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MARKETING 101 / TEXT AND LAB WORKBOOK – Now Only $.69

A friend, Barbara Carey (e-mail - talkshop@bellsouth.net), recommended that I buy this text and it’s her ideas that are this article. Her thoughts completed the circle that originated from earlier comments from another friend, Anne Bailey Berman (www.chadwickmartinbailey.com).

Anne who is an expert in Marketing and Market Research once told me that the real purpose of Marketing is to change consumer behavior. I had never heard the topic of Marketing defined so succinctly. I thought I understood this. After my conversation with Barbara and my acquisition of the Textbook / Workbook she recommended, I’m now sure that I do.

If you, like me, merely scan titles of articles and don’t study them in depth go back and note that the price on the Text mentioned is 69 cents, not $69.00. Sixty-nine dollars actually maybe a low price to pay for a college text. When I was an instructor at LSU, I was amazed at the prices charged for textbooks that included lots of information and yet (in my opinion) very little wisdom.

If you need further reinforcement on my observations, remember that very few students keep these books once they’ve read them and once they sell them back they get only a few cents on the dollar. If they were truly of value, the smart students would keep them and those books that were returned would net a higher value.

Lab Workbooks, have a greater value because they force you to do more them read – they drive experience / experimentation. In workbooks we tend to write more than we read and keep them after we’re done. Workbooks are not about reading about someone else’s knowledge but rather are about experiencing something on our own that results in our obtaining knowledge.

The most incredible feature of this recommended Textbook / Workbook on the soul of Marketing is not the price, although sixty-nine cents is a bargain. It is not the fact that there are fewer words in this text then are on two pages of most traditional books. It’s not the reality that the knowledge shared has been around for over 150 years and it’s not even the fact that other versions are available for 49 and 89 cents.

What is most amazing is the way the knowledge is intertwined with the experience of using the knowledge and in this way the ultimate EDUCATION ON MARKETING is provided in a source document that is simple to read, inexpensive, and timeless.

I first saw this “text” over 50 years ago – my momma was reading it. At the time I did not understand the wisdom to be gained. Now I do. Unfortunately I was not educated or smart enough to discover this on my own; it took prompting by Barbara to hurry me to the store for my own copy and to begin this discovery of the true soul of Marketing. My enthusiasm was so great that I bought a new copy even though there was a perfectly good copy already on the shelf in my home. Thanks Barbara.

If you promise to finish reading this article before you rush out to buy your own, I’ll now share with you the name of this classic on Marketing. It comes in an orange cover (that has changed little in the 150 years that it’s been in print) with a logo you’ll recognize – a red circle with the words ARM AND HAMMER included. You see this Textbook / Workbook is nothing more then a box of ARM AND HAMMER Pure Baking Soda.

My volume was 16 ounces. For 49 cents I could have gotten the condensed version with only half as much; for 20 cents more I could have bought the container tailored to cold storage – the Refrigerator / Freezer Edition.

I believe I can convince you that this “book” is about not just the history but also the future of Marketing. First however, let’s briefly step back to the future. The first article on Marketing I read when I entered the business world was Marketing Myopia (Harvard Business Review) by Ted Levitt. It is a classic.

In that article Dr. Levitt explains that one of the reasons Penn Central Railroad failed was that they thought they were in the railroad business when in fact they should have been in the transportation business. Today one of the most important questions a business owner can ask, “is what business are we in?”

If you study traditional books on Marketing you’ll see the “P words” – product, packaging, pricing, presentation, etc. If you study the aforementioned Text you’ll see these addressed but if you “dig deeper” you’ll see what Anne shared with me – you’ll see a Marketing Plan in action that changes consumer behavior.

Let me explain. As a little boy my Mamam (grandmother) used this product to make homemade biscuits every Tuesday morning and Angel Food and Pound Cakes many other days. (We didn’t call them homemade in those days because almost everything was. However as life accelerated and most Mommas and Grandmas moved from the kitchen to the workforce we had to differentiate “homemade” from “store-bought.”)

About this same time, I learned that Baking Soda could be used to treat heartburn, acid indigestion, sour and upset stomach, etc. Of course since those days back in the “dark ages”, we seen a proliferation of antacids both over the counter and prescription.

For many years I used Baking Soda in lieu of toothpaste and teeth whiteners. Now I can go to the store and select from dozens of tooth products.

When I moved out on my own and was responsible for my own refrigerator (we called them iceboxes) and the food in it, I discovered that I wasn’t as disciplined as my Momma and would not clean the box every week. I also discovered that Baking Soda would help with the odors created by the leftovers that I failed to manage.

Before I could buy carpet deodorant in boxes, cans, and spray containers and in hundreds of scents, I learned that a little Baking Soda on the carpet where my dog had been indiscreet would do as well. I also know that I can use Baking Soda in my garbage can if I don’t want to line it with bags or wash it after every use.

A traditional company facing the competitive threats and innovations that ARM AND HAMMER has seen would long since be gone from the marketplace. Commercial bakeries, toothpaste companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and “scent” makers should have long since eliminated this little orange box of low cost yet most valuable powder.

Here’s the reality and the lesson in Marketing that is contained in this one little box. If Arm and Hammer had defined their business as Baking Soda, I’d bet all I own that they would be out of business today.

The fact is that they continue to prosper. Prosper with a P yet Prosper without the traditional Ps of Marketing. The package has not changed, the product has not changed, and the price (even adjusted for inflation over 150 years) is nearly the same.

What the author of this GREATEST MARKETING TEXTBOOK / WORKBOOK of all times has taught us and what through experience we have observed is that MARKETING IS ABOUT CHANGING CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR.

Think about it – the product is baking soda. Could I get you to put toothpaste, deodorants, or carpet fresh in your biscuits? Could I get you to clean your carpet with toothpaste? Could I get you to put carpet fresh in your refrigerator? Could I get you to treat your upset stomach with deodorizer?

Because of Anne’s wisdom and Barbara’s explanation, I now stand in awe of this tiny orange box – this TEXTBOOK – this timeless product. If I maybe so presumptuous – I’d like to suggest that ARM AND HAMMER is in the customer problem-solving (not the baking soda) business and their Research and Development team discovers problems that this simple product can solve. They then send their discoveries to the Marketing Department. The Marketers then CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE CONSUMER to use this innovation!

I bet I’m right. What a country!

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