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Douglas K. Ross
Franklin University
THE CHOCOLATE CANDY BRANDING EXERCISE
I have used this exercise in classes ranging from Principles of
Marketing to MBA level Marketing Management. This is a fun small
group exercise that fits will when discussing brands and branding or when
discussing the marketing mix variables. I use this after discussing what
constitutes a good brand name and how the target market, packaging, etc.
must be considered. It usually takes approximately 40-45 minutes but can
be accomplished in as little as 30 minutes.
Break the class into small groups - three or four students per group
works best. On an overhead or PowerPoint I have a small paragraph
explaining that each group is a marketing team that works for a company
that has developed a new chocolate. The chocolate is different in that it
contains a large (really extreme) amount of caffeine. The team must:





Determine the most appropriate target market(s)
Develop a brand name for the product
Develop the packaging including colors that will be used
Determine the price
Determine the distribution/outlets
The groups have between 20-30 minutes to accomplish this. Divide
the blackboard (or give each group an overhead transparency and marker)
and have them draw their product including the brand name on the board.
They should also indicate the colors used on the package. This part of the
activity takes approximately 5-10 minutes. A member from each group
then talks about their brand.





Why they chose the target market(s) they did
How the came up with the brand name
Why they used the colors they did and aspects of the lettering
How they determined the price
How their distribution fits with their target market
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After the student's discussion I talk about the similarities in the brands
and the differences, such as the various target markets or the various forms
they used. Students have used regular bars, bite size, various shapes
(lightning bolts and coffee cups) liquid chocolate, etc. This exercise
allows the students to be creative and reinforces the discussion on brands
and branding.
Variations of this exercise can include chocolate that contains all of
the daily requirements of vitamins plus fiber. You can also assign half of
the groups the chocolate with caffeine and the other half the chocolate
with vitamins and fiber.
Wanda H. Fujimoto
Central Washington University
DEVELOPING A NEW BRAND NAME
A good brand name can add greatly to a product’s success but finding
the best brand name is a difficult task. This group exercise helps students
experience the process of generating brand names. They are asked to
directly apply concepts used to identify “good” brand names and, in the
process, enjoy the freedom of being creative.
Students are presented with basic background information about
desirable brand characteristics as well as a company scenario. In smaller
groups they are asked to develop and evaluate their own brand name ideas
and then to make a group decision. Finally, they are asked to present and
defend their decision.
Background Information
There is no exact formula for selecting a good brand name; however,
some guidelines to consider in evaluating names include:


suggest something about the product’s qualities and benefits
communicate a positive image about the user
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


make the job of promotion easier by being short, easy to pronounce, easy to spell and thus easy to recognize and remember
be distinctive. If it is different it will be more memorable
capable of registration and legal protection, so it cannot infringe on
the rights of existing brand names
Potential Scenarios
Present the students with one scenario. Possible examples include:



Your company plans to introduce a premium-priced gourmet ice
cream that has a creamy, old-fashioned taste. It will be moderately
low in fat and calories.
Your company plans to introduce a new candy bar that has a
layered combination of dark chocolate and white chocolate. It will
be competitively priced, lower in calories than most other candy
bars, and targeted primarily to the older, mature consumers.
Your company plans to introduce a microwaveable popcorn that
promises bigger, fluffier popped corn with a minimum number of
unpopped kernels. It will be competitively priced.
Group Process
Step 1: Identify the multiple possible benefits or images (of either
product or users) that the company may want to convey via the new brand
name.
Step 2: Select ONE major quality from the list developed in Step 1
that will be the basis for brand name development (for example, in
Scenario 1 “old-fashioned” may be selected as the prime quality).
Step 3: What words may be used to convey the quality selected in
Step 2? List as many words as you can. Create new words or new word
combinations. BRAINSTORM!
Step 4: Narrow the potential words to the three “best.” (Consider the
qualities of a “good” brand name described above.)
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Step 5: Select the word(s) that the group believes would be the best
brand name for the new product. Be prepared to present and defend your
brand name decision to the rest of the class.
