Fun Facts

Not always.

Here’s more. Buyer and user reviews for products, car rentals, books, restaurants, purchases on eBay and Amazon and hotels have impacted and changed how potential purchasers and travelers make buying decisions. TripAdvisor dominates the hotel-review area but so do the online sellers such as Expedia, Amazon, Priceline, Travelocity, Orbitz, hotels.com. Should we trust travel hotel ratings? Sometimes.

A wide range of factors affect user rankings. The number of hotels listed; do they verify that the reviews are “real?”

TripAdvisor knows about the review “mills” according to WSJ. These “creative” firms offer to “create” better reviews for hotels looking for more positives, “adjustments.”

Hotels offer incentives to write good reviews. The United Kingdom Advertising Authority ruled that TripAdvisor’s advertising claim of “trusted advice from real travelers” was misleading because fake comments could be posted without verification. Interesting to note that Expedia, hotels.com and Priceline.com limit their guest reviews to those customers who booked hotels through their websites.

See if the reviews are spaced out over time or written by verified purchasers. Did the reviewer actually buy the product or service? In late 2019, Fakespot said that more than a third of online reviews are fake, and generated by robots and people who write fraudulent reviews.

Don’t forget to read the comments listed. Plus customer reviews are quite different from traditional “star ratings.”

Old bottles can fetch big dollars. Bottle scavengers can sell an empty wine bottle for $320. Yes, empty. The counterfeiters then add a lower quality wine and that bottle can sell for thousands. Bootleggers are dousing the wine market with fakes, refilling empty bottles from famous chateaus with inferior wine. The problem is so widespread that auction house Christie’s destroys the empties at their tasting events. China’s where the big-money wine boom has moved.

The ranking of the top five volume markets: The US leads at 318m cases, followed by Italy (266m), France (250m), Germany (224m) and China (156m). The world’s leading import markets are Germany, number one at 126.3m cases, followed by the UK at 114m cases. By contrast, the US (79.9m) and China (61m) ranked third and fourth continue to trend positively. While red wine dominates global consumption with a 55% share, it is forecast to fall below 54% by 2022. Over the same period consumption of white wine, and particular rosé, are set to rise.

For years people have complained about the commercials or TV spots are too loud. Agencies produced the spots louder. They wanted their clients’ ads to stand out. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is turning down the volume on TV ads. In December 2012, the new FCC rules and the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act required advertisers and networks to adopt best practices to ensure their commercials and promos don’t blare at higher volumes than associated programming. It is being argued that promos and ads are making pitches to consumers in a similar fashion. Even though a promo may not involve a direct pay-for-play arrangement, the intention is the same. Under CALM, the burden is on cable operators, satellite operators, telco TV providers and stations to ensure that the content they carry complies with the legislation.

Over 700 songs, including The Beach Boys’ “409,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Street,” and “Thunder Road,” Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” Don McLean’s “American Pie,” Sammy Johns’ “Chevy Van,” B-52’s “Devil in My Car,” and AC/DC’s “That’s the Way I want to Rock and Roll.” Plus Bob Seeger’s “Like a Rock” and John Mellencamp’s “Our Country” were used to promote Chevy trucks.

A sleek Chevrolet Corvette was the star of the early–‘60s TV show “Route 66.” It was also during the 60’s that Dinah Shore sang “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet.”

There is a longer history to that expression than you would expect. The abbreviation—OMG—“Oh, my God” or “Oh, my gosh,” its first confirmed use, was 1917, in a personal letter. This web-friendly was an online update to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011. Other Internet-inspired expressions include: HMU: Hit me up! For example, “HMU for coffee tomorrow at CBTL;” IMHO, “In my humble opinion;” BFF, “best friends forever;” and SMH: Shaking My Head. For example, “He said what? SMH.”

It depends on many different marketing variables. It depends on the popularity of the person or celebrity and who has audience appeal. The list of celebrities fronting fragrances grows longer, including Jennifer Anniston with “Near Dusk,” Kendall Jenner with “Estee Lauder modern muse le rouge;” Justin Bieber with “Someday;” Pharrell with “Girl;” Britney Spears with two scents: “Curious” and “Fantasy;” David Bowie had “Grey Vetvier” and supermodel Iman with “Love Memoir;” 50 Cent with “Power;” Stella McCartney with “STELLA;” Tommy Bahama with “Tommy Bahama;” Ashanti with “Precious Jewel;” Beyoncé Knowles with “True Star” and “Emporio Armani Diamonds;” Jay Z with “Gold,” Sarah Jessica Park with “Lovely,” Halle Berry with “Halle;” Derek Jeter with “Driven;” Hilary Duff with “With Love;” Paris Hilton with “Heiress;” Sean Combs with “Unforgivable;” and Jennifer Lopez with scents “Glow,” “Live” and “Still.” Plus “Celine” by Celine Dion.

And those fragrances join shelves crowded with previous star-inspired scents like Elizabeth Taylor’s “White Diamonds” and “Passion;” fragrances that invoke multiple stars like Desperate Housewives “Forbidden Fruit,” and fragrances that use celebrities as endorsers in their campaigns, which include “Chanel No. 5” (Nicole Kidman), “Very Irresistible” (Liv Tyler) and “Dior J’adore” (Charlize Theron).

