The Marlboro Man advertising is one of the most famous and successful marketing campaigns of all time, which every marketer should know about. In this mini case study, students explore how the Marlboro Man came to be, especially after the brand was initially targeted at female smokers, and review the marketing challenges that they faced along the way.
Classic Case Study: Marlboro Repositions for Success Review the Teaching Activity
This activity delves deeper into customer journey mapping and considers how to overcome the consumer’s pain points. Students look for ideas and then consider how valuable it is to reduce pain points and indeed, can we compete on that basis?
Overcoming Consumer Pain Points Review the Teaching Activity
Students advise a company that has created too many segments how to best combine them (using counter segmentation). A good exercise for students to understand the purpose of segmentation and to consider the trade-off between segment size and viability.
Counter Segmentation Review the Teaching Activity
In this task, students review a short transcript from a focus group discussion about the benefits of joining a fitness center. They will identify insights, motivations, as well as examining research biases.
Analyzing Focus Groups Review the Teaching Activity
In this discussion exercise, marketing research students are presented with several examples of research bias in focus groups. Their task is to identify how the impact of these biases can be minimized.
Research Bias in Focus Groups Review the Teaching Activity
Students work through a pricing experiment testing optimal pricing for profits. They then construct a demand curve, as well as considering multiple environmental factors before making a final pricing recommendation. A good activity to understand the role of marketing mix experiments.
Setting Prices Using Marketing Experiments Review the Teaching Activity
This activity builds upon the existing Bud Light case study but focuses on the psychographic segmentation approach used by Bud Light. The exercise is designed for students to have a better understanding of what psychographic segmentation and how it can be used.
Bud Light and Psychographic Segmentation Review the Teaching Activity
This task is for senior marketing students considering their careers in marketing and where to specialize. A list of 30+ recent and emerging marketing roles are provided for consideration and discussion. A helpful exercise for students to start thinking about building their specialist skills.
Recent and Emerging Marketing Roles Review the Teaching Activity
Although widely posted and discussed, one of marketing’s biggest branding failures – Colgate Beef Lasagne (or Colgate Kitchen Entrees) was fake. Students review the back story to find out how this happened and the importance of always validating sources for key decision making.
Fake Products and Marketing Information Review the Teaching Activity
In this exercise, students complete two tables for the product life cycle – for the key characteristics of each stage and for the key marketing mix tactics for each stage. It is designed as a revision exercise and can be completed by individual students or in pairs.
Understanding the Product Life Cycle (PLC) Review the Teaching Activity