Alice Griswold
Clarke College
NEW PRODUCTS – WINNERS AND LOSERS
When covering the chapter on new product development, I like to use
examples from an excellent collection of marketing successes and failures
called: What Were They Thinking? by Robert McMath, Thom Forbes,
Random House, Times Books, 1998. It covers numerous marketing
examples in the areas of:
 “me too” marketing
 shock value
 what’s in a name
 warm fuzzy feelings
 worthless points of difference
 ruining your good name
 product extensions
 packaging mistakes
 reinventing old products
 cause marketing
These examples can be used throughout marketing courses as real
world examples of things that went wrong somewhere along the marketing
process.
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Alice Griswold
Clarke College
THE OREO DEBATE
This exercise can be effectively used in the chapters relating to
“product” as it deals with issues pertaining to brands (national vs. private),
packaging, brand loyalty, and image.
I come to class with three packages of chocolate sandwich cookies –
Oreo, Hydrox, and a private-label brand. I then ask the students which
brand is their favorite. Invariably, most of the class chooses the Oreo
cookie. At this point, we launch into a taste test where each student
selects one cookie from each package and “blindly” tastes them. Most are
able to identify the Oreo cookie, but struggle to differentiate between the
other two. I then ask them which is the “original” sandwich cookie. Oreo
is always the answer, which is incorrect. The Sunshine Hydrox cookie
first came on the market in 1908, and thrived until 1912 when Nabisco
launched the remarkably similar Oreo. Given Nabisco’s marketing
superiority (distribution and advertising), Hydrox never had a chance. In
1998 sales of Hydrox totaled $16 million against Oreo’s $374 million.
Hydrox, now owned by the Keebler elves, is undergoing a major facelift.
 New name – Keebler Droxies. What did the Hydrox name mean?
It came from a mix of hydrogen and oxygen to signify pure
ingredients, but consumer research studies revealed it sounded
more like a cleaning fluid.
 Updated packaging
 Reformulated cookie
 Differentiated selling point – “the original cookie” won’t work,
nobody believes it.
Not only does Hydrox face a huge challenge trying to catch up to Oreo
but they face challenges from the private label cookies with their
improved quality and lower price.
Price comparisons will show the private label at almost half the price
of Oreo with Hydrox somewhere in between. Recently, Oreo has dropped
their price to be more competitive.
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Packaging comparisons show all three packages using the same blue
tones – so as to perhaps confuse the customer. This exemplifies the
stimulus generalization concept in consumer behavior studies.
Students enjoy this exercise because it allows them to personally test a
favorite product, and apply numerous marketing and consumer behavior
concepts as well.
Kathy Meyer
Western New England College
THE PRICE OF BRAND EQUITY
Use: This exercise can be used in an Intro Marketing course to
introduce the chapter on “Product”.
Objective: To introduce the value of brand equity and its price
premium.
Description: At the beginning of class, I show students 2 cans of
soda - one is a national brand such as Coca Cola or Pepsi, the other a private label store brand from a local grocery chain. I then ask the students
to write down how much they’d be willing to pay for each. Next, I make
a chart of price ranges (e.g. $0.35 to $0.44, $0.45 to $0.54, etc.) on the
board and have each student tell me what they’d be willing to pay for
both. When I’m finished, I have a chart that shows the price distribution
for the national brand versus the private label product. Usually, the
students will pay about $0.25 more for the national brand. I use this chart
to lead into a discussion of why they (and consumers) are willing to pay
more for the national brand. Once students understand the value of brand
equity to both the consumer and the company, this paves the way for a
lecture on how marketers create brand equity.
Time: 15 minutes.
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Kim McKeage
University of Maine
TRYING (AND EVALUATING) SOMETHING NEW
This in-class project gets students to sample a new product and apply
information they have learned about new product failures. They also get
practice constructing a multi-attribute utility model. This could be
assigned as an out-of-class group project as well. If done in class, students
must be assigned to groups and instructed to find and try a new product
well beforehand.
I usually assign groups of four to six students. Each group picks a
product category (such as salty snacks) and discuss the attributes they
would use to evaluate a new product in that category. Each person in the
group should contribute to the list of attributes, and students must determine ahead of time how important each attribute is to them personally.
They then pick a new product and everyone in the group tries it.
In class, each group makes a chart listing each member's importance
rating for each attribute as well as that person's evaluation of the product
on each attribute. Students multiply importance by rating and sum over
attributes to get the overall evaluation. Then they have to discuss whether
everyone liked the product. If not, what reasons could they determine for
the differences? For example, was it because different things were
important to different people, or were the same things important but
people's perceptions were very different? They were also asked to discuss
whether they could see any market segments emerging in terms of
different importance of attributes.
