Question 1 - Applying the concepts: Using Social Media as a Marketing Tool

Watch this video from Stanford University: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B135dZqQ9IS0Wnhickw1U2xraW8/view? usp=sharing. For your convenience, I have shortened this long link to tinyurl.com/apply-marketing. Click on "Download" and then on "Download anyway." The video features lively discussions at Stanford on using social media as a marketing tool.

Pick any company or small business or service provider. You can also consider the company you are working on for your semester-long group project. Or you can focus on a small business or service that you yourself might want to start some day.

Then, apply the social media marketing concepts that you learned from watching the video to the company or business that you picked. List at least three ways in which the company/business/service can use social media to enhance their marketing.

Question 2- Applying the concepts: Packaging

A product's package is often considered a "silent salesperson." It is the last marketing efforts before consumers make selection in the store. One model that is used to evaluate a product's package is the view model: visibility, information, emotion and workability. Visibility refers to the packages ability to stand out among competing products on the store shelf. Information is the type and amount of information included on the package. Some packages try packages perform the basic function of protecting and dispensing the product.

1. Go to a grocery store and select two competing brands in any product category. Evaluate each brand's packaging on the dimensions above and report your findings.

2. Which brand's packaging is superior? Suggest ways to improve the other brand's packaging.

Question 3- Applying the concepts: Types of Products

"Meet us before you need us"-that's the motto of a cemetery in Denver. Facing decreasing demand as more Americans choose cremation, cemeteries across the country are marketing to the living in hopes they will become customers in the future. Although funeral homes and cemeteries have long urged customers to pre-purchase funeral services before they are needed, it's the new marketing that is drawing criticism. Some activities are low-key, such as poetry workshops, art shows, and nature walks, but some are downright lively. One cemetery staged a fireworks show and sky divers. Other festivities include concerts, outdoor movies, and clowns. Cemetery director's pine for the old days when, more than a century ago, cemeteries were a place for social gatherings where families visited and picnicked near a loved one's grave. Although many of the new activities are staged in the evening, some occur during the day, so directors must use discretion to avoid interrupting a funeral.

1. Read up on the four types of consumer products - convenience products, shopping products, specialty products, and unsought products - and understand what each of the terms signifies. What types of products are burial plots and pre-purchased funeral services? Explain.

2. Are these marketing activities appropriate for this product?

Question 4 - Applying the concepts: New Product Development

New products are launched with a great deal of fanfare. Particularly in the case of the Apple Company, there is usually lots of publicity surrounding the launch of any new Apple product. The iPhone 4 was no exception.
Unfortunately, much of it was negative, with some critics even labeling the introduction "antenna-gate." Within days of the product's release, reports surfaced of reduced signal strength and dropped calls. The problem resulted from the sleeker, slimmer phone's antenna, consisting of a metal band around the side of the phone. Apple's response was that all smartphones have signal problems, users should hold the phone differently, and users should purchase a case for about $30 to fix the problem. It turns out that Apple engineers knew of this issue a year before the product was launched, but Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., liked the design and opted to go ahead with it. The controversy even caught the ear of a U.S. senator, who urged Jobs to fix the problem at no cost to consumers. Contrary to typical industry practice, AT&T, the exclusive service provider for Apple's phones, was allowed to test only a disguised phone for a very limited time without touching it, so the problem was not discovered during testing. Apple later announced that all purchasers would receive a free case and reimbursed users who had already purchased one. This controversy didn't hurt sales, though; Apple sold three million of the new phones in just three weeks and could not keen up with demand.

1. As you know there are several stages in the new product development process. Which of iPhone4's new product development stages was not conducted satisfactorily? Should Apple have released the iPhone4 when engineers were aware of the antenna problem?

2. Did Apple's iPhone lose brand equity from this controversy? Discuss the pros cons of further testing before launching a new product.