Powerade

Challengeg leader Gatorade in Ine energy drink market has beer a tough task. Alter introducing several innovations subsequent lo its launch in 1990, such as sports cap packaging and offbeat Havers. Coca-Cola found its POWERade brand was stagnating by the end of lhe decade. Relaunched in 2001, the brand was PQüilifjned on lhe basis <jf active consumer lifestyles as "Fuel fir Liie" to distinguish it from sports-iocuscd Gatorade. The logo was completely revamped to feature a snake-like "P, and the product was reformulated vnlli Bvilamins. Aids tliemed "Very Real Power" showed athletes doing seemingly impossible feals hy virtue ol realistic special elfects. Innovation has continued to drive a lurnargunrl m sales. In lhe summer of 2003, the company introduced special edition Marti* Reloaded PGWERade with a custom-shaped package and new flavor lo create a He-It) with the blockbuster movie franchise. Oilier special editions tied to the Olympics, NASCAR, and M!IRA followed. September 2004 saw (he laynph of segrberry-liavored POWEflade FLAVA23. backed by an integrated marketing program that lealured a DC Comics depiction of NBA star and ■ POWEFade spokesman LeBron Jame$.:i

Market leaders lend to miss irends when they arc risk-averse, obsessed about protecting their existin^ markets and physical resources, and more interested in efficiency than innovaiion.

111 Socially Responsible Marketing

Effective in It: mill marketing must be matched by a strong sense of social responsibility.^3 Companies need 10 evaluate whether they are truly practicing ethical and socially responsible marketing. Several fences arc driving companies to practice a higher level of corporate social responsibility: rising customer expectations, changing employee expectations, government legislation and pressure, investor interest in social criteria, and changing business procurement prSctkuS/"

Business success and continually satisfying the customer and other stakeholders are closely tied to adoption and i m pie tn en tat ion of high standards of business and marketing conduct. The most admired companies in the wo rid abide by a code of serving people's itucrests, not only iheir own,

Business practices are often u ruler a I tack because business situations routinely pose lough ethical dilemmas. The issues are complicated: It is not easy to draw a clear line between normal marketing practice and unethical behavior. At the same time, certain business practices arc clearly unethical or illegal. These include bribery or stealing trade secrets; false and deceptive advertising; exclusive dealing and tying; agreements; quality or safety defects; false warranties; inaccurate labeling: prfee-fixing or undue discrimination; and barriers 10 entry and predatory competition.

Professor Stephen Grown oí Ulster University tus challenged a number of fundamental assumptions underlying Ite marking concept. He flunks that marketes make loo much ol researching and satisfy' me consumers and as a result, risk losing marketing irnag nation and significant consumer impact Here are nis criticisms:

1, II malietefs pay too much attention to wfial consumers say Ihey need or want, marhcucrg will simply make products similar tolhosé that already ewst. Consumers noffltfty sfart from what Ihey know, not from what might te possiiis. For eiampie. ihey mgW safy ihey want a smaller cellular phone but WodU not ask lor one thai include a Palm fVoi or voice reoojnilfifl. it is the marketer^ jcli to rio beyond wf»al customers say itey want.

2, The marketing conccpt assumes that consumers hive clear goals and pursue ihem rationally But consumers are buffeted Uy ail kinds of forces. Many respond lo typed producís and stones Therefore marketers need skills beyond APIC—analysis, planning, imptemcrilal on, and coflttol. Marwelers need lo be able to create dramas, new realities, ar<ih:iai scarcities. celebrations, and fte like,

3, lne marketing COflOpt imp es tb^t learners irnusl be suDHrtssÁ'e to customers, and go all out to pease item. Any suggestion that madders m ghi 'play" with Ite cuslc-*ner, even manipulate the pubfc, is taboo. TO some Of the greatest ma:ke1e<s at Ite past, such as P.Í. Bamum, leasid Ihe public, oi'erdramalisd offerings, and yet ire pubíic ¡oved it Why should the customer be dominant and the marketer always be sutimissivc?

Hjh can companies tin Kf a capability for slralegic innovation? Here are Some approaches-

Hi'e some marketers who are untjsually creative to counterbalance Ihe majority wtvo do marketing by the tembook, These peo' pie may be more tincomeflftof)®. mt>E rule-freaking, mote rt$k-(akirig, and oven more argumentative, but [he^ ideas Mill al leasf pfesent a challenge.

