Promotional Pricing at its Worst
Promotional pricing (usually) involves offering a discount to customers on the normal selling price of a product, or more of the product at the normal price. The aim is to increase sales and draw attention to the product, brand and business itself, however these firms don’t always get it right. Have you seen any better ‘offers’ than these?
A trip down memory lane for a great business studies resource
Oh my word! This has brought the memories flooding back. But what a super resource to use in business lessons - at worst your students will be just curious at the stuff that we (and I include myself) used to buy from the Argos Catalogue in 1985…
read more...»PepsiCo: economies or diseconomies of scale?
Recently I blogged about how PepsiCo are trying to control diseconomies of scale. The topic is worth returning to, as there seems to be an ongoing debate that appears in the Economist which wonders if PepsiCo are big enough to enjoy economies of scale – but have maybe reached the size where diseconomies are really mounting up.
read more...»Revision Quiz - Marketing: Products & Brands
New questions added in Nov 2011; this revision quiz gives you 10 random questions from our database of revision materials on products and branding. Ideal for GCSE and AS Business studies students in particular.
Launch interactive quiz on products and branding
Revision Quiz - Marketing: Place
Updated in Nov 2011, this revision quiz gives you 10 random questions from our database of revision materials on place (distribution).
Launch interactive quiz on place
Revision Quiz - Marketing: Promotion
Promotion is a key topic in marketing and this updated revision quiz contains 25 questions on the topic. Each time you play, the quiz gives you 10 questions drawn at random, making it different each attempt - ideal for revision.
Launch interactive revision quiz on promotion
Revision Quiz - Marketing: Pricing
This updated revision quiz gives you 10 random questions from our database of revision materials on pricing. There are 30 questions in the database, ensuring that you get a different, challenging quiz each time you play.
Launch interactive quiz on pricing
Behind the scenes of an Innocent advert
Innocent Drinks - still the clear market leader in fruit smoothies in the UK and Europe - launched an advertising campaign in early 2011 positioning their core fruit smoothie bottle as a super hero. I don’t know whether you recall the advert, but what may interest students more is the process that is involved in making what seems at first viewing to be a relatively straightforward ad. Having watched this behind-the-scenes footage, you can see why television advertising is such an expensive medium, both in the creative process and also to buy time for it to be shown.
read more...»Brand positioning & the authenticity of British countryside
Could it be something which resonates with us all in this age of austerity? Brands that are competing for our attention, loyalty and love on the supermarket shelves are turning to traditional, wholesome values to win us over. And nowhere are those values stronger than in the authentic British countryside…
read more...»Location Location Location
Where to locate? A crucial decision taken by organisations both at the start of a business venture and when considering expansion.
Marketing in an age of austerity - Live Well for Less
The marketing strategies of the major supermarket groups in the UK are as good a barometer of how households are feeling about life than almost any other measure I can think of.
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrison’s: they invest hugely in keeping close to their customers, trying to understand and second guess the key influences on buying; changes in tastes and preferences.
If you’ve popped into your local supermarket recently you’ll have noticed a sharp focus on value - price cuts, price-matching. The hard-pressed household consumer is finding it difficult with disposable income squeezed by rising food & fuel prices but depressed wage rates and rising unemployment. Consumer spending is firmly in recession territory - and the supermarkets know it.
Which makes the latest Sainsbury’s television advertising campaign all the more interesting….
read more...»Greggs, Sausage Rolls and the Ansoff Matrix
Sausage rolls and pasties are on the move…and Ansoff would be proud….
read more...»Non-price Determinants of Demand [Advertising]
This clip is something I used today with both my AS Business set when we discussed shifts in demand curves and also my GCSE Year 11 Business set when discussing the importance of promotion within the marketing mix. Goes down a treat.
read more...»Pining for Success - Heston’s mince pie innovation
Here is a neat story about Heston Blumenthal’s latest crazy culinary creation, which is a good example of innovation in practice.
read more...»The Business of Newcastle United
My love of Newcastle United is well known amongst my pupils; many minutes of Monday morning lessons have been eaten up whilst they attempt to prevent the start of a lesson by asking how the team got on at the weekend. Fortunately for me the discussions have been quite enjoyable this year… so far….
read more...»Boy Band Meets Country - Can Yeo Valley Out Sell X-Factor?
A quite brilliant viral video here designed to promote awareness of food brand Yeo Valley. The advertising agency has pulled all the stops out to create a new X-factor style boy band which might just outshine every act on the current series of the ITV talent show. What do your students think of this?
read more...»Shoppers switch stores as income patterns change
Some of the UK’s biggest grocers lost market share to cheaper rivals in the last three months as household incomes came under further pressure, according to this useful article in the Guardian
read more...»The Marketing Mix Song
Many thanks to Sue Hall for suggesting this YouTube video which provides an “alternative” approach to explaining the marketing mix. Despite (or perhaps because of) the worst vocals in YouTube history, the video covers all the basics of the Four Ps. Enjoy 
Selling Bread - Classic Adverts
The humble loaf has long been the centre of creative adverts on television often designed to pull at the heart strings, evoke a sense of place and tradition and remind us of the humanity that goes into making every single bap, french stick or loaf of white sliced.
