Theme 2: Marketing & sustainability

1. What do you think about the sales and promotion of sustainable products? How sustainable are they? How useful are labels and certificates in this? (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

Sustainable product is the product which provides environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and environment over their full commercial cycle. Its marketing is socially and environmentally responsible, it meets the present needs of consumers and business while also preserving or enhancing the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Principles of Marketing).

In my opinion, the sales of sustainable product are the foundation of the whole market in the modern society. Sustainable brands are the essential for many people all over the globe. They create the main product pattern which the customer is mostly focused on and of course they are able to control and regulate the economic situation inside the society. Sustainable products are obtaining their target groups and trying to fulfill the needs and wants of their consumers more effectively than any other competitor. Shortly they are willing to serve the customer what they want at the certain moment. The promotion of these sustainable goods is an integral part of the image.

As any other independent product, sustainable goods are also in a great need of promotion so that to increase the interest of the buyer, extend the target group and convey their powerful message across. Giving out promotional products made from sustainable resources can boost the brand image in two ways; firstly by brand recognition, getting the name and logo known, and secondly by demonstrating that the business has an eco-friendly mentality. Even if the promotional product is something that is only used for a few weeks or months, it is enough to get the company’s name known, and if it is made from sustainable materials, there is no way the company handing them out can be accused of being wasteful of the world’s resources.

Thus, I am sure it is extremely important for sustainable brands to use their logos and certificates to actually demonstrate the proof of their quality and dedication to natural resources. The sustainable product in theory is able to protect the needs for the future and to satisfy the needs with their production as long as it is possible with less threat to environment.

Overall, I assume that truly sustainable products are those that created by socially and environmentally responsible actions. It can easily cope with criticism and pressure from their competitors.

2. In the movie ‘The light bulb conspiracy’ the concept ‘Jugaad’ is mentioned. What is this? Illustrate with an example.

‘Jugaad’ is a Hindi word that translates as “the gutsy art of overcoming harsh constraints by improvising an effective solution using limited resources.” In fact it means an innovative fix. It is used as much to describe enterprising street mechanics as for political fixers. This meaning is often used to signify creativity to make existing things work or to create new things with used resources.

The concept express a need to do what needs to be done, without regard to what is conventionally supposed to be possible.

‘Jugaad’ is recognised all over the world as an acceptable form of engineering at peak in India. For instance, many companies in India are adopting ‘Jugaad’ as a practise to reduce research and development costs. ‘Jugaad’ also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking or life hacking, which maximises resources for a company and its stakeholders.

There are many examples of ‘Jugaad’ from all over the world but the most outstanding country is India, indeed. Indian entrepreneurs and corporation are practicing ‘Jugaad’ to develop market-relevant products and services that are inherently affordable and sustainable. They reuse glass bottles as chandeliers, make containers out of coconut shells, turn old newspaper into grocery shopping bags, from old clothes they might create blankets, planters from plastic bottles and etc. there are many amazing ideas and ways of reusing casual stuff. And it is not only about nature-loving actions but also creativity!

3. Comment on the following: “The world is big enough to satisfy everyone’s needs, but will always be too small to satisfy individual greed” (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

By this statement the author meant that our world has loads of various opportunities and economical fullness. We are all able to live a bright full of emotions life that is because we have everything to simply live and not to survive. We have all the crucial resources developed and now we only have to use it during our lifetime. But there are also individual sides of personality which also play a major part in our life. Human tend to have negative feelings caused by social influence. It can be expressed in different ways. For example, jealousy, anger, aggression. We all can get these feelings by simply have an impact from the community we live in. And it is impossible to completely kill this negative that is why people are never satisfied with what they have, they want more in order to be at the top.

4. How can a society that strives for sustainability defend the following: ‘Design products to fail’? (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

For many people this phrase can cause feeling of absurd and frustration. The consumers have no power in controlling it, people can only complain powerlessly and not change anything. I mean it is unfair that the products, as it was revealed in the movie, are all registered to last for a certain period of time. All the production is expected to fail at the particular moment and you cannot control or fix it by your own forces. But our economic is created in this way. That is how it works and continues to develop. Planned obsolescence was made to control the lifetime of the majority of products. It is quite understandable that economists are trying to keep the economic situation all over the world in stability in order to make it grow. If people will not change their devices or goods for new ones regularly there would be no increase in consumer demand and consequently in continuous progressive growth. It is logical that without consuming the economy will likely to be destroyed. And I guess that now this process of failure has integrated into our life pretty well. We all know that any product has its certain period of life and we are obeyed by the economy to buy new goods to make it work properly.

