At $3,250, Olympic hockey tix trump the Super Bowl

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  Fancy a last-minute ticket to the opening ceremonies? Get ready to fork over about a thousand bucks. How about a glimpse at Shaun White at Wednesday’s halfpipe finals? It’ll set you back another $1,400. And as for rink-side seats at the men’s ice hockey final game… those will cost you more than this year’s Super Bowl tix — a whopping $3,250 or more.

Source: CNNMoney.com

Date: 02/12/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/12/news/economy/olympics_tickets/index.htm

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain, from the buyer’s point of view, the willingness to pay these high prices for Olympic events?
  • If some buyers are willing to pay these prices, why wouldn’t the organizing committees set them at higher prices in the first place? Explain your thinking.

Toyota woes lead to bargains from rivals

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Prices on Toyota’s vehicles, not surprisingly, have slipped in light of the recalls, but rivals have also slashed their prices to capitalize on a rare period of weakness for the world’s biggest carmaker.

Source: Marketwatch.com

Date: 02/10/2010

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/toyota-woes-lead-to-bargains-from-rivals-2010-02-10?siteid=nwtwk

Questions for discussion: 

  • Summarize the explanation for these changes to pricing strategies.
  • Do you believe that Toyota will be able to return to a premium price position in the marketplace? Explain your thinking.

Credit Card Limits for Youth Can Be Opportunity for Parents

Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: This month, large parts of the credit card bill that President Obama signed into law in 2009 go into effect. Among them are rules governing credit card use by anyone under 21 years old. Starting Feb. 22, they can’t get a credit card unless they have an independent source of funds to pay the bills. Failing that, they’ll need a parent to co-sign the application (and submit written permission before the credit limit can rise).

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: 02/12/2010

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/your-money/credit-and-debit-cards/13money.html?ref=business

Questions for discussion:

  • What do you think of this legislation in terms of fairness to all parties involved and in terms of the role of government? Explain your thinking.
  • Do you think this legislation will affect behavior patterns?

These tablets do what the ‘iPad don’t’

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: With apologies to Sega’s classic “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” ad campaign, there are many tablet and touch-screen PCs that do things the upcoming Apple iPad simply can’t. While Apple’s tablet runs a version of the company’s iPhone operating system, most of these tablets run different flavors of Windows, and (at least in theory) are capable of performing any task a standard laptop can.

Source: CNET.com

Date: 02/12/2010

Link:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10452930-1.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Given the product comparisons presented in the article, how well do you think the iPad will be received by customers looking for this sort of device?
  • How important do you think it is for the iPad to perform like a true computer and run traditional software? Explain your thinking.

Toyota customers keep the faith

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  Despite Toyota’s recent recalls, customers remain committed to the automaker.

Source: CNNMoney – video report
 
Date: 02/03/2010  

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/02/03/toyota_dealership_customers.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you think the damage done to the Toyota brand can be corrected? Explain how or why it can’t.
  • How do you think the communications effort by the dealerships should be co-ordinated with Toyota headquarters?
  • What messages are being transmitted by Toyota?
  • What messages do you think current customers are receiving?

Buyer interest in Prius grows. Say what?

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  By now, you’ve heard that some 2010 Toyota Priuses have a braking problem blamed for several crashes. That sounds scary, but to some it sounds like a deal.

Source: CNNMoney.com

Date: 02/05/2010

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/05/autos/prius_deals/index.htm

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain how the negative publicity could in fact help boost sales at Toyota Prius?
  • Can the publicity help or harm other Toyota car brands?
  • What would you advise Toyota managers to do under these conditions?

Amazon reshelves Macmillan titles but not e-books

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Online retailer Amazon.com Inc resumed selling hardcover and paperback books from Macmillan Publishers late on Friday in a sign the two companies are getting closer to resolving a pricing dispute over Macmillan’s electronic books, which remain unavailable on Amazon.

Source: Reuters.com

Date: 02/07/2010

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61517220100207

Questions for discussion: 

  • Why would Amazon wish to sell e-books at the lowest price possible?
  • Would it be better to lower the selling price of its Kindle reader and earn more revenues from higher priced e-books? Explain your thinking.

A Search Engine That Relies on Humans

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: A report this week laying out a strategy for social search has been getting a good deal of attention in tech circles. The paper, “Anatomy of a Large Scale Social Search Engine,” was written by Damon Horowitz and Sepandar Kamvar of Aardvark, one of several companies working on creating social search engines. As of October 2009, Aardvark had about 90,000 users.

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: 02/05/2010

Link: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/a-search-engine-that-relies-on-humans/?ref=technology

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think this business model can be successful? Explain your answer.
  • What problems might arise with this model?
  • How can revenue be generated?
  • What problems might arise with this model?

Many retailers post strong January sales gains

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description: Fueled by gift-card redemptions, clearance sales and almost pitifully easy comparisons, the nation’s retailers seem, on balance, to have posted their fifth straight monthly sales gain in January, according to sales figures released Thursday.

Source: Marketwatch.com

Date: 02/04/2010

Link:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/many-retailers-post-strong-january-sales-gains-2010-02-04?siteid=nwtwk

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the retailing report.
  • Explain how these results suggest the future direction for the economy as a whole.

Toyota recalls spread

Posted by & filed under Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:   More bad news for the world’s largest automaker as another 2 million vehicles will be recalled in Europe and China.

Source: CNNMoney – video report
 
Date: 01/28/2010  

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2010/01/28/mkts_toyota_recall_siemens.cnnmoney/

Questions for discussion: 

  • Do you think that this problem will hurt Toyota sales in the long term?
  • Some might argue that the response by the company could help improve its image and increase sales after the problem is resolved? Explain how this could happen.