Finally, they were asked to discuss whether they think the product(s)
will be successful, or fail. They have to refer back to their notes on why
products fail and discuss what reasons they see for the product(s) to have
problems. They are instructed to discuss whether they think the marketers
should do anything differently.
Students have a much better idea how to construct a multi-attribute
utility model after this exercise, and they consider new product introduction problems much more broadly than they do initially. The reactions
of their group members contribute to this new insight, dramatizing the
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importance of group input and, by inference, market research in the new
product marketing process.
Gregory J. Baleja
Alma College
TEST MARKETING SABOTAGE
Each year during my lectures on the New Product Development
Process, I spend a portion of one class period discussing the concept of
Test Marketing. During this discussion, I always focus on the overall
benefits associated with Test Marketing, as well as the characteristics of
what constitutes a good test market city. However, I will also spend some
time addressing the disadvantages associated with Test Marketing. In
particular, one of the disadvantages that is very interesting to discuss, is
the idea that Test Marketing is always open to the possibility of competitor
sabotage. For example, it is quite likely that my competitors may do
everything in their power to interfere with the potential success of my test
market.
In order to reinforce this idea of potential competitor sabotage, I
assign my class the following exercise. One of their competitors is
currently in the process of test marketing a product in our local city. The
student's specific assignment is to create a variety of strategies that their
firm can implement, that would lead their competitor to conclude that their
test market was not successful.
If the students assume that the competitor's product has a good chance
of being a commercial success, some of the typical strategies suggested
include the following:
 Reducing the price on products that may qualify as substitute competition for the new product, or increasing the promotional
campaigns for these products, and
 “Planting” negative news stories about the new product in the mass
media.
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However, if the students make the assumption that the product in
question is likely to be a failure once it is commercialized, then the
following strategy is often suggested:
 The students will often recommend that the employees of their
company go out and purchase as much of the product being tested
as possible, so as to give our competitor a false impression of the
potential success of their product. Here the assumption is that the
competitor will think that the product will be a success based on
the test market, and will then introduce it to a larger market,
where it will then fail - causing the competitor to incur substantial
losses.
It is during this discussion on competitor sabotage that as a professor,
you really get to determine who the most devious students in your class
are.
After the various competitor strategies have been analyzed, I then ask
the students given the potential for competitor sabotage, how would they
go about evaluating the relative success or failure of a test market that is
performed by their own firm? Specifically, how would they evaluate the
relative success or failure of the test market, given all of the potential
strategies that may be employed by their competition, for the sole purpose
of disrupting their test market?
At the conclusion of this discussion, the students have a greater
awareness of the intricacies involved in corporate strategy planning and
the impact that the uncontrollable environment can have on the potential
outcome.
Stacia Wert-Gray, University of Central Oklahoma
Gordon T. Gray, Oklahoma City University
ASSESSING SERVICE QUALITY
Students sometimes do not understand why service quality is difficult
for consumers to assess. This exercise illustrates that physical goods are
generally easier to evaluate (for quality) than services.
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Recognizing that most product offerings are a blend of physical goods
and services, each student is asked to position seven products on a scale
ranging from “100% physical good” to “100% service.” The exercise
provided generally looks something like this:
Break students into 2-3 person groups. Provide them with the
following worksheet and instruct them to place the letter for each of
products listed in the appropriate position on the scale.
100% physical good………….………………………………….…………100% service
C = new car
J = designer jeans
O = car oil change
D = dress dry cleaning
H = haircut
T = tax preparation
E = college education
When the groups are finished, the instructor should fill in a class
worksheet with input from the groups. The class worksheet often looks
something like the following:
100% physical good………………………………………………………..100% service
C J
O
D H
E
T
Each group is then asked to position the same product offerings on the
following scale, which addresses how easy it is to assess the quality of
each product.
easy to assess quality……………………………………………difficult to assess quality
When the groups are finished, the instructor should fill in a class
worksheet with input from the groups. The class worksheet often looks
something like the following:
easy to assess quality……………………………………………difficult to assess quality
C J H D
O E
T
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During class discussion after completion of the two exercises, the
instructor may emphasize at least two important aspects of service quality
and consider the implications for marketing practitioners:
1. Assessing the quality of physical goods is usually easier than assessing
the quality of products consumers consider services.
2. The quality of some services (e.g., a haircut) can be relatively easy to
assess when compared to other services (e.g., tax preparation).
3. Many physical goods have a “service” component and many services
have a “physical goods” component.
Randy Stuart
Kennesaw State University
A LESSON ON PACKAGING AND
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
This exercise was developed in conjunction with a university-wide,
community food drive and to reinforce the lesson on packaging. To
encourage participation, it was presented as an extra credit opportunity.
Have the students bring in 3 cans of the same type of food, (i.e., corn,
peas, etc.), one manufacturer, one private label/house brand and one
generic. Each can is worth 5 points. Have the students write a paper (1-3
pages), comparing and contrasting the packaging strategy of each can.
The paper is worth 10 points. Encourage them to address such topics as:





Size and pricing
Use of color
What attracted them to each can
What were the strong and weak points of each label
Which package do they think was the most efficient and effective and why
Due to the difficulty of finding generic merchandise in our market,
the exercise was modified so that the students who were unable to find
generic could do the exercise with two manufacturers and one house
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brand. Students who were able to find a can of generic food earned an
additional 5 points.
Creative students were encouraged to make their own label and discuss why their label was better than the rest. This was also worth an additional 5 points.
The exercise was fun for all. It made the students take what was
learned in class and apply it. Most importantly much food was donated to
local food banks and the students received a lesson in social responsibility.
Sheri Carder
Lake City Community College
“ROOTS”
MARKETING FROM SCRATCH
Each student will be assigned a specific product/business which is
highly successful today. Remember, however, that every big business
once began as a single entrepreneur’s vision. Your challenge is to
research the “root” of this particular business to discover its humble
beginnings and its original creator.
You will present a short (ten minutes) formal business presentation to
the class on your research. Although there is no written report required,
you must turn in a bibliography of your research (utilize 2 – 3 published
resources OTHER than the company’s web page). DO NOT READ!
Speak from brief notes. This is no time for a boring life story/biography
here – explain to us the reasons this person hit it big. Inspire us!
Bring us up to date. How did the product/business evolve from its
inception until today? What is its position in the product life cycle? What
do you predict for its future? Why has this product been successful for
such a long time? What are its competitive advantages? Discuss the
resultant product line development which has occurred. What about mergers and acquisitions?
As a representative of this company, develop a 3-D display of your
product/s. It should be appropriate if you were the Marketing manager of
the company who needed a display for an up-coming trade show.
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Companies/Products from which you may choose: Nike, Gateway
2000, The Limited, Black & Decker, Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, Eastman Kodak, Land’s End, Lillian Vernon, Clorox, Outback Steakhouse,
Domino’s Pizza, William Wrigley Jr. Company, Marriott International,
Holiday Inn, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, UPS, Harley Davidson, Mazda,
Toys ‘R Us, Papa John’s, MCI, Southwest Airlines, Wendy’s, Tyson
Foods, T. J. Maxx, Tupperware, Hertz Corporation, Canon, Dollar General
Stores, and MCI.
Barbara Ross Wooldridge
The University of Texas at Tyler
PACKING THE POWERFUL P!
THE IMPACT PACKAGING HAS ON HOW
WE “SEE” PRODUCTS
A TASTE TEST EXPERIMENT
Most students in an introduction marketing course can easily visualize
the role packaging plays in protecting and facilitating the storage of products, it is not as clear to them the powerful role packing can play in determining how a consumer views and classifies a product (the promotion
aspect). This taste test experiment is designed to graphically demonstrate
how packaging makes us see three very similar products as completely
different items.
Exercise Overview
Three products are used in this taste test: KitKat Candy Bars, Sweet
Escapes, and Keebler Fudge Sticks. The items should be cut up into bit
size pieces. Each product is placed in separate bags labeled A, B, and C.
Students are divided into groups of 3 to 5 depending on class size. The
groups are given taste test sheets to fill out as a team. These sheets include
the following items: which product did you prefer and why did you prefer
it, who is the target market for the product, what is the name of each
product, what price does each sell for (or list most the expensive to least).
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Once these are completed, they are collected and reviewed with the class
and the identity of the products is revealed. Next the groups are given the
ingredient lists for the three products labeled 1, 2, and 3 and are asked to
match the product with its ingredients. These sheets are collected and
reviewed. Finally students are given the nutritional breakdown for each
product—standardized—so that each product’s nutritional breakdown is
for the identical serving portion and asked to identify which product goes
to which nutritional breakdown. These are collected and reviewed and
how each team fared on the three tasks is reviewed. After the taste test is
completed the results are discussed as a class.
