Say LinkedIn Works, Twitter Doesn’t” (January 31, 2013 – non-subscribers may need to link here).

How could a small firm use each of these social media tools to support marketing strategy efforts?  Think about the situation for a restaurant in your town?  Then think about it for a small business that sells computers and computer support services to small businesses?  Off er your thoughts in the comment section below.

Oreo has had some very creative creative marketing over the last few years.  One outlet for that creativity is the Oreo Facebook page — with more than 32 million likes and many shareable posts.  They work with Wieden + Kennedy, one of the top ad agencies in the world — W&K also works with Coca-Cola, Old Spice, P&G and more.

Oreo’s most recent campaign ramps up the the debate between cookie and creme? I am not sure if you need an introduction, but the “classic” technique for eating an Oreo requires unscrewing the cookie to expose the creme filling before eating it separate from the cookie.

Which is better?  The “Life Raft” ad we show here follows up to their “Whisper Fight” Super Bowl commercial.  They have also been releasing a series of web videos under the “Oreo Separator” theme — I like this one “Oreo Separator Machine #4 — Creator Robotic Butler:  HERB.”

What do you think of this campaign? What ideas would you have to build on this campaign?  Perhaps using other social media tools?

Maybe the biggest advertising day of the year yesterday — oh it was a pretty big football day, too.  Especially if you are a 49er or Raven fan.

If you are looking for some instant analysis, I have a few sites you can check out.  At Fast Company’s Co.Create, you can “See the 8 Best Ads of the Super Bowl XLVII” (February 4, 2013).  These guys picked the Hyundai “Team” and Audi “Prom” (one of my favorites posted below) ads as #1 and #2.  You can also see what Adweek picked as “The 5 Best Ads of Super Bowl XLVII.”  Dodge Ram “Farmer” and Budweiser “Brotherhood” (the Clydesdale foal) were its choices for 1 and 2.   While those are from “experts,”

For another perspective, I kind of like USA Today‘s Ad Meter, which this year sought ratings from 7619 pre-registered panelists — for a viewer perspective.  You can read more at “Budweiser’s Clydesdale Wind Ad Meter by a nose” (February 6, 2013) — where you will find that it barely edged out Tide “Miracle Stain.”

What were your favorite ads?  Why?  Are there ads you didn’t necessarily like personally, but that you think probably worked for another target market?  Maybe the one below (as a dad I can relate).

Personal selling has an important place in the marketing mix.  While costly, salespeople can look a customer right in the eye and adapt their message and advice depending on how customers respond to questions.  Personal selling is usually a key element in the B2B promotion blend.

The high cost of personal selling and customers’ growing comfort with the Internet are changing the nature of personal selling.  The number of outside salespeople continues to grow, but much more slowly.  On the other hand, the number of people engaging in inside sales (on the phone or interacting online) is growing rapidly.  Inside sales is no longer a  lower status (as compared to outside sales) position in many organizations.  You can learn more about this trend in this recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, “Sales Moves Beyond Face-to-Face Deals, Onto the Web” (January 10, 2013).

Business students reading this post should recognize this potential career opportunity.  Are you social?  Comfortable on the phone?  Comfortable with social media?  There may be interesting opportunities in inside sales.

PSAs (public service announcements) are often kind of boring and dry — often ignored by their target market.  The Melbourne (Australia) Metro wanted to remind the locals that the Metro can be dangerous.  By making light of a serious subject, the ad has gone viral with more than 33 million views to date.