Travis R. Martin, CPA, MBA » Marketing Lesson Plan

Marketing Lesson: Target Market People Activity

travisrmartin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:34:05 +0000

Sample Target Market People

Lesson Description

If your students have ever seen a commercial or made a purchase, they have already seen target markets in action.

The concept itself is not hard to understand, but it is nonetheless one of the most important concepts in marketing. The better a company is at identifying their potential customers; the more successful they will be in delivering products and services that are in demand.

In this activity, students get hands-on with target markets by creating a fictional person that is representative of a given target market.

The activity begins with a PowerPoint discussion of how target markets are used to identify the needs of specific groups of consumers and how this information is used to develop/market products.

Students are then shown a document listing sample market segmentations.

The students use this information to identify a target market (single male, ages 18 – 24, income < $25,000 for example).

Once the students have identified a target market, they cut the form of a person out of a large sheet of art paper and decorate it using photos of products that are marketed to that particular group.

After each group has created their “Target Market” person (I usually allot 45 minutes to 1 hour for this portion), they are presented to the class. Often times, the presentations lead to a discussion of how and where the products depicted on the Target Market person are advertised, as well as which target markets are most attractive (from a business sense).

Not only is this activity a good, cheap way to introduce students to target markets, it also provides your classroom with some conversation-starting decorations. After taping this year’s crop to my walls, I had a number of students from other classes ask about them…so, in a way, the target market people are marketing my marketing classes for me!

Lesson Resources
PowerPoint Notes: Target Markets
Instructions: Target Market Person
Resource: Market Segment Listings

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Marketing Lesson: An “Eggcellent” Distribution Channel Activity

travisrmartin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:51:08 +0000

Student Eggmen Used in Distribution Channel Activity

Lesson Background

One of the most underappreciated “P’s” of Marketing is Placement (or distribution). Most people, students especially, would rather talk about product creation, promotion, and pricing, as opposed to discussing how to get products from one point to another.

This hands-on marketing activity puts a fun spin on distribution channels by requiring students to move a product from point A to point B while navigating a classroom obstacle course.

The product in this case is a hard-boiled egg, which with a little help from a sharpie and some push pins, becomes a loveable “Eggman.”

The actual obstacle course will vary depending on how your classroom is laid out, but my classroom provided the following obstacles, or stations, as I called them:

A 6-foot long piece of tubing that the Eggman traveled down to begin the journey
2 traffic cones in the middle of the room that the Eggman had to weave around
A large desk that Eggman had to travel over
2 tables that Eggman had to travel under
An ocean (marked off with tape and labeled with a sign) that Eggman had to fly over

Of course, carrying an egg by hand through an obstacle course wouldn’t be too challenging, and it probably wouldn’t teach a whole lot about distribution channels.

So, to make things a little more difficult, the students are not allowed to touch the Eggman with their hands. They must transport him by selecting various modes of transportation. For my activity, I use a baseball mitt, a hand-towel, a toy cart, a Frisbee, and a spoon. As an added twist, I require that the students use each method of transportation only once (for instance, a student could not use the spoon to carry the Eggman through each station).

By using this setup, students are forced to develop a plan that utilizes their transportation and labor resources in an

Student Plan for Navigating Eggman Distrubtion Channel

efficient manner.

After creating a plan, the groups are timed to see how quickly they can navigate the channel. I like to assign a dollar amount to each second (1 second = $100 cost) as well as assigning a cost for labor ($250 per student involved in each station). At the end of the game, we calculate what team has navigated the channel for the lowest total cost, and that group is declared the winner.

The activity is concluded with a discussion of how our distribution channels could be made more efficient.

Having completed this activity with a couple of different classes, I can say that it does an effective job of making the subject of distribution channels come to life.

Lesson Resources

Instructions: An “Eggcellent” Distribution Channel Activity

PowerPoint Notes: Product Placement (Distribution) Discussion

Note
This activity was adapted from a similar one I found on the internet a while back. I believe it was from a group of professors in New York?? I tried to find it again, but couldn’t. If you’re the originator of this idea, and would like credit, drop me a line and I will link back to the original.

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Marketing Lesson: Kellogg’s Cereal Creation Activity

travisrmartin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:17:30 +0000

Lesson Description

Product creation and market research go hand-in-hand. If a company is going to spend millions of dollars developing

Puzzle Puffs - Student Created Cereal

and promoting a product, they need to be fairly certain that there will be a market for the product. Of course, companies don’t always get it right (Arch Deluxe with a New Coke, anyone?). But, generally speaking, the more information a company has about their customer’s preferences, the more likely they will be able to create a successful product.

In this hands-on activity, students develop a new cereal concept for Kellogg’s. The activity starts with students reading a short case about Kellog’s slumping cereal sales (see link below). Then students divide up into groups and conduct market research using surveys or focus groups.

After conducting their market research, the groups each create a new cereal based on their findings. Ideally, students will have experience with Adobe Photoshop or a similar graphics editing program. This will help them in creating an attractive design that fits over the top of a regular cereal box.

Resources:
Cereal Creation Project – Instructions and Case Reading

Cereal Creation Project – Sample Student Survey

Marketing Basics – PowerPoint slides from classroom discussion

Possible Lesson Extensions

Home Economics – Students could make prototypes of their cereal
Math – Students could use sampling techniques as part of their surveys
Marketing – Students could develop a promotional campaign for their cereal (radio, television, “new” media, etc.)

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