Find five print ads that are all directed to a specific target audience (e.g. women, men, teens, pet owners, etc.). Then show these ads to five members of that target audience, giving them approximately two minutes to review all of the ads and then take them away. Then ask questions that will demonstrate recall, comprehension, and persuasion. For example: "For what products do you remember seeing ads?" "What did those ads say about the products?" "Did the ads increase your interest in the products?" What did you they learn from this exercise?
Spend some time in a retail store (e.g., a grocery store, bookstore, hardware store, or bank) and observe the customers. What do the customers do first when they arrive? What patterns do they follow when they shop? How do they decide which product(s) to purchase? What could you, as a marketer for this business or its products, learn from simply observing the customers?
Think of an advertised product or service that is targeted specifically to your own demographic or lifestyle. How effective is the advertiser at getting into your head and figuring out what you think and how best to influence you? If you were an account planner for that product or service, could you have done a better job? What would you have done differently? Student answers will vary depending on the product or service that they select.
Your college is planning to remodel the cafeteria and introduce a new menu. The administration has approached you to help determine what students would like. Design a research project to answer their questions. Outline the steps you would take and specify what kind of research you would conduct. Explain your choices.
Select one of your favorite brands in a specific category. Then write a questionnaire with about 10 questions with the goal of determining how people make brand decisions in that category. Interview 10 people you have never met before and tabulate the results. Then write a brief memo explaining how people select the brand they are going to buy.