Nothing beats that “new” car smell, but car companies are introducing scents or colognes for men or guys who can’t get enough of their favorite car or auto brand, such as Bentley “Azure for Men”. The car costs $350K and the cologne about $100. Add the Porsche Design Sport where the 911 costs $185K and the cologne about $85. One more: it’s the Ferrari “Cedar Essence” which sells for $125. The vintage Ferrari Gran Turismo: up to $38 million.

In the retail marketplace and during gift buying holidays, it’s not easy standing out amid all of the clutter, is it?

Pets.com’s business model could “sustain” itself for only ten months. As 2000 began Pets.com was a high-flying dot-com, with 300 employees and a sock puppet mascot. Netted $82.5 million in their IPO. Seventeen dot-coms were part of “The Dot-Com Super Bowl,” including RIP e-stamp, computer.com and lifeminders.com.

Even the voice-over artist for the “sock puppet” didn’t use pets.com and he said he didn’t know anyone that used the service.

This dot.com spent $55.3 million in advertising, mostly on TV and generated only $5.8 million in sales? Pets.com’s cost of goods sold was $13.4 million, more than 2x their actual sales of $5.8 million.

Pet Smart bought pets.com’s web address for $375,000 in 2001.

After Pets.com liquidated, Hakan and Associates and Bar None, Inc. purchased the rights to the pets.com puppet for $125,000 in 2002.

• Strangely, it’s not called the first Super Bowl but it was named AFL-NFL World Championship, and was played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Los Angeles hadn’t had an NFL team from 1994 until 2018. Now we have two.
• It was played not in February, but on January 15, 1967.
• In the TV replay of the touchdown catch, the word “videotape” appears on the screen.
• Tickets were 8 and 12 dollars; the game was not sold out.
• Fans could watch the game on both NBC and CBS. Neither network preserved a tape of broadcast. Nor Hugh Hefner with his videotape machine at the Playboy Mansion.
• According to WSJ, there is a found copy or dub recorded from the WDAU-TV broadcast, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA. It’s been rumored to be worth $1M, and NFL offered only $30K.
• Only 26.8 million saw the broadcast.
• Vintage McDonald’s spot boasted of “Over Two Billion Sold,” and Muriel Cigars of “So much more cigar for just ten cents.”
• Green Bay Packers won 35-10 over Kansas City Chiefs.

What will they think of next? Every time you go to the market and see those stands that have gift cards for every convenience store or restaurant, do you always think that it’s an easy gift and easy to buy with your groceries … WRONG!

Fraud which typically costs its victims between $25 and $500.

Just a little warning before gift giving.

The crooks have found a way to rob you of your gift card balance. If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much of a balance THEY have on the card. Once they find the card is “activated,” they go online and start shopping. You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public.

It was hung upside down for 47 days before anyone noticed.

McDonald’s opened at 10:00 AM, and breakfast wasn’t served until the early ’70s. Egg McMuffin was invented in Santa Barbara in 1977 and it took Wendy’s and Burger King 10 years to start a breakfast fare.

57

Over 550 Digital Channels in eight different languages on AT&T/DIRECTV, as of 2018.

Interesting to note: In 2010, Nielsen dropped one of its most popular features, data showing how many channels the average TV household receives, because in a digital, time-shifted multichannel universe, there no longer is a “consistent” meaning for the term “channel.” The move is ironic for Nielsen and media buyers/planners, because Nielsen originally shaped the TV business in the ’50s by measuring which channels TV households were tuning to.

More than 1,000 flavors.

They trademarked a list of 31 flavors, but there have been almost 1000 since the company was founded in 1940’s. Eight food technologist each come up with about 20 per year and of those 160 three to four make it in a typical year. They say it’s a fun job and they get to play with food every day.

It’s not intelligence, or sense of adventure. Not degrees, IQ, or even skills. It’s Attitude.

Look for innovative solutions to problems.

Harvey Ball invented the Smiley Face in 1963 and was paid $45 for his design and he never trademarked it. By the way, the famous Nike swoosh was sold for $35.

In 1916, a 14-year-old boy from Virginia created Mr. Peanut as an entry into a Planters-sponsored trademark contest. The advertising agency, the client and the brand managers have kept Mr. Peanut alive.

There are talking pitchers of Kool-Aid, boxes, dogs, talking horses, even talking margarine tubs, not to mention talking branding characters like Snap, Crackle and Pop for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, the E*Trade babies and the Keebler elves.

Mr. Peanut, the Planters mascot, had never spoken until late fall 2010 when Planters gave Mr. Peanut a new look, with a gray flannel suit, and a voice (Robert Downey Jr.), as well as a sidekick, Benson.

Mr. Peanut has a new look that dated back to the 1930s and 1940s. He is now brown, rather than yellow, and a gray flannel suit. Perfect for Madison Avenue, advertising and account supervisors/account executives (A.E.’s)/account managers.

Here is another effort to revive classic advertising characters, slogans and jingles to appeal to today’s shoppers. Nostalgia is just one of the sales devices, appeals and tools used by advertisers.

