learnthe4ps.com - For students of marketing.

In “Battle of the Digital Brands: Fender vs. Gibson” Digiday (May 1, 2012) compares the social media activity of two American icons — Fender and Gibson Guitars. The two brands are pretty heavily invested in social media.

What do you think?  1) Which brand is doing a better job with its digital strategy? 2) Who is (are) the target market(s) for each brand’s social media? 3) What else would you suggest to improve each brand’s social media blend?

Air New Zealand’s creative agency, .99, put together a funny pre-flight video that took off as a viral video. Within a few hours of posting the video it was the ninth most tweeted about video on Twitter. It features Richard Simmons — have you guys heard of Richard Simmons.  He is a fitness personality who was quite popular in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s (click here for Simmons’ Wikipedia entry to learn or refresh your memory about the fitness guru.).  Check it out and then read on…

I wondered if the quirky humor fits Air New Zealand’s personality. I didn’t know much about the airline’s positioning, but one of the “Guiding Principles” at its website indicates: “Our workplace will be fun, energising, and where everyone can make a difference.” Their This suggests that the video may fit and reinforce their positioning. Then I read about the airline’s risque and fun “Nothing to Hide” advertising campaign — featuring real employees in body painted uniforms.  Kind of strange, but I like that the ads have a message that is meaningful to its customers. 

What do you think?  Would this work?  Try to remember that most of you (students) are not the target market — you are not Kiwis (New Zealanders) and probably not the target age or income.

Which one do you think usually wins, evidence or storytelling? Check out what Seth Godin has to say on this question in his post “The limits of evidence-based marketing” (March 6, 2011).  Do you agree with Seth?

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.

I know that many marketing students go to work in retail where they often find great opportunities for responsibility and experience.  This short article in Forbes “The 10 Best Employers in Retail,” (Forbes, December 2, 2010) might help you identify some target “customers” for your personal marketing plan.  The downside of this article is the requirement that you have to page through one of those annoying multi-page “slide shows” to see the entire top 10 list.  Don’t you hate those things?  It is worth a look as the list includes some surprises (at least to me).  A quick preview — the top 3 were Overstock.com, REI and Maurices.

Regular readers of “Learn the 4 Ps” may have noticed the Facebook logo in the blog’s banner.  That new logo is to show that we have added a Facebook page for “Learn the 4 Ps.”  Right now the Facebook page feed provides another channel to see and link back to blog posts we make here.  Over time we hope to use the Facebook page to post graphics from our books, links to the books’ online resources, and other material.  Let us know if you have other ideas about how we coud use the Facebook page to add value to your learning about marketing. 

For now, become a fan of our Facebook page by clicking the link up top (not the big one in this post) so you can keep up with what is happening at “Learn the 4 Ps.”

Good marketing starts with good ideas – heck, no matter what your major, business often starts with good ideas. So “Where do ideas come from?” (Seth Godin’s Blog, November 24, 2010) As usual, Seth Godin has some interesting thoughts on the subject.   What do you think?  Where do your ideas come from?  How can you use this article to help you get more ideas?