Steve Shu’s posterous (Marketing class site)

Steve Shu’s posterous (Marketing class site)

Steve Shu  //  Steve Shu is a management consultant and business development professional. He is also an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Irvine University.

Steve holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and both an ME and BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

Steve currently has a primary professional blog at http://steveshu.typepad.com and can be found on Twitter at http://twitter.com/steveshu

Jul 16 / 11:38am

Baja Fresh eyes bigger dinner sales with new prototype – Nation’s Restaurant News
via nrn.com

Baja Fresh looking to adapt according to changing consumer tastes by prototyping Korean barbeque tacos in Irvine, CA. Korean barbeque tacos may have come into the vernacular of Los Angeleans largely because of the cult following and Twitter media breakout of two, Kogi BBQ taco trucks (not affiliated with Baja Fresh). Kogi BBQ soliciting their customers for feedback here ... http://kogibbq.com/2009/07/16/so

FWIW - seems like the move by Baja Fresh is confirming evidence that there may be a broader trend developing. When I think about Kogi BBQ taco trucks, it is interesting to think about whether any lessons can be taken from the In-N-Out Burger model?

Edit update: Based on Twitter activity, it looks like Baja may consider changing the name for a variety of reasons, including having a misunderstanding of the Korean word for "beef" ... http://twitter.com/boldbajafresh/status/2682075312

Filed under  //  Marketing   Strategy  

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Jul 15 / 9:35pm

Whitepaper on Interim Executives (from a U.S. Angle)

I like the part in the paper that calls out concrete examples of assignments:
 
"As to what kinds of assignments interim executives take on, these might include:
• Opening a division in a new region or country
• Launching a product or service
• Guiding a start-up business through initial hurdles
• Managing operations through a merger, acquisition or succession
• Turning around and restructuring troubled companies or divisions
 
The white paper also contains insights about the dynamics of C-suite interim work."
 
Get the paper here (PDF) ... http://www.interimceo.com/downloads/interimwhitepaper.pdf

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Jul 13 / 10:47pm

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (With Vomit Girl)

via youtube.com

This is a pretty disgusting commercial. Based on feedback from use of this video in other marketing classes, I thought it might be good for my class and serve as a good example of poor marketing segmentation and unclear target. That said, things slightly backfired on me. Folks thought that targeting the "creepy people" segment was a sensible thing and that the gross, borrowed-interest advertising strategy appealed to Gen Ys. Me not convinced.

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Jul 13 / 10:35pm

Recycle Can - Discovery Channel

via youtube.com

This video is a visually-gripping, 2-minute short by the Discovery Channel promoting social responsibility and recycling.

Filed under  //  Marketing   Social Responsbility  

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Jul 13 / 1:07pm

United Breaks Guitars - Customer Music Video?

via consultantninja.com

After having a bad experience with United Airlines, a customer (?) makes a music video that has gone viral on the web.

Edit: CNN video providing more context on history and response by United ... 

Filed under  //  Marketing  

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Jul 13 / 8:18am

Aston Martin Cygnet: James Bond Never Drove One Of These

via motorauthority.com

Oh boy ... to be based on the Toyota platform and will list at around 20,000 pounds? Taking the super-premo luxury brand too far downstream perhaps?

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Jul 9 / 10:07pm

Evian Roller Babies - International Version

via youtube.com

Honestly, I am not sure what to think. :) This looks to be a viral piece at 2.7M views. As for 1 min length (versus 30 seconds), not sure if sized for both viral and international (non-US) markets.

Edit: Some more perspectives and public opinions here ... http://www.parentdish.com/2009/07/09/evians-roller-skating-babies-ad-cute-or-creepy/#comments

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Jul 8 / 11:13pm

Microsoft Bing Commercial

via youtube.com

One of the first commercials for Bing, the new search engine by Microsoft to compete with Google. What are your impressions and assessment of the brand? What kind of distance has Microsoft kept with the Bing name/logo relative to Microsoft? What is the value proposition in the commercial? How does the content of the commercial relate to the product lifecycle? What kinds of issues could Bing run into with respect to customer use/acceptance? Note: according to Mashable (http://mashable.com/2009/07/08/bing-numbers), Bing is now the 13th most visited site on the web after 1 month!

Filed under  //  Marketing  

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Jul 8 / 11:19am

Mexico "Discover The Magic Of Mexico" 2009 TV Commercial

via youtube.com

Another interesting case of marketing tied to immediate environment concerns. In this case it is for the country of Mexico and was done in response to the swine flu outbreak in 2009. A very gutsy issue to try to take head-on because it could be viewed as drawing attention to a problem more than helping a subsegment of persons that are closer to formulating travel plans and weighing discretionary travel. What type of techniques are used in this video to educate and build support? Are the techniques effective in your opinion? What prerequisites, marketing research, and/or alternatives might one want to explore before launching such a campaign?

Filed under  //  Marketing  

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Jul 7 / 4:51pm

Stephon "Starbury" Marbury And His New Shoe (Actually A Whole Product Line)

via youtube.com

Starbury basketball shoe to be covered as part of my marketing class on pricing. Listed at $14.98 (not street price)! Note that one of the marketing people that was involved with Nike's Air Jordan shoe was involved with the launch of the Starbury shoe. I have no personal experience with the Starbury brand, but it would be interesting to get some hands-on experience with it.

Filed under  //  Marketing  

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