The Results
What the students discover is that the three products are all basically
chocolate covered wafers are viewed very differently and sell for very
different prices based on packaging. KitKat is packaged individually as a
candy bar, while fudge sticks are packaged in a group as cookies, and
Sweet Escapes are packaged as a group but individually--a cross between
a cookie and a candy bar. Students tend to be surprised at the fact that
they cannot identify the candy bar, which they perceive as a chocolate bar,
by its ingredients.
Benefits to the Student
The taste test allows students to immediately begin to understand the
relevance of packaging in determining how one perceives a product. It
also demonstrates how packaging interacts with the price, promotion, and
positioning of a product. Additionally, it allows them to apply their own
experience to the material presented in class lectures. This exercise has a
side benefit as it exposes students to taste tests as a form of marketing
research. Most importantly it forces students from a passive state of
learning to participatory learning. A good follow-up is to ask them to try
and find their own examples.
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Conclusion
This exercise depending on class size takes some time to create the
tasting samples, but does not require a lot of preparation time. Students
tend to really enjoy it because the results surprise them. Its also a painless
way to get students to take an active part class.
Susan Y. McGorry
DeSales College
NATIONAL BRANDS VERSUS PRIVATE LABELS
Often, students have a difficult time understanding the differences
between national brands and private labels. This exercise drives the point
home, and simultaneously reinforces concepts of marketing research. If
you teach in a computer classroom or another area where food products
are prohibited, you may want to consider moving your class to another
area such as a lounge, study area, and/or outside – weather permitting.
Students usually find this change of scene refreshing.
To complete this exercise, you should purchase a product that can
easily be consumed in class without creating a mess and/or other problems. Additionally, you’ll need to purchase a product that is sold as a
national brand and a private label. Typically, I’ll purchase a chocolate
chip cookie variety for several reasons: (1) Not too messy, (2) Easy to
find both national brands and private labels, and (3) Most of the students
really enjoy the product.
When you enter the classroom (or other area), remember to conceal
the products in a bag (students will recognize cookie bags by their colors,
etc). Have students try one type of cookie first. Give them ample time to
really examine and taste the cookie (you will have to remind them not to
gobble the cookies down in haste: examine the shape, color, consistency,
etc). You can ask them to write down their thoughts/comments/observations on a sheet of paper. Some students will begin yelling out which
cookies they think they are eating so remind them not to discuss their
cookie preference with their classmates.
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Do the same for the second cookie. After students have eaten both
cookies, conduct a brief survey (students can write their responses on the
same sheet of paper) to determine which cookie students preferred. Once
the results are in, you can reveal the award-winning cookie to the students.
Students are usually excited about the results. Many cannot believe that
we usually have a private label winner each semester! Additionally, you
can ask them about the importance of the trademarks, the colors of the
packaging, the packing itself. Talk about the differences between private
labels and national brands.
After the experiment is finished, you can reinforce marketing research
concepts by asking students what type of data was collected. Ask students
the differences between primary and secondary research, why were they
asked to be silent during the cookie tasting, the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary research.
Mark A. Mitchell, University of South Carolina Spartanburg
Barbara Hastings, University of South Carolina Spartanburg
A SURVEY OF REGIONAL TRAINING NEEDS
Introduction
As the 21st century approaches, the business environment may be
characterized as keenly competitive, global in nature, technology-intense,
and dynamic. Business School educators struggle to revise and update the
curricula in order to produce graduates with the skills and abilities to allow
them to enter the business world and contribute effectively to their
organizations. Some have predicted that many Business Schools will not
survive because many corporations are assuming a larger role in the
education of their employees. The American Assembly of Collegiate
Schools of Business (now known as “AACSB – The International
Association for Management Education”) is in the forefront of efforts
which will make Business School education more responsive to the needs
of the business community. As such, there clearly exists a need for
Business School educators to critically evaluate the needs of regional
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employers to ensure that the finished product of the University (i.e., the
student) possesses the skills necessary for success.
