Marketing: Identify the Firm's State

This is an exercise in marketing for business studentsto help them identify the types of marketing needs.
and explores ways to deal with those demands. It may require some prior knowledge of marketing techniques, and provides lively debate for normal marketing classes and intermediate and advance ESL classes at international business schools

To begin, print a large card for each of the state of affairs or classifications below.

Wholesome or Ethical , Rejected or Unwanted ,  Overcrowded , Abundant , Unhealthy or Immoral,  No Interest or No Need, Dwindling Demand, Seasonal or Peak, Unrecognized or Unfulfilled

These positions or state of affairs are often the opinons or perceptions of the the general public, or the company itself. They may be very stereotypical. Or they may simply be the state of the market at present.

Clear out a large space in the classroom or go out in the corridor and place the cards on the floor. Ask your students to arrange the cards in some kind of order or pattern, for example the most positive to the most negative.
Make sure there is a great deal of space between each card.
Choose one of the potential clients or problems below (or make up some case in points of your own) and ask the students to catagorize the requirements of that firm or idea by simply standing next to the card in question.
Here is were the fun starts. Ask the students why they chose that card. From what perspective did they aproach
their decision? What is their take on this state of affairs. What actions do they recommend to impliment in this situation? What are the pluses and minuses in this case? Future problems? etc.

Your first example might be Malboro Cigarettes. Most if not all of the students will gravitate to "Unhealthy or Immoral Needs" or "Rejected or Unwanted Needs". Their solutions might be: ban on advertising, increasing prices, reducing the number of cigarettes in packs, or marketing to children, deception, cigarette bars... Try to let them lead but you can help them get started. This should really emphasize that marketing is not simply selling but controlling and bettering present conditions.

Examples of your clients or subjects:

Amazon Rainforest Society
Andom's Employment Service for Former Criminals & Ex-Drug Addicts
Corrine Steward's Whiskey Distillery
Electric/Gasoline Hybrid Automobile
Niel Finn's Jobs for the Handicapped
Kunzer's Kosher Kooking Kompany
Malboro Cigarettes
Grand Canyon National Park
Retro Look TV, Telephones, and Radios (old fashioned looking)
Colt Gun Manufacturing
The Liliane Bois Simon Foreign Film Cinema Complex
St Etienne's Public Transportation
Disneyland Paris
Save Our Communist Party From Extinction
Solar Powered Devices Ltd.
Microsoft
The Catholic Church in Western Europe
Greenpeace
Eat Away Fat Blocker
Paul Wheal Language Schools
WalMart
Igor Konak's Oil Painting Emporium
RetroElec: (Simple to Use Electonic Devices with easy to see big buttons, large knobs, no hidden controls and no clickers to lose)
The Franco-Slovian Business and Cultural Exchange (Tatinia Duma founder)