A survey on “Impatient” Americans reveals that on average, women are willing to wait 18 minutes in line at a store before losing their patience, while men lose their cool after only 15 minutes. Younger people are more patient than older people, richer people are more patient than poorer people, and suburbanites are more patient than city dwellers.

—Associated Press

“Would you like fries with that?”

They added “Tweet Me” to their “Conversation Hearts” for Valentine’s Day in 2011.

The nickname was created by Owen R. Bird, a sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times. Developed on February 24, 1912, more than one hundred years ago. “Trojans is one of the sports world’s most celebrated nicknames, associated instantly with USC, a name steeped in tradition and meaning, and millions of dollars in merchandise sales. The nickname spreads far and wider than just athletes and ex-athletes. It’s doctors, lawyers, grandparents and grandchildren, all walks of life, multigenerational. If you feel an attachment to USC, you call yourself a Trojan…other team names were Methodists, Wesleyans and Cards.”

Of course, the venerable Quaker Oats man, known among insiders as “Larry.” Our “Larry” got a makeover by PepsiCo Inc. to reinvigorate the brand globally. The rosy-cheeked, white-haired man is always smiling at you from the Quaker Oatmeal box. He received a haircut, lost some weight and dropped about five years from his age.

Consumers associate the logo and global brand with heritage, trust, quality, along with healthy choices and energy.

Larry now shows his shoulders, making him seem stronger and more vibrant. Trimming his hair makes him look lighter and his neck longer.

The brand managers added “Est 1877” to reinforce a message of tradition, quality and trust.

It all began at the Magic Castle in Anaheim. Yes, Doritos were invented at Disneyland. As a kid our family, once in a while, would go to the Mexican restaurant called Casa de Fritos at Disneyland. Here’s the background on Doritos. Frito-Lay used a food service company called Alex Foods, and they had extra tortillas. Alex Foods cut them up, fried them, seasoned them and gave them to customers. Surprisingly Alex Foods didn’t get permission from Frito Lay in the beginning for Disneyland sales but those Doritos were such a hit they became a sales leader for Frito-Lay.

Major television history was made on July 1, 1941. NBC interrupted its broadcast of the Brooklyn Dodgers game with the first advertising message. It was a :10 spot from advertiser, Bulova Watch Company.

The infamous “Heidi Game” or “Heidi Bowl” was an American football game between the Jets and Oakland Raiders played on November 17, 1968. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Raiders scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. The Heidi Game obtained its name because NBC controversially broke away from the game with the Jets still winning to air Heidi at 7PM/Eastern Time Zone.

In the late ‘60s, few professional football games took longer than two and a half hours to play, and the Jets–Raiders three-hour time slot was thought to be adequate. A high-scoring contest, together with a injuries and penalties caused the game to run long. NBC management had ordered that the movie must begin on time, but given the exciting game, they decided to postpone the start of the film and continue football coverage. As 7 p.m. approached, many members of the public called NBC to inquire about the schedule, jamming NBC’s switchboards, and the change could not be communicated. Heidi began as scheduled, preempting the final moments of the game and the two Oakland touchdowns in the eastern half of the country, outraging viewers.

Heidi led to a change in the way pro football is shown on the networks; games are shown to the end before evening programming begins. Special “Heidi” phones were installed, with different exchanges from other NBC phones. In ‘97, the “Heidi Game” was voted the most memorable regular season game in pro football history.

One of the Nine P’s/9P’s^© 2007 is “People” and its demographics and geographics are part of how you “target” potential buyers. So, during the housing boom of the past decade, it was a slogan that described a building business strategy of slapping up hundreds of cheap homes on inexpensive land many miles from city centers; if buyers went far enough into the suburbs they could eventually qualify for a mortgage, especially with the help of the government.

Pretty important for both the Dallas Cowboys after failing to renew dallascowboys.com in 2010 and for FreshDirect for freshdirect.com in 2012. It’s a loss of awareness, sales and a major PR blunder when the mistake appears first on the web for your users and in the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Renewal would have been $37.99, but what an accounting, business, PR nightmare.

In America, Volkswagen sold only two Beetles in 1949.

False. You may remember web pioneer, Prodigy. They placed their banners at the bottom of the screen. This led to the first advertising blocker. Plastic was affixed to the bottom of a computer monitor to hide the banner ad, on a 13-inch monitor. The ads were smaller, because the monitors were smaller. BTW: Prodigy was founded in 1984 as Trintex, a joint venture of CBS, IBM, and Sears Roebuck and Company.

Only nine letters remained after John Belushi knocked off four of them as a pilot. It was the famous “HOLLYWOOD” sign which began as a housing development with signage which spelled “HOLLYWOODLAND.” The sign has made dozens of film cameos, including City of Angels, 1941 in 1979, Rock of Ages, Goldmember, Mighty Joe Young, Independence Day, Chaplin, and The Muppet Movie, among others. The Hollywood sign made an appearance when Belushi as a pilot in 1941 knocked off the “land” part of the original “HOLLYWOODLAND” sign.

Wrong eye chart. He read the eye chart in the adjoining room with his x-ray vision.

