124 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNALCONSIDERATIONSINMARKETING
4.Externalagenciescanprovidevaluablemarketingservicestomarketingorganizations.Underwhat
circumstancesdoyouthinkthata marketingorganizationmightseektheservicesofanexternal
agencylikea distributor?Amarketingresearchsupplier?Anadvertisingagency?Amaterials
supplier?
5.Commentontheimpactthatthedeclineofmassmarketingmighthaveonmarketingstrategists
forcompaniesthathavetypicallymassmarketedproducts.
6.Howshoulda marketingorganizationdefineitscompetition?
7.Whatroledoplicecompetitionanddiscountpromotionsplayinmemarketingofproducts~Do
youthink thattheuseofthesestrategieshasbeeneffectivefrom[hestandpointoforganizations?
Customers~
8.Brieflydescribetheimpactthate~.chofthefollowinghasonmarketingactivity:regulators,the
economy,andtechnology.
Project
SincePathfindertoucheddownonMars,muchhasbeenlearnedabouttheRedPlanet.Butdidyou
knowthatsalesofMatteI'sHotWheelsMarsRoverActionPackskyrocketedandthatsalesofMars
barsincreaseddramatically?
TheactivitiesoftheNationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration(NASA)fromAlan:::hep-
ard'sfirstspaceflighttotoday'sPathfinderhavespawnedmanynewproductsandspuLTedthesales
ofmanyproducts.TrackkeyNASAevents,likelandingonthemoon, andseewhichproducts'sales
wereboostedbysomeoftheseevents.Also,discoverwhatnewproductsenteredintothemarket-
placeasa resultofdevelopmentsinspacetechnology.
CaseApplication
J'nappleisin afinancialfunk.
ClearlyCanadianis ina salesfree-fall.
ResultsaremixedforPepsi'sjuiceline.
Coca-Cola'sFruitopiaisofftoa slowstart.
ThesecouldhavebeenheadlinesforthesedewAgebeverages.Theydoaccuratelydescribetheir
performance.Atthesametime,"plainold"carbonatedbeveragesweremakinga comebackafteryears
offlatsales.
Onereasoncitedfortheseresultsi~thefadingintensit yofAmerica'shealthkick.Consumers
scemtohavegrown wearyofsipping"all-natural"teasandjuices.Manyhavereturnedtochugging
sweet,fizzycolas.Asecondreason,accordingto tasteresearchers,is thatpeoplequickly gettiredof
thetasteofdistinctivejuicesandunusualteas. Accordingtooneindustryexpert,a thirdreasonis that
manyconsumers gotcaughtupinthemystical, good-for-you,GenerationXphenomenon.Thephe-
nomenonwascuteandin terestingfora while, buthadnostayingpower,
Afourthreasoncitedforwaningconsumerinterestsisinconsumerperceplions. Originally,
manyconsumeEbelievethatall-naturalsodas,tea;;,andjuiceswerehealthierthanbrowncola,.How-
ever, it hasbeendiscoveredthatmanyofthesealternativebeveragescontainmoresugarthandotra-
ditionalcolas.
Finally, thenewgenerationofsoftdrinkshasnotpleasedbottlers. Manybottlersspendmil-
lionsofdollarstooverhaultheirproductlinesorchangetheirdistributionsystemstoaccommodate
thenewsoftdlinks.Despitethemanynewproducts,i-lewAgebeverageshaveresultedinonlysmall
salesincreases.
