whartonmarketingsummer2005

Coca-cola, Toyota and Dell - marketing differences

2005-06-24T15:46:00.000-04:00

Toyota has had extreme demands placed on them since the unveiling of the Prius. This hybrid car has become so popular that used models are being marked up higher than the new cars. Toyota's marketing statagy for the Prius was somewhat different than what they utilize with their other cars. Instead of distributing the cars direcly to dealers, they had dealerships place orders from customers first and then the cars would be shipped from a centralized deliverly center.

This is somewhat different from the marketing strategy of Dell. Dell waits for their customers to order the computers before they assemble them and then they get shipped directly. Whereas Toyota has the cars already assembled - but keep them at a central location so they can be shipped to customers where/when they are needed. Dell is then able to pass on the savings to their costumers because there are not any intermediaries and faster delivery (another problem that Toytota is having).

Coke on the other hand is trying to beat out Pepsi in their global marketing strategy. To drive their international expansion they are using local advertising companies to push their product. This has proven to be lucrative for them - they are selling door-to-door and helping stores put into place refrigeration equiptment.

These companies are all similar in their social responsibility. Coke contributes $40 million in Africa alone. Toyota is doing there part though the use of their hybrid cars to lower pollution levels and our dependence on oil. And Dell, through their recycling program, seeks to help sustain our environment.

IBM getting into the consulting business

2005-06-24T08:33:00.000-04:00

The NYTimes and Ruters reports in todays news that IBM is entering the consulting business. They will be consulting with their corporate customers to help them more effectively manage global logistics. They would like to sell the consulting services, software automation technology and their own expertise in global computer logistics as a service to corporate customers.

This type of supply-chain consulting practice (companies procure goods and services) economists estimate represents as much a $3 trillion in the global market. Moffat will lead the new consulting practice, using his own experiece of diving down costs at IBM ( $5 billion to $6 billion in 2002 and $7 billion in both 2003 and last year).

On a similar note the NYTimes just broke a story (heard on NPR this am) that IBM as been able to cut costs directly though outsourcing to India. The NYTimes has proof that the jobs they are cutting this year in the US is almost equal to the jobs that will be outsourced. Is outsourcing good or bad - that's a topic for another day.

MORE TO COME - the link is not up yet so have yet to actually read the NYT article.

Marketing Philly

2005-06-23T15:23:00.000-04:00

The BIO 2005 convention comes to a close - so what does this mean for Philly?
Well if numbers mean anything they excedded expectations in attendence - 18,730 people from 50 states and 56 countries desended upon Philadelphia - the largest convention they have had to date.
There was a huge marketing push on the radio and print media to tout Philly as the place to be if you are in the biotech industry. Philly wanted this to be a huge economic-development effort.
Advocay groups were lobbying hard for business.
Fritz Bittenbender (president of Pennsylvania BIO a state industry group) said Pennsylvania economic development officials got 100 to 150 leads for companies to move there business to Philly.
Time will tell...
Little known fact - at least to me

Pennsylvania is home to approximately 125 bio-pharmaceutical companies and more than 2,000 bioscience-related companies.
Time will tell!

Final Group Blog

2005-06-23T09:10:00.000-04:00

Coca-Cola's Marketing Policy

Moble phone Do-Not-Call list

2005-06-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

As per our discussion in class last night...
The national DO NOT CALL Registry number is 888-382-1222. Call from the phone number you would like to register. It only takes a minute and it will block your number for 5 years. Or you can visit the website and register up to 3 numbers at a time.

But to clarify apparently it is a " eRumor" that cell phone numbers will soon be published in the same way as the numbers for wired phones.

The TruthThe U.S. government has established a "do not call" registry where you can list phone numbers you want blocked from unsolicited calls such as from telemarketers.That registry is for phone wired and mobile phones and there is no deadline by which a phone number needs to be listed in order to be protected from telemarketing calls.There is not a separate cell phone registry.

where will i put all this stuff?

2005-06-17T17:32:00.000-04:00

On Gizmodo's blog the latest post if for a cell phone solar charger! It looks a little bigger than the phone and seems useless to me! Not sure who they are targeting? those who sit in the sun and talk on the phone so much that they need a backup power source? maybe a baseball recruiter?
And most importantly where do you put it? Already i don't have enough room for my moble, palm, pocket knife and flask - now i must find room for my solar phone charger.

Somalia update

2005-06-17T16:51:00.000-04:00

How Does Somalia’s Private Sector Cope is an article about what needs to be accomplished in Somalia and what has and hasn't worked in this war torn country. I could not find anything on what has happened to the Coke factory in the past year (and either has a team member of mine - continuation of my reponse to his post). Hopefully no news in good new but...

Anyway the most interesting part of the article was how entrepreneurss have survived without a central government. They have relied on private corporate giants (such as Sprint for phone lines). I will assume Sprint has a stake in this, some how I don't believe that they are that altruistic - but see a future money making opportunity once the counrty stabilizes.

My cousin turns 3 tomorrow

2005-06-17T16:21:00.000-04:00

What to buy a 3yo boy for his birthday? I just got back from Toys R Us and after an hour had to leave because I was So overwhelmed! There is so much sh*t to choose from - what to buy? Thank god there are still Cabbage Patch Kids - you would think that in this day and age that they would have under gone rhinoplasty - but alas they are as ugly as ever (FYI)!
So this made me want to find a blog post on marketing to kids (well not really but I have to some catching up to do for my class requirement - check off #6 on the list).