$10M may seem like a weekend these days, but with $9.6 million in box-office sales in 1954, it was the commercially successful “On The Waterfront.” Won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1954. The movie with Marlon Brando was based on a series in the New York Sun by Malcolm Johnson that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Simple answer is for more than 75 years. While 93% of us believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, a majority of people skip it. They feel they don’t have time. There is also Carnation’s “Instant Breakfast” and Kellogg’s “To Go” Breakfast in a bottle.

Taking a “selfie” seems like every one is doing it, at graduations, at parties even at the Oscars on TV with Ellen. The first known photographic self-portrait was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. It wasn’t as easy then as it is today until the cellphone was invented with the built-in camera. It does appear that if you’re in your 20’s or 30’s it’s more appropriate than if you are in your 50’s or 60’s. Agree?

Ever hear of Tupperware parties? It was Brownie Wise, with an eighth grade education, a self-made woman with a genius for promoting using the component of “Promotion” and specifically sales promotion, direct sales and “events and experiences” under the 9P’s of Marketing.

Ms. Wise worked as a salesperson in a clothing shop and as a secretary for Bendix Aviation. To earn extra money, she started selling and demonstrating Stanley Home Products, cleaning aids and brushes, at home parties. Stanley was a pioneer in direct selling.

In the late 1940s, Wise first saw Tupperware, with its new polyethylene products. Sales were low; they was being distributed, with limited success, to department and hardware stores.

She switched over from Stanley to Tupperware, recruited dealers and managers, and sold Tupperware at home parties.

Wise started a company, “Tupperware Patio Parties,” and was selling far more Tupperware than the stores.

President Earl Tupper took Tupperware out of the hardware and department stores, and from that time on, Tupperware was sold exclusively at homes. Brownie Wise appeared on the cover of BW. Tupper grew jealous of her fame—success breed resentment. In 1958, Tupper abruptly fired her; she held no company stock and was given only a year’s salary.

Wise spent the rest of her life starting unsuccessful home parties for cosmetics companies.

It was Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde during their infamous two-year crime spree from 1932 until their deaths from a hail of bullets in ‘34.

They were known for their robberies, and Clyde’s uncanny ability to evade the police even when he was surrounded. Part of Clyde’s ability to evade capture was in his skill as a driver. Clyde and Bonnie spent days and even weeks at a time in their car while travelling long distances and sleeping in their car at night to evade the police. The car that Clyde preferred, the one that promoted both speed and comfort; it was the Ford V-8.

Interesting to note: Over the years, many have questioned the letter’s authenticity. The letter is currently on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

While the first logo was hand drawn in 1976 and was a bit lopsided, the rainbow logo existed from 1977 to 1998. Since 1998 it’s been blue, black, beige, chrome, silver and presently a silhouette. Steve Jobs was presented with two versions: one with a bite and one without. He liked the bite out of the apple since it wouldn’t be confused by consumers for a cherry. Now the leaf is an essential part and was trademarked in 2012.

It’s between $7.0 and $7.5 Million or up to $250K per second, and that doesn’t include creative, celebrities or production.

In 2021, the cost was not so easy of an answer, about $5.5 million. Maybe as much as $5.6 or $186,666.67 a second. But CBS required advertisers to pay an additional $300K per spot to be included in the digital livestream. It was reported in the LA Times that a spot sold for $5.25 Million or $175,000 a second, in Super Bowl LIII.

Marketers and advertisers have spent a total of some $5.4 billion advertising in the game’s first 52 years. $6.9 billion if adjusted for inflation. In 2020, media spending was $435 Million for in game only

The Super Bowl alone next year may capture about 2.5% of broadcast network advertising for the entire year, or double its share in 2010, according to AdAge.

The cost is always changing or usually increasing, but it’s also different now. It’s not just one spot to sell or buy. TV networks want to sell bigger media packages of their ad inventory around the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl spot will be included in a package. For example, a Super Bowl spot is $7 million with another $7 million in spots, for a total $14+ Million buy.

In 2020 30-second spots on Fox went for about $5.5 million each. In 2016 spots on CBS went for between $4.6 million to as little more than $5 million. In 2018, on NBC they started north of $5 million; still averaged more than $5 million.

Advertising agencies, clients, ad media planners and buyers are discussing and dealing with growing costs–media and production, social media, social media promotion, PR, music, celebrities, creative executions and more. The game is usually the most watched TV show each year.

A premium can be charged for a preferred position for a typical 30-second spot in the first quarter of the game, which can average around $100K extra. This premium is due to the larger audience and better chances that consumers will recall the ads early in the game. As I say in my Marketing and Advertising classes and presentations on the Super Bowl, viewers are usually “in a better state of mind.”

Prices for this advertising time can typically cost millions of dollars. Production and celebrities add more.

Halftime: Rihanna, sponsored by Apple Music. It’s been The Weeknd, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Year before it was Justin Timberlake. NBC tapped Madonna for Super Bowl XLVI. CBS had Beyoncé. NBC used Katy Perry. CBS had Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars. In 2017 it was Lady Gaga for Fox.

FOX in 2011 reported that Super Bowl XLV sold out, fetching between $2.8 million and $3 million per :30. Three weeks before Super Bowl LII (52), NBC had nearly a dozen spots left.

In 2009-2010, the cost of a 30-second spot ranged from $2.5 million to $2.9 million. These amounts excluded production costs and fees for actors, sets, equipment, advertising agencies, directors, crew and other personnel.

Here’s more:

During the broadcast advertising time has also grown from 40 minutes, 15 seconds in 2001, or 82 messages. It is now 51:15 minutes of national ad air time, or 50 unique brands.

Which product is usually advertised the most on the Super Bowl?

Not beers, movies or cars. It’s the network’s own programming promotion. In a typical Super Bowl, 15% to 20% of all commercial time is a plug by the network for its own programming and shows.

Another example: Sales and the pace of sales in 2010-2012 were fueled by the heavy competition among carmakers. There were a record of eleven different car brands which announced Super Bowl deals, including nine different auto brands.

It’s our country’s highest-profile advertising showcase, with households staying glued to their screens and not using TiVo-type products and services during the ads. Marketers get a huge audience, but they also face high expectations especially when the audience can judge and be a critic with the click of a remote or mouse. With the high price tag, it’s a lot to spend if the creative is poor or dumb, lacks strategic direction, or just plain awful. The cost of a Super Bowl spot every year has been an annual contest of brinkmanship for the networks, in setting its price.

Super Bowl XXXVIII, broadcasted on 2/1/2004 from Houston, Texas on the CBS network, was noted for a controversial halftime show in which Janet Jackson’s bare breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake in what was referred to as a “wardrobe malfunction”. A record $550,000 fine was levied by the FCC, as well as an increase of FCC fines per indecency violation from $27,500 to $325,000.

While the Super Bowl still commands the highest-priced commercial unit, around $5 million, other major sports events and the Oscars can pull in total dollars, too.

And the biggest advertiser? It it’s always the network, promoting its own shows.

The Marketing Mix is the combination of four elements, called the 4P’s:

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

Every company has the option of adding, subtracting, or modifying in order to create a desired marketing strategy.

9P’s: I have added five more P’s: Planning, Partners, People (Target Markets), Passion, and Presentation.

Creativity in Marketing.

9P’s of Marketing^© (I have a copyright for this concept, the Nine P’s, which augments the Marketing 4P’s by McCarthy):

1. Planning or Marketing Process: To develop and transform marketing objectives to marketing strategies to tactics, marketing management must make basic decisions on marketing targets, marketing mix, marketing budgets/expenditures and marketing allocations. Dividing the total marketing budget among the various tools in the Marketing Mix and for the various products, channels, promotion, media and sales areas.

2. People/Prospects (Target Market)

• A product focusing on a specific target market contrasts sharply with one following the marketing strategy of mass marketing.
• Defining a target market requires market segmentation, the process of segmenting the entire market as a whole and separating it into manageable units based on demographics, geographics, psychographics and behavior characteristics.

The market segmentation process includes:

• Determining the characteristics of segments in the target market.
• Then separating these segments in the market based on these characteristics.
• Checking to see whether any of this market segments are large enough to support the organization’s product.
• Once a target market is chosen, the organization can develop its marketing strategies to target this market.

3. Product: The goods and service combination the firm offers to the target market, including variety of product mix, features, designs, packaging, sizes, services, warrantees and return policies.

• A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. (Kotler)
• A service is any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. (Kotler)
• “Product” includes packaging, as a subset of the total offering. Brand managers use packaging as a badge, enhancing the product’s value. Here’s an example: In fall 2008, McDonald’s scrapped and changed its package design across 118 countries, 56 languages. Packaging can increase the perceptions about the quality of the product.
• A Product or service also should have “Purpose”, which is discovering the product’s real value, use, difference, reason, or function for the consumer and user.

4. Price: All aspects regarding pricing. The price consumers are willing to pay. Retail price/wholesale, discounts, trade-in allowances, quantity discounts, credit terms, sales and payment periods.

5. Promotion: The communication element includes personal and non-personal communication activities. Activities that communicate the merits of the overall product, which includes:

• Personal Selling/ Sales Force
• Advertising—Mass or nonpersonal selling: TV, radio, magazines, newspaper, outdoor/out-of-home
  • Advertising is structured and composed non personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products (goods, services, and ideas) by identified sponsors through various media. (Arens, Weingold, Arens, 14th edition of Contemporary Advertising, 2008)
  • Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). Ads can be a cost-effective way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand preference or to educate people.
• Sales Promotion—Promotional tools, both a tool to speed up sales or value for the company; or an extra incentive to buy, a value to the customer. Includes trade deals, trade incentives, rebates, money-back offers, frequency programs, slotting allowances for in store promotion, samples, loyalty programs, coupons, premiums, tie-ins, p-o-p, displays, sweepstakes, allowances, trade shows, sales rep/trade contests, events/experiences and more.
• Collateral Materials—Booklets, catalogs, brochures, films, sales kits, promotional products and annual reports.
• Direct Marketing (also referred to as Action or Direct Response Advertising)—online, direct mail, mobile, database management, catalogs, telemarketing, and direct-response ads, including TV.
• Interactive/Internet/Web, Digital Media, Social Media—Interactive/online is a form that uses the Internet and Web to deliver promotional messages to attract customers. Social media is an interactive platform in which individuals and communities create and share user-generated content. Social media is ubiquitously accessible, includes Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, as examples.
• Events and Experiences—Interacting with the brand. An experience can be much more impactful than an exposure or an impression. Events, promotions, one on one, and/or face-to-face engagements are delivering consumers to encounter, “experience,” and interact with the product or the service, usually prior to buying.
  • Samsung has used pop-up stores and customers can leave with a device, smartphones, tablets and wrist devices, free of charge. An “event and experience” initiative to convince smartphone and tablet owners to switch to Samsung. They also cover the wireless data costs.
• Public Relations—press releases, publicity. Securing editorial space, as opposed to paid space—usually in print, electronic or Internet media. Promote or “hype” a product, service, idea, place, person or organization, internal communication, lobbying. PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company’s image/reputation or individual products.