Warburtons has established itself as the second most highly rated grocery brand in the UK - some distance behind Coca Cola but perhaps that will never change. Their adverts are beautifully crafted and might work a treat in lessons on branding and the effectiveness of television advertising. Here is a small selection of my favourites together with a short video on the background to a Warburtons marketing campaign to launch a new product
read more...»Stock problems at SuperDry hint at the problems of rapid growth
The share price of Super Group fell by 30% in just one day when management issued a warning to shareholders that profits will be well below expectations. Management blamed a new warehouse IT system which, they claimed, had left stores short of stock. They estimated that resulting loss of sales (customer demand, but no stock to sell) would knock £6m to £9m off its profit for 2011.
On the face of it, this sounds like a simple one-off technology problem. But is it? Might it be that SuperDry is expanding too rapidly (both in the UK and internationally?) A retail chain that grows so fast is bound to suffer operational problems. Not only do to the new retail outlets need computer processing facilities to link into the chain’s back-office systems; but a business like this needs the right number of experienced management to ensure that those stock control systems are working properly. Something, somewhere has broken down - with costly consequences. A great example to use in an exam answer or essay.
A broader strategic issue for SuperDry arising from their recent problems is examined here in the Independent. The SuperDry brand has been around for a while (since 1985) but it is only recently that the brand has moved from a distinct niche clothing segment to something more mainstream. As SuperDry becomes more popular, does it lose its appeal to the original customer segment?
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
Steve Jobs the co-founder of Apple Inc died today.
The short video sums up some of his leadership characteristics, charismatic, driven, dictatorial and visionary.
Reebok forced to tone down its advertising claims
Is it possible to have a fit and healthy body without putting any work in and without getting into a sweat? Reebok claimed there is - but the advertising regulators disagree. The result - a hefty $25million fine for one of the globe’s leading fitness brands…
read more...»Customer stereotypes and capacity utilisation - at the cinema
The cinema is crowded and waiting for the film. The screen has 150 seats and 148 have been sold - to a very similar customer segment.
There are just two seats left - situated right in the middle of the cinema auditorium. A couple arrives at the desk and buys the last two tickets, grabs some popcorn and wanders into the screen…but will they stay to watch the film they’ve paid to see?
read more...»How Mattel & Hot Wheels ‘activated boys of all ages’
I have to admit that my 6 yr old son and I can occasionally be found rigging up his Hot Wheels track of a weekend, and so when I saw this case study come in to my inbox via BusinessInsider’s ‘Marketing Mondays’ feature, I had to take a look. It’s such a great example of social media marketing and creating a real buzz around your brand on-line that I felt it was one to share here for future use looking at branding, and the increasing use of social media.
read more...»Tesco’s sausage advert is banned
Tesco’s have tried hard to respond to consumer preference for ethically farmed meat. Their TV ad for their own-brand Butcher’s Choice sausages shows one of the farmers who raised the pigs, and some of his pigs roaming in a field. But the ASA have objected, because although some of the pigs used in the sausages could wander freely outdoors, not all of them could - and the ruling is that the image shown is therefore misleading. Nina Best, an advertising lawyer, said that even though Tesco had only shown the pigs roaming outside for a few seconds, it was enough for the ASA to act: “Companies must not forget to ensure that their visual claims are capable of substantiation as well as their written ones.” So, the ad has to be withdrawn.
Here is the advert. What do you think?
read more...»Who ate all the pies?.....the focus group did!
Here’s a great illustration of focus groups in action, courtesy of my very own Head of Department, Luke McIlvenna. This is a really neat video to bring the idea of this type of research to life and let students see the sort of information that businesses can get back from consumers about potential products.
read more...»Marks & Spencer’s new look
A great article here for those of you with a passion for retail and an eye for design. M&S boss Marc Bolland is spending £600m on a revamp. The firm is wheeling out an array of props including mopeds and pasta machines as part of a refit of its shop floors, which will see stores within stores created for its clothing ranges and the return of delicatessen counters.
read more...»Coming to a petrol station near you - Little Waitrose
A good example here of how an established brand can pursue an organic growth strategy by targeting new locations which serve a new customer base…
read more...»The business benefits of Olympic sponsorship
I am taking my A2 students to visit the Olympics site next week, and have just come across an excellent article published by the FT a week ago. Sponsorship of the event is huge, with the International Olympic Committee’s revenue from sponsorship running at around £1bn. What are the corporate and marketing objectives for those sponsors, and how do they ensure that their strategies will mean that it meets those objectives?
Sponsorship deals are arranged in tiers, from the IOC’s worldwide Olympic Partners who contribute around $100,000 each to tier one domestic sponsors of London 2012 who pay £50m on average,and Official Supporters (such as Cadbury’s and Thomas Cook), Official Suppliers (Holiday Inn, Glaxo). In the FT ‘Olympic sponsors seek podium for brands’ examines the objectives of those major Olympic Partners such as Visa and domestic sponsors such as Lloyds TSB, as well as considering why it may not suit some organisations, the danger of ‘ambush marketing’ crowding out the official sponsors, and whether it is as effective as providing backing for the World Cup. There is plenty here for students to analyse as part of their A2 Marketing course.
Premium market segments: Waitrose at Canary Wharf
Further evidence that the economic downturn hasn’t affected everyone equally: there are still groups of high income consumers out there. Effective marketing requires firms to target groups of consumers with similar buying habits – or market segments. Waitrose are gambling on their target market with a £15m refurbishment of their Canary Wharf store, featuring delights such as wines at up to £425 a bottle.
read more...»