5. Why is planned obsolescence little or not present in communist countries? Explain. (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

Communism is a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property. The economic system of communism puts all planning of the economy in the hands of the government. A communist society distributes ownership of property evenly among every member. Because of the immense power of the state, small business is almost nonexistent in a communist society. The main idea of the communism was to create their specific independent system of economy. It was a plan of building of a society with its rules and way of life. The economy system of communism was not ruled by the free market but centrally planned by the state. In such system of chronic shortage of resources it did not make any sense to the whole communist society. They have tried to unite and concentrate all the labor inside of their community for the people who live and consume products there.

6. Have you already been the victim of the principle ‘Little faster, little better, little sooner’? Illustrate with an example. (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

Yes, unfortunately, I have become a victim of such principle. I had been using my cell phone (IPhone 4s) for almost two and half years. But then I have realised that my battery is not that productive as it was at the beginning of my usage of the device. I have noticed that not only the battery became weaker but such options like wireless connection started to fail to work properly. Then I went to technical service and was told that the repair cost approximately the same price as to buy a brand new mobile phone. I was really frustrated and after a while I bought a new phone because I felt like it has done its work for some time and now it is time to change for new. After I watched the movie I understood this dark side of the economy that is hidden from all of us pretty well. I went on the internet and searched for the actual period of exploitation of my old mobile and found this article:‘How to Know if Your iPhone Battery is on Death Row; The ugly truth about your iPhone battery? It's got a lifespan of less than two years, but may not even last that long if you're careless.’ Now I feel very confused and sad at the same time. We are all in need to buy new goods and replace with them old ones and we actually cannot do anything about it.

Theme 3: Marketing & the dictatorship of sales data

1. Sales means turnover growth. Each time targets are reached, new targets are raised.

a. What is the disadvantage of this?

b. Can you speak of a ‘dictatorship’ of sales data?

a. The disadvantage of this principle is that it is an everlasting circulation which grows with each lap it does. By that I mean it is like a snow ball or a non-stopping car that is going on the full speed. With the raising of new targets we are getting more production, more ideas and of course potential. But all these endless processes are about to finish one day and that is the scary part and a huge drawback. It threats the ecology and can cause such issue as pollution and ecological problems in general. There is no more such thing as total satisfaction the modern society is always striving for more. It is like people are starving and want to buy something without any point but for the sake of purchasing.

b. I assume that the ‘dictatorship’ of sales data definitely exists in the world of economy. It is clear that all the information that comes to particular brand or corporation from its sales goes to the action of processing. All the data is regulated by specially created rules and even laws that business has. It is in interest of any corporation to improve their sales and create new targets to reach by stimulating consumers to buy their product. Companies do create the policy which drives consumers to purchase.

2. How can you link the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal with the movie ‘The Joneses’?

The emission violation of Volkswagen was clearly hidden by specially created system. It showed not true data about its condition and level of emission. But experts from University of Virginia have revealed their tricky maneuver in trying to attract more consumers. I think the main link between these two cases (scandal and the movie) is that all the actions taken by Volkswagen and Joneses were not truly genuine. They have the dark side behind their greatly created images. Joneses did not have the purpose to make new friends and to be a real family but they wanted to sell (make their job). So do Volkswagen made green campaigns and even got awards prizes for the ‘most green cars’ when in fact they just were being tricky and hideously unfair to their millions of customers.

3. What do you think of selling and promoting alcoholic beverages to youngsters/ under age persons? Do you think it is normal to ask for an identity card when buying alcoholic drinks in night shops or supermarkets? Explain.

