Instructional
Objectives: Students will create an ad for their product
Time Required:
one to two hours
Advance Preparation: Although students can create posters with Microsoft Word, you should have Publisher or other desktop publishing software installed on student computers. You may want to get the books "Marketing for Dummies" or "Marketing Kit for Dummies" both by Alexander Hiam which are available at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The following links provide more online information about marketing and marketing strategies:
http://captureplanning.com/!hc_business_development.cfm?p=awhcbd - Capture planning site which contains information on many topics related to Marketing such as how to create a winning proposal, how to correct common marketing mistakes, how to create a brochure like a pro and many other topics, tips and tutorials.
http://marketingprinciples.com/marketingresearch/default.asp?cat=119 - Advanced Marketing Consultants article on Marketing Research, the three stages of a market.
http://sba.gov/starting_business/marketing/basics.html - U.S. Small Business Administration link on Marketing Basics. There are also links on Market Research, Marketing plans, Ads and publicity.
http://mapnp.org/library/mrktng/basics/basics.htm - Marketing links assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD on the basics, advertising, publicity, product selection and development as well as other related topics.
Materials
/ Resources Required: Internet access, Word or Publisher
Focus Questions, Vocabulary, Generalizations and Key Points: How can we make our product appealing to customers? How can we use the information from our research to guide us through this process? Student research should already provide groups with the type of product, color and possible prices. Students should draw on their own experiences from being consumers themselves as they look for ways to make their product more appealing. Students may want to research further to determine what psychological effects certain color (Color Psychology) or odor changes have on a product.
Publicity is closely related to public relations. Whereas public relations is the management of all communications between the firm and the general public, publicity is the management of product or brand related communications between the firm and the general public. It is primarily an informative activity (as opposed to a persuasive one), but its ultimate goal is to promote the company's products, services, or brands .
Slogan-A slogan is a memorable phrase used in political or commercial context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. A political slogan generally expresses a goal or aim ("Workers of the world, unite!"), whereas an advertising slogan is most often intended as a memorable identifier ("The real thing"). Slogans vary from the written and the visual, to the chanted and the vulgar. Click here for a list of advertising slogans to share with students.
Advertising slogans are claimed to be, and often prove to be, the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product. Typically they make claims about being the best quality, providing an important benefit or solution, or being most suitable for the potential customer.
At the start of World War I, when modern advertising was in its infancy, a famous poster called on young British men to heed the need expressed by one of Britain's foremost soldiers, Lord Kitchener, and volunteer to serve their country. The famous slogan "Your Country Needs You" was heard around the world. Still today America uses a variant of this slogan (Uncle Sam Needs You, or The Army Needs You).
Advertising slogans often play a large part in the interplay between rival companies. An effective slogan usually:
