Marketing: The Core
Marketing
The Core
CHAPTER 1 CREATING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS AND VALUE THROUGH MARKETING
3
Creating Customer
Relationships and Value through Marketing
HOW DO COLLEGE STUDENTS STUDY?
3M’S RESPONSE TO A NEW-PRODUCT CHALLENGE!
3M inventor David Windorski faced a curious challenge—understanding how college students study! Specifically, how do they read their textbooks, take class notes, and prepare for exams? First, Windorski needed to obtain information on students’ study habits. Next, he needed to convert this knowledge into a product that actually helps students improve their studying. Finally, Windorski had to manufacture and market this product using 3M’s technology.
Sound simple? Perhaps. But David Windorski invested several years of his life conducting marketing research on students’ studying behavior, developing new product ideas, and then creating an actual product students could use. 1 This process of discovering and satisfying consumer needs is the essence of marketing that organizations such as 3M use to generate sales and profits.
In the process of designing a product that satisfies consumer needs,
David Windorski’s invention got a personal testimonial from host Oprah
Winfrey on her TV show in January 2008. More on this later. 2
Discovering Student Study Needs
As an inventor of Post-it ® brand products, David Windorski’s main job is to design new products. He had some creative “thinking time” under
3M’s “15% Rule” in which inventors can use up to 15 percent of their time to do initially unfunded research that might lead to marketable 3M products. Working with a team of four college students, Windorski and the team observed and questioned dozens of students about how they used their textbooks, took notes, wrote term papers, and reviewed for exams. Windorski describes what college students told him: “It’s natural behavior to highlight a passage and then mark the page with a Post-it ®
Note or Post-it ® Flag of some kind.
The Core
CHAPTER 1 CREATING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS AND VALUE THROUGH MARKETING
3
Creating Customer
Relationships and Value through Marketing
HOW DO COLLEGE STUDENTS STUDY?
3M’S RESPONSE TO A NEW-PRODUCT CHALLENGE!
3M inventor David Windorski faced a curious challenge—understanding how college students study! Specifically, how do they read their textbooks, take class notes, and prepare for exams? First, Windorski needed to obtain information on students’ study habits. Next, he needed to convert this knowledge into a product that actually helps students improve their studying. Finally, Windorski had to manufacture and market this product using 3M’s technology.
Sound simple? Perhaps. But David Windorski invested several years of his life conducting marketing research on students’ studying behavior, developing new product ideas, and then creating an actual product students could use. 1 This process of discovering and satisfying consumer needs is the essence of marketing that organizations such as 3M use to generate sales and profits.
In the process of designing a product that satisfies consumer needs,
David Windorski’s invention got a personal testimonial from host Oprah
Winfrey on her TV show in January 2008. More on this later. 2
Discovering Student Study Needs
As an inventor of Post-it ® brand products, David Windorski’s main job is to design new products. He had some creative “thinking time” under
3M’s “15% Rule” in which inventors can use up to 15 percent of their time to do initially unfunded research that might lead to marketable 3M products. Working with a team of four college students, Windorski and the team observed and questioned dozens of students about how they used their textbooks, took notes, wrote term papers, and reviewed for exams. Windorski describes what college students told him: “It’s natural behavior to highlight a passage and then mark the page with a Post-it ®
Note or Post-it ® Flag of some kind.