The problem of the alcoholic market in economy is the controversy that bothers many people around the world. But selling hard beverages to minors is particularly very urgent topic of discussion. Each country legislate its laws and restrictions on the consumption of alcohol. For example, in my home country (Russian Federation), it is allowed by the law to buy hard drinks legally from the age of 18 and people are obligated to show their passports. But as I know in the US it is prohibited to sell and drink until the age of 21 and they also must demonstrate their IDs. But since I moved to Europe I noticed that here you can buy some alcohol drinks from 16 and other hard drinks from 18 and it is not an obligation to show your ID card. From my point of view, selling of alcohol definitely should not be boundless, I mean there are always must be restrictions as it is a serious hazard to health of young people. As an 18 year old person, I can say that the youth usually breaks the law to try themselves as ‘grown-ups’. It might be sometimes pointless to make the law too strict as youngsters tend to violate and show their temperament because it is the age of becoming a personality. Of course, it all depends on mentality and education given by parents but still children want to explore and try new things which can badly effect on their development.

The promotion of alcohol to minors indeed has a very strong negative impact on them. It makes kids be aspired to taste it even more so I cannot see any good or beneficial things in advertising of it.

Summarizing everything I said above, it is clear that my opinion on it is quite radical. And I believe showing IDs can help to prevent children from consumption of alcohol. It is a needed measure to show document as to avoid bad consequences and it totally must be stated by the law.

4. Which kind of products can be promoted by using Stealth marketing? Explain the concept and illustrate with an example.

Stealth marketing is a type of undercover promotion. It is a marketing strategy which target is to gain attention for a new product, goods, service, film, book or song without an appearance of an actual advertisement. These marketing techniques are also can be called buzz marketing. Some of the most common methods used by stealth marketers are including product placement, artificial media and starring of actors.

A bright example can be the new James Bond movie, where Dutch beer brand Heineken made the main character drink not Martini as it was in previous parts of the movie but their basic green bottled beer. They have invested a ridiculously huge amount into this marketing campaign. And you cannot even notice it at the first sight. It does integrate quite well into the picture of movie.

Sometimes we can see how characters of different American movies talking their cell phones and mostly they use IPhone. Apple has made a strong sustainability over the brand. They put lots of their devices into the screen so that to make people even more aware of their product.

5. What do you understand by the following: ‘growth for the sake of growth’? Why is this an issue? (The light bulb conspiracy)

In the modern economy we have no more boundaries. It has developed so well that we reached total diversity of production in the market. Now we have not that much stimulus to achieve something new but still we have that pattern of constant growing. It is pointless to stop the growth of your economy as it always have to be in action. That is an issue because now we cannot actually define what we want and just go with its flow forward.

Theme 4: Marketing & power of concerns

1. Look for a concrete example of cartels, lobbying or (abuse of) power of concerns in the following sectors:

a) The tobacco industry

b) The FMCG sector

c) The pharmaceutical sector

d) The financial sector

a) AGCM (Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) Cartel tobacco giants in Italy.

The cigarette manufacturers agree among themselves to increase prices, they are making the best decision for their pricing policy, increasing the ‘Minimum price barrier’ while maintaining a low level of excise duties, created in Italy. ‘Minimum price barrier’ is usually calculated by taking the basis of the retail price on the best-selling cigarette. After all producers raise the price by 10 cents per pack of cigarettes, three months later there should normally be automatic adaptation of the ‘minimum price’. In Italy, the excise duty on cigarettes is set so that the severity of the tax decreases as the price of products.

b) Sugar Board. Sugar cartel in Kenya.

The Kenya Sugar Board MD appealed to state owned cane companies to establish modalities of reducing operation costs through value additions. There is a high level of under hand dealings among the millers who agree to fix the prices of raw cane.

c) Cartel IG-Farben in Germany.

The most powerful corporate empire of Germany in the first half of the 20th century was the cartel Interressengemeischaft Farben, shortly - IG-Farben. Interressengemeischaft in the association with companies of similar interests, which are BASF, Bayer, Hoechst, and many other pharmaceutical companies in Germany. IG-Farben was the only one large sponsor of the campaign of Adolf Hitler. When the Nazis came to power, IG-Farben received the most benefits as a result of the Second World War and plunder of Europe by the Nazis. At factories of IG-Farben there was produced one hundred percent of all explosives and synthetic gasoline.

d) The Federal Reserve and their consortium of ‘too global to fail’ mega-cartel of Wall Street is on top of all the other pyramids. The entire world economy is at the mercy of the founders of the money managers and manipulators; using debt they control every nation, industry and human rights. This cartel, which primarily includes Goldman Sachs, BoA-Merrill, JP Morgan-Chase, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and CitiBank, are fully open to the public, since the financial crash of 2008, when under the guise of the crisis there was occurred Final consolidation. The most powerful cartel now has full authority over the government. All together they formed even more powerful global cartel that has full authority over the finances of the world, and all the competitors in the various sectors obey their commands.