Opportunity for Research
Your institution’s need for prospective employer input can be
satisfied by a periodic survey of regional training needs. The focus of the
study should be: (1) to identify the relative importance that area
employers place on a comprehensive list of training topics, (2) to clarify
issues pertaining to the employee training and development (e.g., timing,
location, and so on), and (3) to anticipate future training needs. The completed study will be an invaluable input to the “curriculum team” within
your Business School as well as demonstrating your institution’s commitment to serving your local marketplace. The study described here can
be administered in a Principles of Marketing, Industrial Marketing,
Marketing Research, or Marketing Management course.
Methodology
Division into Teams. Divide the students into teams to develop a list
of possible training topics currently in use by regional employers. For our
study, the training topics were divided into seven categories: (1) total
quality, (2) guiding an organization, (3) human resource management,
(4) improving communications, (5) improving personal productivity,
(6) marketing, and (7) problem-solving. These seven categories provided
a logical starting point for team assignments.
Development of the Questionnaire. Work with the teams to review
existing literature, trade journals, employee training consulting catalogs
and websites, and other sources to identify a list of training topics relevant
to your regional employers. Next, have your faculty colleagues review the
instrument for completeness. Finally, pretest the instrument with a local
human resource professional (say, a former student!). Our completed
questionnaire contained three parts: (1) the importance score (3, 5, or 7point scale) given to the list of training topics, (2) the past, present, and
future practices with respect to the list of training topics, and (3) delivery
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issues pertaining to employee training. Below is an example of our questionnaire organization:
Training Need / Topic
Implementing ISO/QS 9000
Implementing Work Teams
Importance
Score
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3
Organizational Practices
Past
Present
Future
Not. Appl.
Data Collection
The suggested sampling frame for the study is human resource (HR)
professionals within your operating region. If possible, secure the
cooperation of regional HR professional association(s). The instrument
may be administered at their regularly scheduled meeting or, at least, they
should provide their mailing list for use. Stress to possible participants the
use of the collected information. The following passage is offered for
consideration:
Like your organization, we are committed to continuous improvement in all that we do. As representatives of our stakeholders, we
value your input into our planning processes. The results of this
study will tell us which training topics are of current or on-going
importance to your organization and to what extent.
Using the Results of the Study
The completed study may be distributed to the following groups:
(1) the student participants to illustrate current employee training practices, (2) business School colleagues to monitor practitioner needs and
possible curriculum revision, (3) respondents (HR professionals) to monitor regional trends, and (4) regional and national accrediting agencies are
evidence of stakeholder input into your institution’s curriculum review
and strategic planning processes. Finally, student participants are encouraged to include participation in this project on their resumes as an example
of experiential learning throughout their degree programs.
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Sheri Carder
Lake City Community College
MARKETING YOURSELF
DRESS FOR SUCCESS ON A SHOESTRING
(FOR $25 OR LESS)
Students need to learn how to market themselves in an interview situation. Among the more important considerations is how they dress. One
challenge for many students is a limited budget. I have developed a class
project that helps students learn how to overcome this challenge. It is described below.
On November 5, this class will host a style show for clothing
appropriate for a job interview. Here's your challenge: you may buy (at a
garage sale or consignment store), sew, borrow, supplement, or rent
appropriate clothing -- BUT YOU MAY NOT SPEND OVER $25 ON
THE ENTIRE OUTFIT. You will write the description of your outfit in
Students at Lake City Community College pose after their “Dress
for Success for $25 or Less” style show.
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addition to describing the job for which you are applying. You will model
the outfit. The style show will be video-taped for airing on our local cable
access television station. You’ll prove that dressing for success is a matter
of taste, not money.
It is estimated that people form first impressions of you in 30 seconds.
It is also estimated that you have approximately four minutes in a job
interview to reverse a bad first impression. We have worked long and
hard on our résumés as a method of marketing our skills. However,
remember that the résumé is designed to get you the interview. What you
do in the interview is what will get you the job.
Rosa T. Cherry
Williamsburg Technical College
RETAILING:
MAJOR TYPES OF RETAIL STORES
To teach the variety of retail stores and the concepts of image and
atmosphere, assign students to visit and analyze an example of each of the
following stores and write the necessary description of each. Students
generally enjoy shopping, and this assignment is easily accomplished over
a weekend and is more graphic than just reading and discussing the
material involved.
For example, have students visit or recall visits to examples of the
following types of stores. Then, name the store and describe it regarding
the level of service, assortment, price, and location. Write a brief description of the image and atmosphere that is evident.







