Find a commercial that sells an unfamiliar product

Find a commercial that sells an unfamiliar product that you can find at a physical retail store. Watch the commercial,
then go to a physical retail store that sells this unfamiliar product and inspect the actual product. Your assignment is to
discuss the Marketing Mix as it relates to this product. No Page Limit; I would expect the average paper to be 5-6
pages, given all that is being asked of you. As you can see, “why” is a strong component of the paper and
the quality of your explanations will be the biggest differentiator between the good and great papers.
It is key that to your paper that I believe that the product that you select is actually unfamiliar. For instance, if you are
a young man in your early twenties, don’t tell me that you are unfamiliar with deodorant or t-shirts. A more obvious
choice for you would be something related to babies. You get the idea. Pick a product you don’t know anything about, it
will earn you some easy points.
The key to getting a good grade on this paper is accurately identifying the segmenting, targeting, and positioning (STP)
of your product and then relating that to the other three Ps (place, price, promotion).
Note1: I strongly recommend that you analyze the Marketing Mix prior to writing your paper. The marketing mix will help
inform your idea of the product’s STP.
Note2: It will be easier for you if you pick a national brand product and not a private label product.
What I want to know:
Introduction/Product:
 What is the product?
 What does this product do?
 Why did you choose this product? Why is this product unfamiliar?
 Does the company that sells this product sell any related products? How does this product fit in with the rest of
the company’s product portfolio?
 Describe the commercial that relates to this product (this is where you will start to form your idea of the product’s
STP).
 Describe (take a page, detail it out, make it clear) this product’s STP (this is the key to the success of this paper
and is worth the most points).
o Common mistakes to avoid with STP.
 “This product is targeted towards everybody.” – Unless you chose flour or some other commodity
as your product this is almost NEVER true. Even with flour there is a difference in how the brands
target their consumers. Don’t believe me? Check out the baking products grocery aisle.
 “This product is targeted towards middle income ($40k-$75k), young (aged 25-35), single, white
males.” That’s it? Surely you can add more. Marketers use demographics as the base level. But
the value that marketers add is in their imagination and they back it up with WHY they think this
is the case. Tell me something about their behavior. For instance, in the following you can see
how the previous basic demographic description is inadequate. Both customers match along
those lines but exhibit different behaviors and consume different brands. This is what tells you
something about what they might buy! Your challenge is to come up with a similar description of
a customer, BUT YOU MUST ALSO TELL ME WHY YOUR PRODUCT AND COMMERCIAL HAVE
BROUGHT YOU TO THIS CONCLUSION.
 Customer 1: “This customer has a college education, buys a Starbucks’ Frappuccino
every morning with his Starbucks Gold card, drives a BMW, works out at the gym for two
hours a day, his favorite clothing brand is Brooks Brothers, and his favorite evening drink
is a Hendricks Gin Martini with two olives. His favorite sport is football and he has season
tickets to the Eagles. Finally, he is a marketing manager in downtown Philadelphia for
Urban Outfitters.”
 Customer 2: “This customer has a college education, drinks the coffee he gets for free at
his office, drives a 1997 Ford Ranger, hates the gym, his favorite clothing brand is
whatever he can find cheap at Ross, and his favorite drink is Bud Light. He is also an avid
Eagles fan and watches every game at home with his friends because he can’t stand the
crowd and the price of beer at the stadium. Finally, he is a marketing manager in
downtown Philadelphia for Aramark foods.
Place – In this section, I want to know how the “place” of the product supports the product’s STP.
 What is the name of the physical store that sells this product and that you investigated?
 Do you believe that the physical location of this store is an important driver of this product’s success? Why?
 Why is the company selling this product at this store? (if you are looking at a private label product, DON’T say
that it makes sense because it is the store’s brand, rather, answer the question from a product category
viewpoint. In other words, answer the question, why does this store have a private label for this product?)
 What products are located around and near the product you are focusing on? Any from the same company that
makes your product?
 How are your product and the others near it related? Does this location within the store make sense? Why?
Price – In this section, I want to know how the “price” of the product supports the product’s STP.
 Who are its potential competitors? How do you know they are potential competitors?
 How many direct competitors are being sold at the store?
 How much does this product cost?
 How does its price relate to its competitors?
 What does this price indicate to you about the firm’s marketing plan, and, most importantly, why do you think
this is the case?
 Do you believe that this is the right price for this product? Why do you think so?
Promotion – In this section, I want to know how the “promotion” of the product supports the product’s STP.
 Is your product currently being promoted? If so, in what way (discounted price, 2 for 1, in aisle coupon,
prominent display)?
 Are competitor’s products being promoted? If so, in what way?
Summary
 How effectively is the marketing mix being utilized with regard to this product?
 In your opinion, in which of the four pieces of the marketing mix is there room for improvement (make sure you
talk about one that needs improvement).
 Is the firm that manufactures this product doing a good job? Why do you think so?