6. Place/Distribution: The company’s activities that make the product available, using distribution and trade channels, coverage, assortments, locations, inventory and transportation characteristics and alternatives. Typical supply chain consists of four links in the chain: Producer/Factory/Manufacturer, Distributor, Wholesaler, Retailer supplying the consumer and user.

7. Partners/Strategic Alliances: Marketers can’t create customer value and build customer relationships by themselves. They work closely with other company departments (inside partners) and often with partners and alliances outside the firm.

• Changes are occurring in how marketers connect with their suppliers, channel partners and others. A joint partnership; the joint relationships, partnerships and strategic alliances. The relationship existing between two parties; a relationship resembling a legal partnership and usually involving close cooperation between parties having specific and joint rights and responsibilities as a common enterprise. Usually plural or “Partners,” not Partner.
• It is important to partner with firms that have similar corporate philosophies.
• Review and have clear, comprehensive, time-bound contracts and agreements.
• Have agreed upon objectives and strategies.
• Look for team management, relationship-building and team-building focus.
• From Philip Kotler: Value chains, of suppliers, distributors and customers. Partnering with specific suppliers or distributors create a value-delivery network; also called a supply chain. Partnership Marketing; Partner Relationship Management.
• Partnership and cooperative agreements are formed that enable parties to bring their major strengths to the table and emerge with better planning, products, services, promotion, distribution and ideas than they could produce on their own.
• Continuous support and cooperation with consultation is usually needed.

8. Presentation: The acts of presenting any of the 9P’s to your customers, suppliers, clients, or partners. A symbol or image that represents something; A descriptive or persuasive account (as a sales person of his product). Something set forth for the attention of mind.

9. Passion: Intense, driving or overmastering feelings, Emotion. The emotions as distinguished from reason; A strong liking for or devotion to some activity; Deep interest in your partnership/presentation of any of the 9P’s to any target or partner.

Read more about 9P’s© at NinePs.com and on this website.

The networks are speeding up the actual show or content to add a bigger or greater number of ads. Simply there are just more ads shoved into the program, time slot or the actual programing. Add the opening and closing credits which are sped up and more spots are inserted in the program. But there is another reason.

Have you heard that the voices don’t sound right?

Voices seem raised a notch, and they appear unnatural. Some networks including Time Warner and TBS use electronic compression technology to speed up the program or movie. Why? Adding more TV spots and commercials. Stuffing more into the time.

It’s just more clutter but do the viewers know or care? Do the advertisers care? They are paying the rates to get ratings. Does the creative community or the content owners care? Stay tuned.

It’s sung at almost every kitchen table. Every restaurant table. In movies. In stage productions. On smart phones. In classrooms, and lunch rooms.

From the widely used source, Guinness World Records, it’s “Happy Birthday to you.” The song was first written for kindergartners. At public performances it will cost you royalties or money if used. Or maybe a legal issue.

Warner Music Group acquired it in 1988, and a documentary is coming out about the song. Royalties are about $2 million a year and Warner Music paid $15 million for the copyright.

Google.com, one of the most valuable domains on the web, was sold for $12 on September 29, 2015, and Google bought it back for $12K or about two times $6006.13.

Google offered to pay Sanmay Ved, a former Googler, $6,006.13, who had purchased the domain for $12 with his Discover card. Google ended up paying twice that amount to a charity Sanmy picked. The beneficiary “Art of Living India Foundation” is a group that runs free schools in parts of India. If you are thinking why $6006.13; it is the numerical version of the word “Google.”

It’s a cute story. In Danish the phrase “Leg Godt” means “play well.” That is how you want your child and his friends to “play well.” Plus all children have the right to have fun, create and engage in play experiences. Play is essential because when a child plays, he or she learns.

American artist Bill Watterson was the author and creator of “Calvin and Hobbes.”

The cartoon strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson could have made millions on product licensing and merchandise but he had only one lone licensed t-shirt in 1991. In ’91, the Smithsonian and Ohio State University put together an exhibit “Great American Comics: 100 Years of Cartoon Art.”

Bill Watterson allowed only one Sunday strip with Calvin and Hobbes’ making faces at a camera. It was a t-shirt to promote the exhibit.

You can find many, allegedly illegal and unlicensed products for sale on the web.

Watterson stopped drawing Calvin and Hobbes at the end of 1995, and during the ten years, Watterson was well known for his negative views on the licensing of his comic.