On Diva Marketing (to which I subscribed) there was an interesting article entitled abc for the 21st Century - is goes something like A is for Amazon E if for Ebay etc.... This would have been amusing for me if I hadn't just escaped from toy hell. This is a serious and huge business to get kids to buy stupid stuff. AND stupid stuff made from toxic plastic which falls apart after a few times of play (probably in their mouth). What was even more disturbing was how obnoxious the children were in the store - I wanted to buy them some crap just so they would shut up!
Anyway I bought a gift certificate and left!

Blindness risk when taking Viagra? will that stop them?

2005-06-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

All Viagra jokes aside - the BBC article US probes Viagra 'blindness risk' brings up one of my favorite topics - and it's not what you might think...Buying drugs over the internet. The FDA is investigating the drug and its maker Pfizer because of the reported side-effect of blindness in some users (although I think that side effect might be preferable to not being able to get it up). Apparently blindness never came up as a side effect in Pfizer's clinical trials and so they are not sure if there is a direct connection. But I guess in light of so many drugs being recalled lately they have to be cautious(apparenly cautiousness is not as important when the drug is being tested). Anyways...Back to my original point about buying drugs over the internet...How crazy do you have to be? I can see why retired people buy drugs from Canada, but who knows where these other drugs come from or what they are made of? Further, I would bet the Viagra and other impotence drugs are the most popular to buy. I would guess that because my email gets slammed everyday by either porn, a money scam or prescription drugs without the need for a prescription.

A little late - post on my marketing price presentation

2005-06-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

The article I read was entitled Going Global Overnight and it spoke about the marketing logistical problems that US companies face when they decide to venture into overseas markets.

The development of the World Wide Web has enabled companies to have instant access to global markets. However problems arise when companies are ill quipped to handle the logistics of international orders. Going global is not as straightforward as one might expect.

Problems arise when U.S. business are not equipped to handle international orders and when having to deal with the legal requirements, tariffs, and customs authorities in other nations in the world.

In addition to the obstacles related to the inability to handle direct orders, companies also have to be able to deal with language and cultural barriers. The early use of translation and localization services can help avoid potential cultural blunders and head off problems from the start.

This article stressed the importance of re-working marketing logistics when going global –
especially in light of the fact that companies must sell $1 million or 10% of sales – whichever is larger – to cover the costs of making a global website and offering telephone support to customers outside the United States.

Opening of a Coca-Cola bottling factory in Mogadishu, Somalia

2005-06-14T13:18:00.000-04:00

Chaos and absence of a central government has left Somalia without companies willing to invest in its war torn country. However, Coca-Cola in 2004 decided to open a bottling factory in the Capital of Mogadistsu. Showing confidence that this country is slowly getting back on its feet. The article I read showed some of the “minor” problems they faced while trying to get the factory up and running.

A major logistical problem was that Somalia’s warlords - one of the responsible parties for its decent into anarchy - could not agree on who should control the Mogadistsu port. Thus resulting in the port being unable to be utilized, the same fate that the international airport was resigned. How were they going to be able to build the factory?

The El Ma’an port was able to stay open because of the 1,500 gunman and dozens of trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns providing protection. This port however is 1 hour from the capital, whereas if the Mogadishu port were able to reopen it would only be a 15 min drive to the new Coca-Cola factory. These are only some of the problems the factory would have to work around.

The El Ma’an port is controlled by Abukar Omar Adam, referred to as a business man and not a warlord. What is the difference you ask? Apparently warlords generate their income by not providing services – whereas businessman do provide a service (at a price). In Coca-Cola’s case he has provided safety and enabled the factory to import most of its equipment, including the bottling line, through the port.

AbdiRisak Isse says the real security doesn’t come from the armed guards, but instead from Coca-Cola and the 400 shareholders in the factory that come from all clans and all parts of Somalia. Further through employment – this is opening a window to opportunity – an alternative to being a gunman. And eventually making the country stable enough that other companies will be willing to invest.

Global Marketing Logistics

2005-06-13T15:14:00.000-04:00

Marketing Logistics is a process that involves planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of goods, services, and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit.
(Kotler & Armstrong page 419 )

The article I read was entitled Going Global Overnight (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9904/21/global.ent.idg/index.html) and it spoke about the marketing logistical problems that US companies face when they decide to venture into overseas markets.

The development of the World Wide Web has enabled companies to have incresed access to global markets. However, problems arise when companies are not quipped to handle the logistics of orders that must be sent overseas ( legal requirements, tariffs, and customs authorities of other nations).

In addition to the above obstacles, companies also have to be able to deal with the language and cultural barriers. Using translation and localization services can help avoid future problems.

This article stressed the importance of re-working marketing logistics when going global – companies must sell $1 million or 10% of sales (whichever is larger) to cover the costs of developing an international site and offering telephone support to customers outside the United States.

blogline

2005-05-24T10:31:00.000-04:00

http://www.bloglines.com/public/hollyjomacmoran

Coca-Cola

2005-05-20T12:47:00.000-04:00

I have been assigned pricing for Coca-Cola.
Our class blog is...

http://mktg411-011-s1.blogspot.com/

Introductory post

2005-05-20T12:42:00.000-04:00

My name is Holly and I work in the Dept. of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics @ U of Penn.
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/gerimed/index.html

We do research on death and dying issues and palliative medicine.
I am currently taking mktg411-001 and will be completing the business certificate at Wharton this summer (fingers crossed).

I grew up in Center City and recently moved back here from Boston.

ummm - I feel like I'm trying to sell myself for an on-line dating service so I will end now.

ftgh

2005-05-20T12:40:00.000-04:00

fgh