Tag Archives: electronics

Super-sized Scoreboards from South Dakota

Photo

There is no doubt that the Super Bowl is a big stage for marketers. But, think also about other companies that gain from a Super Bowl presence. After all, professional sports teams and franchises are also big spenders, providing fans with the best experience possible and sparing little expense to lure people off their couches and into the stadiums and arenas.

Consider the humble score board whose job it is to track the plays, excite the fans, and provide the big screen game experience to thousands of fans. Ever wonder about where the score boards originate and how they are manufactured? It’s a fascinating story of engineering combined with marketing. View the video from CBS Sunday Morning and get an inside look at how Daktronics builds the video scoreboards to increase excitement of fans and consumers.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss organizational buying. How is marketing different when selling to businesses rather than consumers?
  2. View the video:
  3. Bring up Daktronics’ Web site: http://www.daktronics.com/en-us
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team brainstorm new businesses that might benefit from visual signs (not just sports teams).
  5. Select one of the business and design a marketing campaign to sell video signage.

Source: CBS Sunday Mornings, Manufacturing Business Technology

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Amazon’s Echo

Echo

Move over Siri – Amazon has a new interactive device with its own unique voice. The new product is called ‘Amazon Echo’ – a device designed around the users’ voice and it is always on and ready to respond to requests for music, news, information, weather, and more.

The product has multiple microphones which can hear the user from any direction, even if it is playing music. It uses an on-device keyword spotting to detect the wake word, which then streams audio to the cloud, and leverages Web services to recognize and respond to requests. Want to know how tall Mount Everest is, or the latest weather prediction? Just ask Echo and it will quickly search out the correct answer. It even has the ability to learn and adapt to speech patterns, vocabulary, and person preferences. There is also an app available for Fire OS, Android, iOS, and desktop browsers so that it is still available even when the user is not at home.

Echo is currently only available by invitation (request an invite on Amazon.com). The price for Prime members is $99, and for non-Prime members at $199.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of clearly defining a target market.
  2. Show the Web site for Amazon’s Echo: http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/ref_=ods_dp_ae
  3. What is the target market for this product?
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team develop a profile of a target market. Include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.
  5. Based on the target market profile, what makes this product unique for these customers?
  6. Debrief the exercise.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Beats Focuses on Athletes

8

Beats by Dr. Dre has a very popular product line  for college students, athletes, and music aficionados. The company has successfully used both traditional marketing as well as guerrilla marketing to promote products. This time, Beats is taking the traditional approach of TV advertising to showcase how its headphones help professional athletes prepare for the big game and block out obnoxious fans from the rival teams.

 

The newest video features Kevin Garnett of the Brooklyn Nets and shows  rival fans

Screaming obscenities and waving derogatory signs as the bus drives onto to unnamed arena (that looks strangely like New York). The abuse continues as the players enter the tunnel and the game court. In the video, featuring a new song by R&B singer Aloe Blaac, Garnet uses the Beats headphones to block out noise and help prepare for the game. A similar ad has also been produced featuring San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

 

While the main theme is sports, the message is expected to resonate with people who face challenges and distractions every day at home, work, and school. Music helps us block out the unwanted noise and focus on the positive.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of clearly defining a target market.
  2. Show the Beats web site: http://www.beatsbydre.com/
  3. Show the TV ads: http://youtu.be/3yUj0Ta44DI http://youtu.be/4Ttsx5squWg
  4. On the white board, have students list all the potential target market segments that might purchase Beats.
  5. Divide students into teams and have each team develop a profile for a different market segment. Include demographics, psychographics, attitudes, values, and behaviors.
  6. Debrief the exercise by comparing the target markets.

Source:  Ad Age Daily, Brandchannel.com, 12/13

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities