Pearson Education Marketing Podcasts

This is a straightforward Podcast that reviews environmental analysis (AUDIT) and how it impacts on the strategic direction an organisation might take. Essentially it is about; Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How are we going to get there? The Podcast finishes with an example of how a strategy has to change in the light of changing environmental circumstances.

This is an interesting Podcast in the sense that the interviewee, Nicola Shann was able to illustrate the effectiveness of exhibitions as a communication tool and e-mail as an effective method of direct marketing. Be aware of the specialist nature of the exhibition - Nicola does briefly explain it at the beginning of the Podcast. It was for Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to highlight 'Beacon Status' which they were recently awarded. Nicola interviews explains how the exhibition benefitted both her organisation and the visitors and how effective e-mail is as a DM tool, she does briefly link it to advertising as well but the major communication tool for the event was e-mail.

This Podcast illustrates the link between personal selling, building relationships with customers and CRM. The point is made that training manuals and textbook theory does not necessarily work and that sometimes gut instinct is better at building customer relationships than following a fixed pattern.

As with other podcasts that discuss communications this is rather a short one but nevertheless one, which highlights the use of sales promotion as a tactical rather than strategic tool. However the possibility that sales promotion could become more of a strategic tool is raised and a point that is worth debating and discussing.

The thrust of this podcast is to ensure students clearly understand the difference and relationship between advertising and media. Also, by implication the value an growth of new media in terms of communication. Furthermore students are reminded of the use of advertising to meet strategic objectives.

By reference to the Shannon-Weaver communications model the podcast illustrates the importance of integrated communications at both a strategic and tactical level. You will be able to empathise with some of the points made at a practical level but also better understand the relevance and application of theory. Listeners' attention is also drawn to the importance of communications in the context of the marketing mix

By noting that distribution is the 'poor cousin' of the marketing mix I have highlighted how important it is at a strategic level and as part of the integrated marketing mix. The theme of the strategic importance of distribution is carried over into the identification of some of the factors that determine distribution channels. Also identified is the difference between distribution and logistics.

While emphasis is placed on factors that determine pricing strategies such as psychological pricing and pricing against competitors and in the context of corporate objectives the listener is encouraged to consider how external factors can have a major impact on pricing. While organisations may have a clear set of objectives, prevailing conditions can have a major impact on the organisations ability to meet objectives therefore illustrating that theory while having a place cannot always be carried through into practice.

This Podcast brings the concept of pricing firmly into the realms of current economic conditions. It illustrates that in uncertain times the context in which pricing decisions are made are subject to circumstances that are beyond the control of business. Examples are given from the Podcasters personal experience and links are made to the current situation many firms are facing. The Podcasts objective is to make pricing relevant so that you can contextualise it in the light of current economic conditions. Think about how other MACRO factors might impact on pricing decisions.

Most textbooks offer a fairly standard version of the new product development process. This Podcast seeks to establish how closely industry adheres to the process. The Podcast features an interview with the Brand Innovation Manager from Warburton's who has experience of product development from working for a number of organisations. He is therefore in a strong position to offer a critique of the textbook view of NPD, which he does. The interview is a good example of how theory tends to differ from practice in the real world of work.

This Podcast focuses on the debate between formal and informal planning, in order to take a different approach to the textbooks, which focus on formal planning. It is particularly relevant in the context of the current ever-changing business environment, particularly relevant in panic times such as with the credit crunch where management is 'on the hoof'. While textbook planning embraces the idea of control and the possibility of unexpected eventualities, in practice as the Podcast infers many managers find it difficult to deviate from plan until, as was the case with the credit crunch, it was too late. This Podcast refers to some of the issues discussed in the Marketing Dynamics podcast when analysis of the MACRO environment was discussed.

This Podcast emphasises sponsorship but in the context of public relations. As a student you are much more likely to be aware of sponsorship as a communications tool than PR. You are encouraged to be more aware of sponsorship and critically the reasons for a company sponsoring their chosen event/TV programme etc. What are the links; where is the mutual benefit; what criticisms do they have? Think for example if there is a relationship between the organisations in the partnership? Mention is made of TESCO and 'Race for Life' . You might want to identify a company and write a short briefing note to the directors setting out when they should sponsor a particular event/TV programme etc.

This Podcasts is a practical illustration of the application of Product life Cycle theory (PLC). You can take the Jaguar example as the basis of your understanding of product management through the life cycle but with the intension of ensuring the product continues to grow in the long term and therefore ensure sustained profitability. Try to apply this to an example of your own : for example if you are a football fan examine how the club manager develops his (or her) team for the long term considering the short-term constraints in the game. If you are a Manchester United fan you might note that Sir Alex Ferguson has a policy of gradually introducing young players into the team at strategic points in the season so as to 'blood' them. By doing this he is extending the success of the team as have proved to be the case. In this example Manchester United represents the product/service for illustration purposes.

The focus of this Podcast is on the importance of branding to the building of a product and how the brand communicates product attributes and by implication how we almost come to expect certain brand values when we buy into the brand. These discussions should lead to the notion of the potential product and how the brand has the possibility to develop the core product towards the potential product. However to achieve this the product/service needs to be continually developed a topic that is discussed in the previous E-marketing and new media podcast. In other words the product service cannot stand still if it wants to retain its position in the marketplace. It is suggested that tutors develop this theme with students to encourage them to think of their own examples of how they buy into the brand and its values and how that must add value to the product/service and ultimately increase profitability.

This Podcast features Dr Fiona Cheetham whose research interests are in the social/cultural aspects of consumer behaviour and two third year students one from the UK (Rachel) the other from the USA (Samantha). Dr Cheetham takes an academic perspective on consumer behaviour and suggests that marketers need to understand and appreciate the cultural aspects of society so that they are better able to target their audience with both the appropriate message and products. She ends with a view of culture as being, 'The lens through which we see society'. Rachel and Samantha comment on this from their personal experiences and approaches to shopping from different cultural perspectives. Interestingly they do not find a great deal of differences between their own shopping behaviour and conclude that actually the common denominator is education/social class.

The theme of this Podcast is a discussion on how closely theory is to practice. The first part features an interview with Professor Andrew Newman for Salford Business School who is a Retail Guru. As well as discussing some of the key issues for retailers he also highlights how academics need to be concerned with producing research that can be understood and applied by the real world of business, recognising some of the shortcomings of academia. His comments make for interesting listening. The second part of the discussion is with a student who works in retail - she comments on the points that Professor Newman makes from a practitioners perspective.

This is a Podcast based on the marketing concept/orientation. Its starting point is the Levitt view that in order to understand and meet the needs and wants of customers organisations need to understand the industry they are situated in. His famous example is the American railways who through of themselves as in the railway industry rather than the transport industry and as a result lost sight of their customers and indeed lost them to competitors. The Podcast brings this up to date with Steam (heritage) Railways as an example. They are mainly run by enthusiasts but they who actually only make up 5% of their business. They have recognised that they are in the leisure industry and not running as a steam railway therefore they attract a wide range of customers. In this Podcast the General Manager of one such railway, The East Lancashire Railway explains how the product offerings recognise and meet the needs and wants of a wide range of customers.

Another podcast with Bill Daring who works in the e-Marketing business. Bill provides an insight into how e-Marketing has evolved since he started his business in 1995. He explains how Web 2.0 is a step beyond the opriginal web (Web 1) and explores the potential it opens for marketers, particularly in terms of building relationships with customers. He also explains how his company offer the new media to businesses along with examples from other companies.

This Podcast is designed to illustrate the importance of secondary research and its contribution to business decision-making. People tend to be aware of sources of secondary data but not how to use it and importantly the contribution it makes to primary data collection. The two practitioners interviewed are from both consumer and business marketing and illustrate how they gathered data from a variety of sources, analysed it to aid their decision-making.

This is a Podcast with Bill Daring an experienced b2b marketer. He is very good at illustrating the importance of understanding the buying behaviour of the final consumer and thus demonstrating the relevance of derived demand operating at a practical level. Interestingly he suggests that in actual fact many of his customers know little about his own customers. He also demonstrates how modern technology is used to help build an understanding of his customers customers. Bill also provides an insight into the interactions within the decision-making unit (DMU) and how he works to overcome them and the importance of building relationships with business customers.