Still need to do a wiki?

Dear 343 students,

Many of you have discovered, to your dismay, that all of the last section's wiki topics have been claimed by your classmates who were quicker on the draw than you were.

Do not despair. Instead, you may select a topic from another section, to be presented in class on Dec. 8.

Good luck,
Graham

Marketing Humor assignment

Dear 343 students,

You are not required to write an essay for the Marketing Humor assignment which is on the syllabus for tomorrow.

Please be prepared to discuss the information related to consumers & culture. We'll discuss those wikis this week.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

~Graham

BUS 341 -- Deadline change

For those groups who need extra time to work on your projects, you may turn in your IMC assignments on December 8.

Please note: although this gives you an additional weekend to create the work product that's due, it means you have substantially less time to incorporate suggestions/edits/changes into your final projects.

The time grows short; use it wisely!

343 -- Book review

Click here (or in the sidebar) to get detailed instructions for your book reviews (i.e., Case #4)

All grades are updated

Click here to see how you're doing at this point in the semester.

Please let me know if you see any mistakes. Google docs is a great product, but far from perfect, especially when it comes to cleanly importing data from another source...

BUS 341 -- IMC, final project guidelines

Hello Principles students,

I've posted the instructions for the IMC assignment, which is due December 3rd/8th. If you're going to be in town next week, I highly recommend working on this with your group during the normally scheduled class time.

I've also posted instructions for the final project & presentation, so that you can get started on that as well.

Good luck, and have fun!

Extra credit for all!

Hello to all my students,

I'm in the midst of collecting data for a project I've been working on, and need your help!

The project is related to people's attitudes and behaviors related to gift cards, and my co-authors and I have developed a survey to try to measure some of the effects that we uncovered in a focus group last spring. (Sound familiar? Qualitative research... quantitative research... primary data...)

This would be a great way to spend some time on Black Friday, when gift shopping is often on the minds of those who choose to shop, and those who choose to sit it out.

Click Here to take survey

In order to get people interested and excited about filling in our rather long survey, we're offering incentives to complete it.

First, any of my students who complete it and provide a montana.edu address at the end will receive a whopping 3 extra credit points.
Second, everyone who completes it and provides an email address at the end will be entered into a drawing for one of two $25 Amazon.com gift cards.

We're asking anyone who takes the survey -- or just knows about the survey -- to spread the word and encourage others to take it as well. (Sound familiar? Convenience sample... snowball technique... word-of-mouth...) Tell your family, your friends, your Thanksgiving dining companions!

If you provide me with a valid list of email addresses from other people whom you can convince to complete the survey, I'll give additional extra credit points.

I really, really appreciate your help!

Wow

What do y'all think about this? Read the original post and the comments for some interesting perspectives on Americans' Christmas shopping... There's a lot of other news/commentary about this on the web, if you want to chase it down and keep up with what's happening.

And CB, if you'd like to use this in your next case study, you're welcome to do so!

Lots of info here for all 3 classes

BUS 341:

You have the ad analysis assignment due on Tuesday, 24 November. In order to get credit for the assignment, you need to do BOTH of the following:

• Email that assignment to me by 5:00 pm on 24 November.
• Bring a hard copy to me in class on 1 December.

MKTG 343:

If you haven't already selected a book to read for your book report (due 10 December), you should get on it.

Select one of the following:
Nudge, Thaler & Sunstein
Predictably Irrational, Ariely
The Tipping Point, Gladwell
The Paradox of Choice, Schwartz


Case #3 is due on 24 November. In order to get full credit for the assignment you must do all of the following:

• Include only your code name on the case.
  
• Submit your case to TurnItIn by 2:00 pm on 24 November.
• Bring a hard copy to class on 1 December.
  

Exam #3

Hi BUS 341 students,

The exam on Thursday will cover product concepts, new product development, diffusion, branding, packaging, service marketing, and nonprofit orgs and marketing.

In other words, you're responsible for all the material that we've covered since the last exam.

Good luck!
Graham

New product development + Branding = A great article

Now that you've acquired some marketing knowledge and opinions, what do you think about the Vegemite Saga? Brilliant ploy, or shameful failure?

TurnItIn -- Case #2, again

Dear CB students,

Please note that until you turn your cases in to TurnItIn, you will not receive a grade for these cases.

I've re-opened Case 2 for the 3rd (and final) time. You have until Thursday to submit your cases. If you do not electronically submit your case studies by that time, you will receive a 0 for this assignment.

Get to it!

CB assignment

Attention MKTG 343:

You can get a jump on the essay entitled "My Green Event" by clicking here.

Please note -- there are a lot of links in this document. They're very fun sources of information related to the new directions that sustainable development is going. Don't freak out when you see how many there are! (On the other hand, try not to become catatonic, either.)

Course expectations

Dear students,

Let me refer you to the following excerpt from the syllabi for both 341 and 343:

1. I will not accept late papers. The end of the class period is the deadline for submitting work.
2. I cannot accept emailed assignments. All work must be turned in to me as a hard copy.
3. If you're having trouble with something, please let me know sooner rather than later!
   

In addition, I would like to remind you of the MSU College of Business PRIDE Code of Ethics, also found in the syllabi:

PRIDE

• Professionalism: I am responsible for my own learning and conduct.
• Respect: I treat with respect all members of my community, including peers, staff and faculty.
• Integrity: I am ethical in all that I do.
• Diligence: I do my best work at all times.
• Engagement: I am actively engaged in my academic, professional and personal development.
  

My course rules and expectations are in place for your educational benefit. You don't have to agree with them, but they're not debatable, and you must adhere to them if you expect to do well in my classes.

If you want to talk to me about this, I'll be happy to set up an appointment with you.

Pink is for boys?

Re our discussion today in CB: here's a good history of the pink/blue phenomenon.

For Consumer Behavior

Reminder:

No class on Thursday, November 5. Please use this time to work on your group projects. You are not required to report to class, if you choose to meet elsewhere.

I will be in my office if you have any questions.

Good luck and have fun!

A note on Wikipedia

Dear 341,

One of your classmates questioned the fact that I occasionally use Wikipedia as a source of supplemental information in my slides. I thank him very much for doing so!

This is one of those "do as I say, not as I do" situations.

I know that you've probably been taught (and rightfully so) that Wikipedia isn't a trustworthy or reliable source of information. I agree with this assessment, especially w/r/t written documents such as term papers, marketing research reports, etc.

However, there are times when I'm prepping my lectures and I want to include more information that the book provides, but still want it to be a gloss/overview/snapshot. In these cases, a Wiki entry might be the best way to convey the information in a concise but fairly comprehensive manner. Before I include the page, I make sure that the information contained therein is unbiased and well-sourced.

I know that it might make your other instructors' hair stand on end, and I apologize to you and to them if I've led you astray. I never use Wikipedia as a final source in any other "official" capacity.

Please feel free to discuss this with me further in/out of class, during my office hours, or here on the blog.

BUS 341 -- Packaging assignmnent

Hello to the Principles students,

You have an individual assignment due on Thursday. Click here to get the instructions and an example of how to do it right.

Good luck, and have fun!

TurnItIn -- Case #2

Hi CBers,

Those of you who haven't submitted your last case to TurnItIn need to do so before I can assess & post your grades.

I've re-opened TII for the next few days. Please note that you will be docked one point for not turning in your papers on time. You will also be docked one point if you did not use your code name on your cases.