I read each of the 3,160 cartoons in order (first strip in November 18, 1985) and have read a pretty good book “Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Conventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip.” This book was researched and written by Nevin Martell. I also visited Chagrin Falls, Ohio where Watterson’s family relocated to in 1965 when Bill was six years old.

First strip: November 18, 1985

Nothing has changed. Well, may be a lot. Money, revenue and NFL without the AFL. In 1960, the owner of AFL’s Los Angeles Chargers relocated the Los Angeles Chargers down the coast to Balboa Stadium and renamed them the San Diego Chargers.

The San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles and kicked off their 2017 season, on August 13, 2017, as the Los Angeles Chargers at Stubhub Center in Carson. That’s 57 years in the making.

Phil Knight wanted a logo which would sell his shoes, and differentiate them from Adidas and Onitsuka’s Tiger. A young artist from Portland State, Carolyn Davidson, was doing ad slicks and brochures. When asked what were the objectives and strategies, Knight said “I don’t know.” Several dozen designs were presented. The committee saw a check mark and a whoosh of air. They liked the “swoosh” design since it was timeless, new, could stand out, be replicated on a shoe, plus they said it was fresh and ancient.

Carolyn was paid with a check for $35. Great deal and has lasted more than 47 years.

On October 11, 2018, Singapore Airlines launched the New World’s Longest Flight Today, from Newark to Singapore in 19 Hours. It’s a 9,534 mile, non-stop flight. These flights are long and are being promoted as the longest flights, in the world.

For the passengers, you’ll see the airline develop special programs (Products and Services) on wellness, nutrition, hydration, air quality, entertainment, physical systems for stimulation, plus special foods, services and more. And if you want to catch up on your movies, how about 11.4 movies if you eat while watching and no naps. Now that’s another consumer benefit.

It involves comedian Will Ferrell and the 2004 movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” You can find it in 2018: Sex Panther, 1.7-oz Cologne Spray Non Growl Box from $35 to $72 on Amazon.com and other retailers near you. Includes product benefit: “60% of the time, it works every time.”

With the recovery of tourism in France, plus Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s “Apes**t” video, with its tribute to the museum’s greatest artworks, visitor attendance increased at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The Louvre recorded it’s greatest attendance at 10.2 million visitors in 2018. An increase of 25% over 2017.

Many of the 9P’s of Marketing including Product, Place and Presentation are part of this story. No other museum in the world has this attendance. The Louvre’s previous record was 9.7 million dates from 2012 with the exhibitions on Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

The word on where Mona Lisa is looking: The Mona Lisa effect is a real phenomenon where the eyes of a portrait appear to follow the viewers. There are more than 2000 assessments revealing the painting’s gaze falls slightly to the right.

Introduced in 1992 as a product line extension. Eva Longoria will direct a new movie about the janitor who invented the “hot” snack. The Frito-Lay janitor became an executive because of his creativity and execution. When a machine broke on the assembly line where Richard Montañez worked as a janitor, he took a bunch of Cheetos home and sprinkled chili powder on them. They reminded him of a cheesy corn treat, elote, or Mexican street corn.

1932 Chuck Taylor high-tops, also known as Converse. You can think Madonna, Ramones and James Dean.

It was “Jurassic World” (2015). There are a few other movies which have generated a billion dollars in global box office. They are “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011); “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012); “Transformer: Age of Extinction” (2014); “Captain America Civil War” (2016); “The Fate of the Furious” (2017); “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (2018); “Spider-Man: Far from Home” (2019).

17,600, according to P&G in Spring 2020.

It was NBC’s “Saturday Night,” which was later changed to be called NBC’s SNL or “Saturday Night Live.” The first two words said were “Good Evening.” After a short comedy bit, with John Belushi and Michael O’Donoghue, the veteran announcer, Don Pardo shouted “Live from New York! It’s Saturday Night!” It was produced and directed by Lorne Michaels. The segment “Weekend Update” starred Chevy Chase. Musical guests were Janis Joplin and Billy Preston. “Saturday Night” has been called the first network series produced by and for the TV generation of post-war babies that TV was used as a baby sitter to many.

With the demise of the family station wagon, and the Oil Crisis in the fall, on November 2, 1983, the first minivan which was a Plymouth Voyager, rolled off the production line in Windsor, Ontario. The first minivan was actually Canadian and was linked to Ford Mustang. Lee Iacocca has been credited as the father of the Ford Mustang and for rolling out the first minivan at Chrysler. Many in Marketing have said that the sales lift of the minivan saved Chrysler from bankruptcy in the early 1980s.

Amazon opened 25 years ago in July ’95. They promoted themselves as the “earth’s biggest bookstore.” In ’95 they spent $30K on advertising, 5.9% of its $511K in net sales. Amazon’s ad spending was $11 billion in ’19. Over the past 25 years, Amazon has spent $47 billion on advertising and promotion (3.5% of sales) to generate $1.3 trillion in net sales. (AdAge, Forbes, Newsbreak)

Built in 1931,the Dorchester has been regarded as a fine, luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park.

A hotel promotional brochure touted the hotel as “Experts agree the shelter is absolutely safe against a direct hit (from the German bombers).” The bombing of London occurred from September 7, 1940 – May 11, 1941.

