Promotions - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Generation Alpha Prefers YouTube over Disney+

August 23, 2024

With its iconic cartoon characters, movies, theme parks, and more, Disney has practically held a monopoly over children’s attention for nearly a century. But that’s starting to change as kids spend more time on streaming services, which now account for two-thirds of TV watch time for children ages 2 to 11. And instead of watching Disney+, which offers full-length movies and TV shows, these days most children prefer short-form videos on platforms like YouTube. For example, the “Kids Diana Show” Continue reading →

Branding, Promotions, Marketing, Entertainment, Disney, Video Games, YouTube, Supply & Demand, Streaming Video

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Amazon Earns $14.2 Billion in Sales on Prime Day

July 26, 2024

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Retailers once considered July to be a slow month as regular customers spent their money on travel and other activities rather than shopping at local stores. Then Amazon created Prime Day, a 48-hour sales event that turned the middle of July into a bonanza of consumer cash for the e-commerce giant. This past Prime Day was Amazon’s biggest yet, with the company racking up $14.2 billion in sales over the course of two days last week, an 11 percent increase Continue reading →

Inflation, Prime Day, Promotions, Retail, Pricing, Marketing, Amazon, E-commerce, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Consumers Start to Steer Clear of Expensive Snacks

July 19, 2024

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From grocery stores to fast food drive-throughs, today’s consumers pay a lot more for food than they did just a little while ago. In the years following the pandemic, food and beverage companies steadily increased prices to compensate for soaring commodity and labor costs and to please investors looking to boost profit margins. For example, the average price for a bag of potato chips in June 2020 was $5.09. These days, though, that same bag of chips goes for Continue reading →

Product Development, Branding, Marketing, Promotions, Ethics, Pricing, Product Distribution, Supply & Demand, Shrinkflation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

How Rent the Runway Lost Over 90 Percent of Its Value

June 14, 2024

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The fashion startup Rent the Runway seemed destined for long-term success when it launched as an industry-disrupting force in the late 2000s. As this video shows, though, not even a $1 billion IPO could save the company from established competitors and the impact of a global pandemic.

Questions:

How did the pandemic affect Rent the Runway’s business?
What advantages do established competitors like Urban Outfitters have over startups like Rent the Runway?

Supply & Demand, Pandemic, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Product Development, Promotions, Product Distribution, E-commerce

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Cash-Strapped Consumers Label Fast Food as a Luxury

June 5, 2024

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The fast food industry has long depended on affordability as one of its key selling points, offering customers quick meals that are easy on their wallets. Those days might be in the past, however, as inflation and other factors have sent fast food prices soaring in recent years. According to Finance Buzz, average prices at the country’s most popular chains have increased by as much as 100 percent over the last decade. The 31 percent rise in inflation over the Continue reading →

Fast food, Product Distribution, Marketing, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand, Inflation, Promotions, Pricing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

[VIDEO] How Endless Shrimp Almost Sank Red Lobster

May 10, 2024

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In the late 1990s, the seafood chain Red Lobster was one of the fastest growing restaurants in the nation as it earned billions of dollars in annual revenue from more than 700 locations. As the years went by, though, poorly planned promotions and wider economic factors took their toll on the company. This video looks at how the pandemic and an endless shrimp promotion brought Red Lobster to the brink of bankruptcy.

Questions:

How did Red Lobster’s endless shrimp promotion Continue reading →

Inflation, Pandemic, Marketing, Product Development, Social Media, Promotions, Pricing, Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

New Law Could Potentially Ban TikTok in the U.S.

May 1, 2024

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A few weeks ago, we examined TikTok’s uncanny ability to provide entrepreneurs with major marketing opportunities at the expense of brand control. The potential downsides of the latter became clear last week when President Biden signed a bill into law that could ban the social network in the U.S. Under the provisions of the bill, which passed both the House and Senate with considerable support, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has 270 days to sell the app to an American Continue reading →

[VIDEO] Major Hotel Chains Provide Big Branding Power

April 10, 2024

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With tens of thousands of locations worldwide, hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt dominate the global hospitality industry. But as the video below shows, these companies often don’t own the properties that bear their names. This report from the Wall Street Journal explains how Marriott and others license their brands to independently operated hotels, who then benefit from widespread recognition as well as customer reward programs.

Questions:

Why did hotel chains like Marriott and Hilton move away from Continue reading →

Branding, Promotions, Travel, Marketing, Product Distribution, Entrepreneurship, Hotels

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

[VIDEO] Meal Kit Companies Struggle to Keep Customers

March 29, 2024

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Although meal kit services like HelloFresh and Blue Apron both enjoyed a boom in business during the pandemic, only one of those companies continues to thrive today. The video below explores the growing dominance of HelloFresh in the meal kit industry even as it struggles to keep customers, who mainly tend to cancel their subscriptions once the sign-on deals end.

Questions:

What are the benefits and drawbacks of HelloFresh’s strategy of using discounts to attract customers?
Why is it Continue reading →

Food & Drink, Supply & Demand, Marketing, Product Development, Operations Management, Promotions, Entrepreneurship, Pricing, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Videos

[VIDEO] Temu Attracts Millions of Customers with Rock-Bottom Prices

March 19, 2024

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With more than 51 million monthly active users in the United States, the Chinese e-commerce outlet Temu has expanded significantly in recent years thanks to its huge selection of cheap goods. This video looks at the platform’s low-price strategy and how it’s winning customers the world over in spite of reports of poor quality products and possible ethical issues.

Questions:

Why do you think Temu’s business model is appealing to customers?
Which e-commerce strategy do you think is most effective Continue reading →