Marketing - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

The Weather Channel Plays the Data Game

October 23, 2013

Last autumn the Weather Channel officially became the Weather Company, signaling the start of a major rebranding effort. The meteorological media firm didn’t pull the plug on its long-standing TV station, though. Instead, the change reflects the Weather Company’s new position as a data and analytics outfit concerned with all things weather. Over the course of 75 years the Atlanta-based company has amassed huge amounts of atmospheric information concerning dew points and cloud cover percentages. All this data combined with Continue reading →

Television, Data Mining, Weather, Market research, Pantene, Michaels, Marketing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Making Clothing Production More Transparent

October 17, 2013

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For many of today’s conscientious consumers, it’s not enough for a product to be simply affordable and effective. Environmentally minded diners, for instance, prefer to know as much about the origins of their food as possible. That’s why so many modern restaurants make sure the names of their organic and artisanal suppliers appear as prominently on menus as the dishes. Now the trend is expanding out of the culinary world and into retail as more and more clothing companies use Continue reading →

Product Development, Retail, Fashion, Distribution, Marketing, Nike, Ethics, Everlane, Supply chains

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Walking a Fine Line with Creative Advertising

September 22, 2013

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When it comes to promoting a product, marketers usually have two routes they can take: either hype the item’s notable features or draw the audience in with something creative. Choosing the latter option is a much riskier endeavor, though. After all, it’s easy to forget a boring commercial. Advertising backfires worst when a company miscalculates the level of their own wit and unleashes a high concept disaster. For instance, last year a Pop Chips ad featuring Ashton Kutcher as a Continue reading →

Promotions, Advertising, Creativity, Pop Chips, Germany, Marketing, Europe

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Fast Food’s Secret Menu Problem

May 24, 2013

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Clocking in at 800 calories with 53 grams of fat and 2,430 milligrams of sodium, Burger King’s Suicide Burger certainly lives up to its name. This outrageous creation features four patties, four slices of cheese and loads of bacon all slathered in special sauce. The existence of this burger brings to mind many troubling questions, not least of which is, “Why would Burger King offer such an abomination to their customers?” Well, as strange as it may seem, they technically Continue reading →

Secret Menus, McDonald’s, Burger King, Marketing, Chipotle, Product Development, Fast food, Product Lines

Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Italian Luxury Brands Spend to Save Antiquities

May 20, 2013

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The beauty of Italy’s ancient structures and sculptures has been renowned for more than two thousand years. Over the course of those centuries, maintenance responsibilities for the nation’s antiquities have transferred from their Roman builders to the Catholic Church and finally to the present-day Italian government. But there’s one major matter that separates the latter from its two mighty predecessors: money. As a result of the Italian economy’s recent collapse, the government has been forced to slash the maintenance budget Continue reading →

Philanthropy, Fendi, Italy, Marketing, Global, Ethics, Europe

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 18: Financial Management

Red Bull’s Media Mogul Ambitions

April 10, 2013

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Ever since The Colgate Comedy Hour premiered in the 1950s, companies have been happy to stamp their names across a variety of entertainment ventures. For some modern companies, though, simply being the sponsor of an event no longer has the same appeal. After all, nearly every form of mass entertainment features a sponsor of some type. Whether it’s TV, concerts or sporting events, consumers are constantly bombarded with the names of corporate benefactors, making it difficult for some brands to Continue reading →

Branding, Promotions, Red Bull, Entertainment, Marketing, Sports

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

The Century-Old Battle over Budweiser

April 7, 2013

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To most American beer drinkers, there’s only one Budweiser. Go to the Czech Republic, however, and you might be in for a bit of surprise. Since 1895 the brewing company Budejovicky Budvar has been making a beer called Budweiser. And no, they didn’t just rip the name off from the iconic AB Inbev brand. The brewery operates in a region of the Czech Republic called Budweiser, where people have been brewing beer since 1295. In fact, the region’s proud brewing Continue reading →

Branding, Marketing, Budweiser, Global, AB Inbev, Czech Republic, Europe, Copyright

Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law