Today you can look at amenities at many hotels, with Internet or wi-fi access, hotel name and their, reward programs (points added to their accounts for example Hilton HHonors. Like the Advantage program for American). Look at airport hotels which have easy access to the airport or special conference rooms for company employees flying in from all over.

Can you believe that an ironing board is important for some. We are guessing more women than men.

What about a pool, the brand’s reputation, TV with a good, working remote, “Price” (one of the Nine P’s), special offers, value; quality, style; ratings of hotels from previous guests.

There is more to the list that Larry develops in class:

1. Rest & Relaxation.
2. With Promotion, hotels fight or battle over the claims of which ones have the best beds, sheets, etc., fitness center, food, restaurants, Starbuck coffee, special promotional offers, convention services; room service, pillow menu selection, white noise machine, candy, apples or cookie at check-in, and turn-down service.

Yes, it exists today some 46 years later. It’s a classic Marketing story which falls under the 4P’s and the 9P’s.

The Pet Rock was a viral joke before the internet. It was sold by an entrepreneur. He sold the rock as a pet. And that Pet Rock sold. They made Gary Dahl a millionaire. Gary Dahl was the creator of the Pet Rock. He was a Marketing genius, copywriter, creative director, advertising agency owner, entrepreneur. He had great timing.

It was a gag or a gag gift. It wasn’t as much about the rock or pet, but how it was presented, promoted and talked about.

Comedians and presenters of their talk shows loved it.

The Pet Rock was introduced in 1975, at Christmas time. Smart.

I remember that Christmas. My aunt bought one and brought it over to our family holiday get together. I was fascinated. I was teaching Marketing at the time. I used the Pet Rock in a presentation. I used the Marketing Mix/4P’s by Jerome McCarthy to explain it.

The “product” or gift was a rock in a cardboard box, with air holes cut out, and the rock was placed in a straw nest. Sold for $3.95. Few now remember that the Pet Rock was a really great idea 46 years ago for only $3.95.

I found it for nearly $20 on eBay today. Wasn’t in great shape, either.

In 1975, Dahl told People magazine he was selling 100K of them. Sold many more. Gary Dahl died in 2015. Was worth $2 Million. It was reported that he made $1 Million selling a rock in a cardboard box.

Chocolate has a history as a love food and as an aphrodisiac. It’s about passion. The upper class of the Mayans and Aztecs loved a drink of roasted cacao beans with vanilla, honey and chilies.

But what about the red box? In 1861, a “Product” and “Marketing” genius, Richard Cadbury of the British chocolate manufacturing company, Cadbury, added rosebuds and cupids to heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. It was suggested that the boxes, after the chocolates had been consumed, customers could use these beautiful boxes to save love letters.

Regarding Hollywood and movies, it was in 1933 with Jean Harlow’s performance in “Dinner at Eight,” She was dressed in satin and sequins, and lounges with a heart-shaped pillow, in bed, and suggestively nibbles the candies in a large box of chocolates.

Wanted to add it isn’t associated with Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) in 1994 when he said “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Love?

It’s Singapore. Its birthrate is lower than the United States, and the US birthrate has fallen every year except one since 2009. The rates are below what some “experts” call replacement rate or the number of new babies to keep the population level stable.

First came out in 2002 and the estimate by the business managers was to sell 35K units.

Today over 35 million have been sold.

You don’t know it as Cybersuck or CyberSuck.

The prices can be $500 to $1600 for an advanced model of a room vacuum.

It’s got brushes and it’s got optical sensors. It debuted as a clean sweep and Floor Vac, but the best name the internal team came up with was Cybersuck.

So, the team hired a branding firm for $16.5K to come up with a better name. Good thinking. You know it as a Roomba, a combination of the words room and rumba.

Around the world, various defunct technologies of the pre-and post- Internet have been unplugged, with each having advantages and disadvantages. Look at American Online starter kits, floppy disks, VCRs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, thumbdrives, pagers, beepers, CRT monitors, modems, laptops and tablets replacing desktop computer, car phones, video rental stores and, I’m going to add, encyclopedia sales.

It’s the Arizona Cardinals. In 2022, they play for the second time in Mexico City, plus they have played in the first preseason game outside North America in 1976 (Japan) and the first preseason game ever in Europe in 1983 (London).

In 2022, NFL teams will play in Munich for the first time, Mexico City and London.

Philip Morris spent $8 million to sponsor “I Love Lucy” back in 1953 (about $86 million today). Brands continue to spend on TV advertising trying to generate awareness and sales.

It was too far out, ahead of its time, nearly sixty years ago.

Bell Telephone’s “Picturephone” was introduced and promoted at the 1964 World’s Fair. A tiny black and white video screen.

Sales estimates were a million subscribers by 1980. Only 70 takers in the first six months. Price or cost was $160 per month or in today’s dollars about $1400 a month. FaceTime has more than 125 million regular users, worldwide.

Anna Jarvis who created and founded Mother’s Day. Many feel that the holiday of Mother’s Day is highly commercialized. But it’s important. And 36% of all gifts are edible. Additional sales of chocolates, for sure.