2. Situate the Volkwagen Dieselgate scandal in Chapter 20 (Sustainable marketing: social responsibility and ethics):

a. Social criticisms of marketing

b. Consumer actions to promote sustainable marketing

c. Business actions toward sustainable marketing

a. After the scandal Volkswagen has obtained much criticism. Of course, it was named as harmful and unsafe brand. Volkswagen irresponsibly lied to their consumers about the environmental-friendly aspect. Their cars exceeded normal level of emissions. They also set quite high prices for their product. They invested much money in product promotion what it was all false. Many consumers now concerned about the services offered by Volkswagen. They cannot fix it and make all sold cars greener. Now, Volkswagen’s popularity in car market has significantly dropped. It has an impact on other businesses and now the industry competitors win.

b. Consumers of Volkswagen were bothered by the scandal. The government has required Volkswagen to pay their costumers for inconveniences and damages. People are radically concerned about the environmental situation and want Volkswagen to repair and improve their technology.

c. For many businesses this scandal was the impetus to improve their own image and technology, as well as the organizations were warned about the possibility of a similar inspections of their machines. Now there are new car brands that are on the top of success in sustainable marketing, whereas Volkswagen suffering from their tragic faults.

3. Can you give one other example, not mentioned in the movie ‘The light bulb conspiracy’, of planned obsolescence?

As an example I would like to refer to fast fashion. One year high-waisted jeans are out, the next year they're in. Unless you have your own warehouse, chances are good that you don't hang on to every piece of clothing you own to wait until old trends will come back. A lot of what is advertised and sold is designed to go out of style in a short time.

4. Can you give one other example, not mentioned in the movie ‘The light bulb conspiracy’, of consumers fighting against planned obsolescence?

According to the example that I have mentioned in previous question, people do try to fight with planned obsolescence. For instance, instead of following each season by runaway fashion trends many people prefer to get the timeless classic clothes which will never go out of fashion and offer nearly endless style possibilities. Also people can rent pieces of clothing that they would wear only once; like wedding or prom dresses, tuxedos, Halloween costumes etc.

5. Do you agree with the following statement: ‘planned obsolescence is good for employment’? Who is/was in favour of this thought and why? (‘The light bulb conspiracy’)

Of course, the economy will stand still without existing of planned obsolescence. If people will not buy more, the production will be bankrupted and economy failed. It also can be referred to workers, who have their work places on factories and doing all the labour and they might be left with no job. So I assume that it is all tightly dependent on each other. I mean without any control and regulations the economy might have fallen a long time ago. This thought is definitely in favour of any worker for enterprises and for the economy in general.

Theme 5: Marketing & influence

1. In which way are you (being students & consumers) prisoners of:

a) Media (also social media)

b) Peer(group)s (friends, family, acquaintances, … )

c) Brands & publicity

a) Personally, I agree that I am a prisoner of the media; like any other person I am exposed by the social media sources. The reason for it is because it is everywhere. It surrounds us and tries to integrate to our minds. I regularly listen to radio, watch TV and read different kinds of news on the Internet. I get the information which constructs my future way of thinking, making choices and analysing. Media makes us willing to spend money on various goods. It has a huge impact on my mind and that is why I am dependent on it.

b) The community that surrounds me has not less much important influence on me. I am also exposed by the society which creates my opinions and beliefs. I tend to listen to others to get to know their views and impressions, obtain new experiences and knowledge for example from wiser and older people that is how I am making my consumer and life decisions. I cannot get out from it because I was raised in society and I do have a need to focus not only on own thoughts but also on others.

c) Brands also play a significant role in my life and perception of the world. As a modern person I want to be fashionable and have advanced devices. I am dependent on the names of brands and its status which mainly created by the society itself. I am eager to follow the trend with the time because that is how I can express and feel myself as a part of the community.

