Description: Insignia Athletics of Worcester, Mass., is one of the few athletic manufacturers in the U.S. to make high-end, premium-leather baseball gloves. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/12/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2011/05/05/sbiz_baseball_mitt.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: How has this company managed to compete in the marketplace against lower-priced imports? How important do you think the “Made in… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Promotion and Pricing Strategies (p426)
Pricing, ticket sites hit baseball attendance
Description: Finding cheap tickets may be part of the fun for baseball fans, but all the browsing around and waiting for the best deals may actually be hurting baseball. Source: Marketwatch.com Date: 05/14/2011 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pricing-ticket-sites-hit-baseball-attendance-2011-05-14 Questions for discussion: What are the major forces affecting the prices paid for tickets today? How can teams respond to… Read more »
Google begins war against Windows
Description: Google does battle with Microsoft in most of its business areas, but it’s gearing up to tackle the big daddy of them all: Windows. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 05/13/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/13/technology/google_chrome_os/index.htm Questions for discussion: Describe the fundamental shift required by users, as planned by Google. Do you think it will succeed with business customers? How… Read more »
In Shift, Ads Try to Entice Over-55 Set
Description: After 40 years of catering to younger consumers, advertisers and media executives are coming to a different realization: older people aren’t so bad, after all. Source: NYTimes.com Date: 05/13/2011 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/business/media/14viewers.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: How have advertisers changed their thinking about the over-55 set? Why does this make sense today? Are there other segments… Read more »
Mother’s Day – flower sales bloom
Description: 1800Flowers.com CEO, James McCann says about two-thirds of roughly 84 million American mothers will get flowers on May 8. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 05/06/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/05/05/n_1800flowers.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Who is the target market? How important is Mother’s Day to this company? What other products have they developed for sale on Mother’s… Read more »
Sony Apologizes, Offers $1 Million Insurance After Hacking
Description:  Sony Corp. (6758) Chairman Howard Stringer apologized and offered U.S. users of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity online services a year of free identity-theft protection after the system was crippled by hackers. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 05/06/2011 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-06/sony-offers-network-users-free-identity-theft-service-after-hacker-attack.html Questions for discussion: Summarize the events that have led to this situation. Do you think Sony’s… Read more »
Taco Bell and the Golden Age of Drive-Thru
Description: Operational innovations at restaurants like Taco Bell rival those at any factory in the world. A view from the drive-thru window at how they do it. Source: Businessweek.com Date: 05/05/2011 Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228064581642.htm Questions for discussion: How is the Drive-Thru process similar to the production process? Why is it so important to Taco Bell to… Read more »
The Class That Built Apps, and Fortunes
Description: ALL right, class, here’s your homework assignment: Devise an app. Get people to use it. Repeat. That was the task for some Stanford students in the fall of 2007, in what became known here as the “FacebookClass.†No one expected what happened next. The students ended up getting millions of users for free apps… Read more »
iPhone tracking ‘no big deal’
Description: iPhone users outside the Apple store during the launch of the white iPhone 4 say the iPhone’s location tracking does not scare or bother them. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 04/28/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2011/04/28/t-tt-iphone-privacy-mos.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Do you think this event is a serious public relations problem for Apple? Judging from these interviews,… Read more »
Royal wedding keepsakes
Description: From knock-off rings to t-shirts, William and Kate’s wedding has all the making of $1 billion marketing event. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 04/28/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/04/25/n_royal_souvenirs.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Why does this event present such a great opportunity for sales promotion marketers? How else does this event promote business activity? What other ideas… Read more »