department store
mass merchandiser
specialty retailer
supermarket
convenience store
discount store
off-price retailer
TOPIC I. PRODUCT AND DISTRIBUTION
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ED 5



factory outlet
wholesale club
super store
Class discussion of the results will be lively; everyone has an opinion to
share about his favorite or most disliked store.
Karin Braunsberger, Arkansas Tech University
Michaelle Cameron, St. Edward’s University
THE CLASSIFICATION OF RETAIL OUTLETS
This exercise is designed to help students apply some of the
theoretical concepts concerning the classification of retail outlets.
Directions Given to Students
This exercise relates the classification of retailers. Pick one product
you are interested in. Before you go shopping for it, write down your
expectations in terms of (1) level of service; (2) product assortment; and
(3) price in the following types of retail outlets:
a. Upscale Department Store (Dillard’s, Bloomingdale’s, etc.)
Or
Upscale Specialty Store (Home Furniture on Arkansas, etc.)
And
b. Lowscale Department Store (JC Penney, Sears, etc.)
And
c. Full-Line Discounters (Wal-Mart, Kmart, etc.)
After you have written down your expectation, go shopping for the same
product in all three types of stores and then write down your actual
experiences. How do they compare to your expectations?
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GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
ED 5
Karen L. Stewart
Richard Stockton College
RETAIL STORE CLASSIFICATIONS
I have typically found it quite tedious to lecture on the various types
of retail stores. This term I decided to try a different approach. (I alerted
the students prior to starting the retailing chapter that it was important to
read the chapter prior to coming to class since we would be doing an inclass exercise.) I made a chart for the students for work on during class.
The chart had 7 headings across the top of the page: (1) name of store;
(2) ownership (chain, independent, franchise); (3) level of service
(limited/moderate/extensive); (4) product assortment (narrow/wide);
(5) depth of assortment (shallow/deep); (6) price (low/moderate/high) and
(7) major type of store (department/specialty/discount, . . .). Students
were told to begin by listing in the first column ten stores that reflect
where they shop and that are somewhat different from one another. Then
they were instructed to fill out the remainder of the table. The class came
up with a variety of stores--some very familiar to all; some that were truly
out-of-the-ordinary. Once in a while they’d come up with something I
didn’t expect like the Home Shopping Network. That presented the
opportunity to introduce nonstore retailing. It also quickly became apparent that retailing is dominated by chain stores. We could also see how
some of the classification lines have blurred over time.
Also, I attached several other handouts to the chart discussed above.
One page was a floor plan for a typical hypermarket. The other pages
consisted of the following questions:
1. List anything you have purchased in the last few years from a
direct mail offer. This would include items purchased from socalled “junk” mail.
2. Lists items purchased via catalogs over the last few years.
3. Have you purchased anything on-line? If so, what? Have you
considered purchasing anything on-line, even if you didn’t follow
through? If so, what?
TOPIC I. PRODUCT AND DISTRIBUTION
25
ED 5
4. What advantages and disadvantages do you associate with buying
from a supercenter?
5. How can smaller stores attempt to compete with superstores?
6. Attached is a copy of a floor plan for a hypermarket.
Hypermarkets have been very successful in Europe but have failed
in the U.S. (Note: The Carrefour in the Philadelphia area closed
about 7 years ago.) What is it about Americans’ shopping habits
that would help to account for this failure?
7. What reasonable explanations account for vending machine prices
being so high? Or is this just marketers taking advantage of your
hunger, thirst, . . .?
8. Name a successful retail business in your area. What marketing
strategy has led to its success?
9. What retail store do you most dislike? What accounts for your
negative feelings?
I found that this approach took about the same total time as lecturing
on retailing but the overall learning experience as more meaningful and
interesting for the students.
Sheri Carder
Lake City Community College
RETAILING STRATEGIES:
COMPETITIVE BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Working in groups, choose one of the following business areas to
explore. You are to make a marketing comparison by thoroughly discussing how these businesses compete on the basis of product differentiation, advertising and promotion, service, pricing, location, store hours,
form of ownership, marketing niche, etc. Essentially, what accounts for
each business's success or failure?
You must not reveal to the store owners that you are on a class project. They must believe that you are walk-in customers. Although you
may ask questions, don’t waste the owner’s time asking about store hours
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GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
ED 5
if the hours are posted. Ask questions that any potential customer might
ask: What is your return policy? Do you deliver? All team members
must pay individual visits to the store at separate times to record their own
experience. Most of your analysis should be based on your personal
experiences in the businesses. You are tantamount to a “mystery
shopper.”