2. Give 3 examples of recent events in which media and/or brands try to feed the climate of fear. What are the underlying goals, in your opinion?

· The U.S. Center for Disease Control uses fear to get people to take action.

· The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is known for their clever ads which raise awareness about environmental issues. Most of their ads employ fear tactics to drive action.

· Emotional appeals have long been used by charity and relief organizations. Appeals like these often center around fear – fear that a child might die and fear that you’re not doing enough to make a difference in the world.

The main goal of this type of marketing is to make people be warned and even scared in order to attract the consumer to buy or use more of their production to prevent any of those bad things from happening that are shown. It has strong influence on one’s mind in a psychological way. For some products, services and causes fear may be the only way to market effectively. For others, fear is just one of many angles they could take with their marketing. It also stimulates people to take care more of their health, for example, or to help others and all the other motivational things to make the world a bit better.

3. Product placement – curse or blessing?

a. What do you understand by ‘product placement’? Illustrate with examples from the movie ‘The Joneses’. Give 3 examples of TV series or movies where product placement is used.

b. Is there a difference between good and bad product placement?

c. Discuss the pros & cons of this marketing tool.

d. Is ‘product placement’ as a promotional instrument only usable for commercial companies? Explain.

a) Product placement means a certain position of the product in media. It is a form of advertising where a business will pay to have its product displayed on the screen or in art. Product placement is most prevalent today in movies or TV shows. It is a rather indirect form of advertising. Simple examples of product placement from ‘the Joneses’ are; when the actor drives a certain brand of a car, or the beer that they drink with new neighbours, or when their fridge filled with bags of alcoholic punch with clearly readable labels.

The examples as seen on TV:

· Pepsi and Nike in Back to the Future

· Los Pollos café in Breaking Bad series

· Mac laptop in Sex and the City series

b) Yes, there is a difference. Some products can be demonstrated ironically or in a humorous way. Or for example, one product can be at the center of attention on the screen and the other can stand in the background barely noticeable.

c) Pros:

· It helps film companies to be able to pay for creation of it.

The money from those sponsorships brings the movies to the consumers.

· If marketing is done well, it might enhance the viewing experience. A good TV show or movie make people feel like they are really there. Product placements that are realistic can help to enhance this experience.

· It increases the profit margins for film companies. Movies and TV shows have to make money in order for them to continue producing new content.

Cons:

· Might distract the viewer from the plot of movie

· It is quite expensive type of marketing

· Competitive brand cannot be shown together as they would destroy each others image

d) Yes, this marketing tool can only be used in commercial-type promotion performances. This is because the product plays its own role in a TV show or a movie and it must be advertised as a part of the story.

4. What is the influence of ambassadors on consumer behaviour? Explain.

In the modern world of market, without ambassadors it is incredibly difficult to sell any product. For brand recall, marketers select the right person for the right product so that the brand can keep the stability in the competitive world of market. The ambassadors explain the process of the usage of the product and its benefits and explain why exactly customers should buy a particular product.

It is clear that ambassadors’ influence on their consumer by communicating is an effective way of promotion. Practically, the customers are able to perceive the brand as high quality product just because it was chosen for using by their favourite person and as the indicator of the quality for any other production. The help of the ambassadors plays a very significant role in the attitude of the consumers towards the advertisement and brand recall. It does stimulate consumer’s behaviour mostly in a good and efficient way.

5. The movie ‘the Joneses’ makes a parody of the strive for perfection. Which role do media and marketers play in this? Is there a role for the government to play?

Media and marketers in the movie are shown as the community which is keen on earning money by making people constantly buy stuff. They play in some kind of way a role of a negative character. Taking into account the scenes from the movie, even the consequences of the actions taken by Joneses leaded to the suicide of their neighbour at the end. Marketers in the movie are people who are determined to do their job well and to sell the product whatever it takes. Media is the perfect fake world demonstrated in the movie. The government did not play much role in the movie. But for example, when the son of Joneses made her friend drunk illegally the policemen ignored his offense. The whole image of Joneses is perfectly made. They are trying to be friendly and welcoming as real professionals in market are, they wanted to get involved into the community in order to understand the potential consumer’s behaviour and make their job.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 752