Tag Archives: manufacturing

by | Tuesday, August 16, 2022 · 7:46 am

Datsun and Internet Explorer Bite the Dust

As we’ve written in previous articles, no product lives forever. There are always new innovations, trends, social forces, competition, and technologies that push products forward. Ultimately, every product eventually reaches its final stage in the Product Life Cycle (PLC) – decline/harvest – when the product is put to sleep and resources are reallocated to up-and-coming new products.

Two more products joined the eliminated list: Microsoft Internet Explorer and Datsun cars.

Datsun helped Japanese car manufacturers break into the American and European market after World War II. In its heyday, 20 million Datsun cars were sold in 190 countries across the world. The Datsun name was phased out in the 1980s, only to be revived 30 years later as “an important part of Nissan’s DNA.” However, Datsun eventually reversed the decision, making Nissan the primary company brand for the auto maker.

Joining Datsun on the gone-but-not-forgotten product list is Internet Explorer – the Web browser that many say really started the popularity of the Internet. First launched in 1995, IE was the dominant browser for many years, reaching 90% of users in early 2000s. But competition from Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Mozilla’s Firefox finally proved to be too much. All is not lost however; in its place will be Microsoft Edge browser.

Farewell to our old favorite brands.

Welcome to the newcomers!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the stages in the product life cycle. What are the marketing objectives in each stage?
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team draw a PLC and place various products and services into each stage?
  3. How are cars moved through the PLC?
  4. How does technology move through the PLC? What are the adoption cycles?
  5. Show video of Internet Explorer death: https://youtu.be/wZoZV6GjzPA
  6. We’ve seen other products revived after being declared “dead.” What would it take to revive these two brands?

Sources:  Jacobsen, R. (15 June 2022). Internet Explorer has retired. Associated Press.; Nissan signals end of road for Datsun cars. (25 April 2022). BBC News.; other news sources.

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by | Wednesday, March 16, 2022 · 7:21 am

Top Car Brands for 2022

The automotive industry is notoriously tough. Considering that an automotive purchase is among a consumer’s most important buys, are purchases that are high-impact and high-involvement, and that there are hundreds of different choices, each sale is important.

Manufacturers compete for not only sales, but also for top rankings by organizations such as J.D. Powers, Car & Driver, and Edmund. Among the most popular ranking reports on vehicles is the one done for consumers by independent testing organization, Consumer Reports.

To compile the report, the team at Consumer Reports test drives and evaluates multiple attributes of more than 250 different vehicles. To be a top tier pick, the cars must score well in road tests, crash tests, owner satisfaction, and have better predicted reliability. Key safety features are also important. Top picks must have forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. These are safety features which have been proven to save lives.

This year six Japanese brands are among the top-10: Subaru, Mazda, BMW, Honda, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Mini, Toyota, and Infiniti.

  • Best overall, best overall mainstream, best road test score mainstream, and best road test score overall: Subaru
  • Best reliability: Mazda
  • Best American overall: Buick
  • Worst overall: Jeep
  • Worst road test score: Mitsubishi

The top EV pick this year is the electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, a first-year electric vehicle with a base price of $44,000. The Ford EV beat out Tesla as being more reliable, practical, quieter, and less complicated than Tesla Model 3.

Among U.S. manufacturers are Buick as the highest-charting brand (in 11th place), followed by Chrysler (13th), Dodge (16th). Dead last on the list was Jeep which had significant reliability issues with its Gladiator pickup truck.

This year’s winners by category include:

  • Electric vehicle: Ford Mustang Mach-E
  • Small SUV: Subaru Forester
  • Midsized sedan: Honda Accord
  • Compact pickup truck: Honda Ridgeline
  • Subcompact SUV: Nissan Rogue Sport
  • Two-row SUV: Toyota RAV4 Prime
  • Three-row SUV: Kia Telluride
  • Luxury midsized SUV: Lexus RX
  • Small car: Nissan Sentra
  • Hybrid: Toyota Prius

Did your vehicle make the list?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show Consumer Reports’ rankings: https://www.consumerreports.org/media-room/press-releases/2022/02/mainstream-auto-brands-beat-luxury-names-in-cr-2022-rankings/
  2. Show the video of car rankings: https://youtu.be/wQ_fHOmo0aY
  3. Discuss how companies can use the report in their marketing.
  4. What should companies that didn’t make the top list do to promote their vehicles?
  5. Review key aspects of developing a product positioning map, including determining the axis labels for positioning.
  6. Divide students into teams and have each team develop a positioning map for a category of automobiles.

Source:  Best cars of the year: 10 top picks of 2022. Consumer Reports.

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by | Thursday, February 24, 2022 · 7:15 am

What Trends are in Store for us in 2022?

Marketers need to be able to monitor trends with an eye towards predicting what consumers will want next. While it is hard to predict the future, we can examine the current environment with respect to what might happen next.

In its yearly predictions report, international research firm Euromonitor forecasts what consumers will want and need. Companies then can use these predictions to consider the strategies that they might pursue.

Lifestyles in 2021 made radical shifts as populations continued to be impacted by the pandemic. To no one’s surprise, COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continue to be very important to the immediate future.  Marketers and businesses must evolve quickly to keep up with new demands.

Ten  predictions for consumers in 2022 include:

  1. Rethinking the supply chain.
  2. Climate change – a low-carbon world.
  3. Senior citizens and their digital adoptions and usage.
  4. Controlling personal finances.
  5. Prioritizing personal values and individual goals.
  6. The metaverse moves to reality.
  7. Increasing adoption of second-hand and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
  8. City dwellers want advantages of living outside of cities.
  9. The importance of self-care and happiness.
  10. The hybridization of being social.

These trends provide guidance for companies and marketers. Using these, we can gain insight into consumer values and behavior. If 2021 was a year that required us to be adaptable and resilience, then what does 2022 indicate?

What trends will impact you?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. The full Euromonitor report can be accessed at: https://go.euromonitor.com/white-paper-EC-2022-Top-10-Global-Consumer-Trends.html?utm_source=WSJ&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=CT_22_01_18_WP_Top%2010%20GCT%202022%20EN
  2. Discuss the importance of environmental scanning and conducing SWOT analysis.
  3. Show the Euromonitor report to students.
  4. Divide students into teams.
  5. Have each team select one of the top 10 trends and prepare a discussion for the class.
  6. What industries and companies will be most impacted by that trend?
  7. What should marketers do to address the trend?

Source: Alcantara, A-M., (January 17, 2022). Ten trends that will shape the way we shop, eat and live this year, Wall Street Journal; Euromonitor International (January 18, 2022), Top 10 global consumer trends 2022.

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