marketing

Discounts are no way to increase business.Price promotions may not be the best way to increase sales of canned tuna — or any other frequently purchased consumer good. Managers can become overly focused on losing market share and get caught up in a mindless cycle of discounting — without regard to the long-term implications of their actions, according to marketing professors at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Mattel and Ford are just the latest in a long line of companies to enact a product recall. Whether it’s lead paint or tainted dog food, every manufacturer faces the potential that its product needs to be taken off the shelf. How a firm handles its logistics and marketing after and before a recall can make or break a company’s success in the long run.

In dating — as in business — you don’t want to be looking for a date when you’re desperate; you want to find one before you become desperate. Business professors at Washington University in St. Louis have found that how firms manage their research and development (R&D) pipelines could mean the difference between always having products in the works and searching desperately for new goods. More…

Washington University’s Olin School of Business will hold the 7th annual Super Advertising Bowl from 3-5 p.m. February 4, 2007. The annual event brings together Olin marketing students and faculty to critique the television commercials that air during the Super Bowl. This year Olin students will be looking for “Commercials that Win the Consumer’s Mind”—those standout ads that will have people talking around the water cooler on Monday. The student-organized activity also raises funds for the Arthritis Foundation’s St. Louis Chapter.

Washington University’s Olin School of Business and the Olin Marketing Association will hold the 7th annual Super Advertising Bowl, from 3-9 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Knight Center on Washington University’s campus. The Super Ad Bowl is a fun event where Olin marketing students and faculty critique the television commercials that air during the Super Bowl while raising funds for the Arthritis Foundation’s St. Louis Chapter.

Markus Baer comes to Olin wrapping up his doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. expected in fall 2006. He is originally from Germany where he earned a master’s degree in psychology at the University of Giessen. Baer joins Olin as an assistant professor of Organizational Behavior. His research interests focus on […]

No ad goes unnoticed: MBA students at the Olin School of Business evaluate Super Bowl XL commercials starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, with pre-game lectures by local advertising professionals.

Every week you see it: the local supermarket’s specials include a discount on Brand X tuna fish. Common knowledge assumes that a sale on tuna fish will induce more people to buy Brand X, which boosts profits for both the manufacturer and the grocery store. However, a recent study by professors in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis has found that discounts are not always in the best interest of the retailer or manufacturer. In fact, some promotions may end up hurting future profitability.

Philadelphia but up a good fight during Sunday’s Super Bowl, but in the end the New England Patriots and Diet Pepsi were the clear winners–that’s according to the votes cast by faculty and students from the Olin School of Business during the annual Super Ad Bowl event.

The right pricing strategy can keep the cash register full.Determining the right pricing strategy can make or break the overall profitability of a firm, especially during the all-important December holiday season. One such strategy, dynamic pricing, long practiced in the airline and hotel industries, is showing promise and profitability in the world of retail. When applied to products sold over a short sales season — new toys, skiwear, and the like — dynamic pricing can boost profits for a firm, say two professors of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.