Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Marketing 121

I pass a man on my way to work every morning who makes me think of a basic Marketing project:

Case: A public-spirited, deeply committed man with a moral message has spent two years on the same street corner conducting a protest. His promotion materials consist of a) chalk and b) one poster-board sign. Assume that traffic past his post is 5,000 cars per day, containing an average of 1.5 people, 700 pedestrians.

1. Calculate what percentage of his daily audience pass his corner every day as part of their commute.
a) Subtract the daily commuters from the average daily audience
b) analyze typical traffic patterns to determine how many new consumers will pass after a week, after a month, after three months, after six months, after a year. Graph these results and discuss in no less than one full paragraph. For extra credit, produce a credible analysis of the key audience numbers ie how many consumers already agree with the message, how many disagree and are unlikely to change based on a road-side protest, how many will not notice the protest, how many will change but do nothing, how many will change and become actively involved in the issue.

2. Analyze promotion materials
a) what is his message
i) what is the overt marketing statement
ii) what is his core message, what is he trying to get consumers to do
b) how successful are his materials
i) are the materials clearly and effectively displayed
ii) is the message effectively presented via text and image

3. Estimate and plot the returns on his message over time. Graph should clearly show key consumer response.

4. Produce a complete marketing plan for this client, including branding.

Being cynical, it also inspires a simple word problem:

A man has been protesting by the side of a road for eight hours a day, five days a week, for two years. Assuming that a volunteer at Habitat for Humanity can install a sink in two hours, how many sinks...

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