Restaurants
Grocery Stores
Apartment Complexes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Taco Bell
Texas Roadhouse
The Wokery
Ken's Barbecue
Applebee's
Cracker Barrel
Walmart Supercenter
S&S
Publix
Foodland
Sullivan's Meats
Winn Dixie
Columbia Arms
Executive Inn Suites
Flamingo Apartments
Verndale Apartments
The Victoria
Quail Heights
Furniture Stores
Florists
Gift Stores
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Heilig Meyers
Farmers Furniture
Britannia Antiques
Badcock
Etheridge
Morrell's
Mary's
Carl's
Flower Villa
Kathy's Flowers N Mor
Little Bit Country
Florida Flowers
KJ’s Hallmark
Andi’s Kitchen Store
Gallery on 47
Action lawn & Garden
Pink Magnolia
Lighthouse
Professor’s note: I purposely choose businesses which may be at the
opposite ends of the competitive spectrum.
TOPIC I. PRODUCT AND DISTRIBUTION
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ED 5
Monica Perry, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Thomas Stevenson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
MARKETING CHANNEL FUNCTIONS:
A LOW-TECH KINESTHETIC SIMULATION
Why?
Undergraduate students often have only a slight appreciation for the
functions provided by intermediaries in marketing channels. Advertising
messages that tout "we keep prices low by cutting out the middleman"
merely exacerbate the problem.
What?
To enhance students' appreciation of intermediary functions, students
participate in a low-tech simulated channel. The simulation consists of
two steps:
1. Manufacturers and Consumers conduct transactions directly, and
then
2. A Retailer is introduced with the Manufacturers and Retailer interacting while the Consumers and Retailer interact.
It is a very physical exercise that shows the value of intermediaries in
addressing quantity, assortment and spatial discrepancies.
How?
1.
Prior to conducting the simulation
Make Signs on different color cardstock for various positions, lists and
products:
 4 Different Manufacturers (e.g. Proctor & Gamble, Kraft, etc.)
 Pallets of Products for Each Manufacturer (print 100 brand
names on each piece of cardstock and get 4 pairs of scissors,
one for each Manufacturer)
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GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING MARKETING
ED 5
 5 Different Consumers
 5 Shopping Lists, one for each Consumer. Each list should
have at least 1 branded item from each of the 4 Manufacturers
(e.g. 1 box of Tide Laundry Detergent, 2 packages of Kraft
cheese, etc.).
 1 Retailer
 4 Purchase Orders for the Retailer, corresponding to products
from each Manufacturer in sufficient quantity to supply
Consumer demand (e.g. 1 case of Tide Laundry Detergent).
Use products that students are reasonably familiar with, such as
grocery products.
2.
Conducting the simulation in class
 Obtain 13 student volunteers and assign them Manufacturer (2
students per) and Consumer (1 student per) positions. Give Manufacturers signs, product pallets and scissors. Give Consumers
signs and shopping lists.
 Have the Consumers stand on one side of the classroom while the
Manufacturers stand on the opposite side.
 Part I:
 Begin the simulation by having each Consumer fill their
shopping list by going to each of the Manufacturers. Each
Manufacturer will have to select and provide an individual
product from their pallets (make sure each Manufacturer has a
pair of scissors to "select" an individual product for Consumers to buy).
 Track the time that it takes to complete all the transactions (4
mfrs x 5 Consumers = 20 transactions in total). Be prepared
because chaos will ensue!
If you have a large class, run multiple channels so that more students
are involved.
 Part II
 Obtain 4 more volunteers to be the Retailer and give them the
Purchase Orders. Place the Retailer in the middle of the
classroom between the Manufacturers and Consumers.
TOPIC I. PRODUCT AND DISTRIBUTION
29
ED 5

Start the simulation by first allowing the Retailer to obtain
the products from the Manufacturer and then let Consumers
fill their shopping lists from the Retailer. Log the time that it
takes to complete all the transactions (9 transactions in total).
It is virtually impossible for the 20 transactions to take less time than
the 9 transactions! Some students may suggest that the 9 transactions take
less time because there was a practice round without the Retailer. You can
rerun another round with "no Retailer" to show that it is not the effect of
practice.