Business is Marketing

What would be the end result of a terrific Product, fantastic Pricing, and an out-of-this-world Promotional strategy? A flop show! That is, if you forgot the most important factor: Place! If there is one American invention that has rocked the world and been tried by almost everyone – it’s the ice-cold colas. If there is one war that everyone loves to watch – it’s the cola wars – between Coke and its long standing arch-rival Pepsi. While “blind tests” done time and again have revealed that not many consumers can differentiate between the taste of Coca-Cola and Pepsi once they are blindfolded, then how come it’s been such an uphill task for Pepsi to defeat Coke? In America, it’s someone else who is holding the strings of this old battle – it’s McDonald’s. Strange but true, if McDonald’s (which only sells beverages of the Coca Cola Company) decides to sell Pepsi instead of Coca Cola, then it would not take long for Pepsi to finally defeat Coke. Since 1955, McDonald’s has exclusively sold ...

Obesity laden burgers, cancer causing cigarettes, liver damaging alcohol, pesticide infected cold drinks... advertising is unethically selling everything! It’s time we protested! Angrily! We are so busy working, earning a living, spending, buying things, that many a time, we lose focus of the big picture. We see advertisements and confuse dreams with reality. Sometimes, these dream merchants sell us products, rather, manipulate us into wanting things we don’t really need. Sometimes they seduce us to buy things which are bad for us. More often than once, we find ourselves succumbing to dreams that these advertisers sell. Let’s take a few minutes to think – is it ethical? All that glitters is not gold Increasing competition, increasing clutter in the advertising space and increasing pressure force the companies to do almost anything, even making false claims just to sell. The softest targets and the easiest to convince are children – they may not have the purchasing power, but their pers...