Train your employees in the use o< creativity techniques, iactud-mg group techniques (brainstorming, synectics] and individual lechniqucs (visualization, attribute listing, forced relationships, morpfiotagica I analysis, ni¡nd-map(li ¡ig). LiSt obserwble (rends such as longer Porting houis. angle pa/enls, afld new life styles, and tease out their implications for your firm

USt unrnei needs and imagine new offerings or solutions: lie,'; lo tielp people lose weight, stop smoking, relieve stress, meet others, antl so on.

Set up rewards and prizes new ideas. Run a 'best idea' competition once a maidi. Give a cash reward, extra vacaf ¡oo time, or liguti awaflK to those Who come up with (he best ideas.

Semo- managers should take small sets ol employees out to iipch in dinner once a week to discuss ideas they migh! have on improving the business. Sometimes lake Item into hew sellings, such as a wncsllincj maich, a ring rchahiliialixi terrier, a (jQOi neighborhood.

Set tip groups of employees to critique (he company's and com-pslYlorrs." EjroOucls and seivites. Also have meiti critique the company's cherished beliefs and consider uuning them upside down Occasionally hire creative resources from oufside the firm. Many large advertising agencies, such as Leo Burnett, run a creativity service tor clients sources: for iwe on Brow's vi&ais. s» Stephen 9ro«n, Msikehng—Ttw fíel/o Rwdu\<on ilrouSMd frató. CA Sr«tjt Publications, SCCn} For mue on crealniy. see Mitfiael Mittail®. Crsciung Cremvity: Tt>e SecffíS d Osüivs Semis íferkílff. CA- Ten SjKftJ ffess, lÓSIt; James M Higgins. JÛt Oíwíi'í-í" Pn&MtfinSiírtwj fccfliiiiji^siNriV rwX: Ne.v Managernsnt Piiblisniiny Ccnipany, l99íí: and an el lite Qotfis fry Édwad DcBonv

Today campâmes tliat do not pcrform ethically or wej) are at greater risk of bcing esposed, thanks to the Inlemé. In die pasl, n disyruntled custoiner ¡uiglit bad-moutb a manu facturier or uierehant to 12 ptherpeopkMûday hc or she tan reach thousandsofpcople on dit Internet. Microsoft, for example, lias atlmcted scotçs of anti-Microsoft sites, imduding I late Microsoft and Boycott Microsoft. U'dl-managcd l'Jî campaign^ eau also bave an effecl. Tbe lîainforest Action Network Inunched ll punishiug PB cainpaigti iit 1EJS7 Lu stop The liome Depot from selling oldgrowth lumber. .After iwo ycars of bad puiilicity and résistance to nev> store locations. Tbe Home Depot agrée (j to bave ils supplier* Mark with environ mental arwi forestry groups to terriEy tliat its wûod products are not From endangered aivas.J

Corporate Social Responsibility

Raising die level of socially tcspunsible marketing calls for a threé-ptonged attack tliat relies on proper legal, ethical, and social responsibility behavior.

Society must use the law to define, as clearly as possible, those practices that are illegal, antisocial, or anticompetitive. Organizations must ensure that every employee knows and observes any relevant laws. for example, sales managers can check that sales representative* know and observe the law, such as the fact that it is illegal for salespeople 10 lie to consumers or mislead them about the advantages of buying a product. Under U.S. law, sales-peoples statements must match advertising claims. In selling to businesses, salespeople may not offer bribes to purchasing agents or others influencing a sale. They may not obtain or use competitors' technical or trade secrets through bribery or industrial espionage. Finally, salespeople must not disparage competitors or competing products by suggesting thing* that art: not true. Every sales representative must understand these laws and act accordingly.21'

Companies must adopt and disseminate a written code of ethics, build a company tradition of ethical behavior, and ho hi its people fully responsible for observing ethical and legal guidelines.-7 A I'JEJa poll by Environics International, a public opinion research firm, found that fi7 percent of North Americans are willing to buy or boycott products on ethical grounds. In response to heightened consumer sensitivity on the topic, KPMG's 1999 survey Of 1.1 DO global companies found that 21 percent produce annual "sustainability" reports,-1*

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BEHAVIOR Individual marketers must practice a "social conscience" in specific dealings with customers and stakeholders."1 Increasingly, people say ihat tlicy want information about a company's record on social and environmental responsibility to help decide which companies lo buy from, invest in, atid ivork for,-"-1 Table 22.1 lists

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