Summer School 4: Marketing and the Ultimate Hose Nozzle

Planet Money

NPR

Business, News

4.6 • 29.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this session of Planet Money Summer School, we are getting the word out about your brand. How do you convince consumers to buy your product, even if they are only just hearing about it? It's time for sales and marketing!

If you've watched a show like Mad Men or The Office, you know the importance of a strong pitch. It's precision-crafted to show how what you're selling can solve a problem your customer needs solved. Sometimes it even creates the need. Once you've got your sales pitch, it's time to get the word out: marketing. Where to spread that message? How to make it unforgettable? Instantly recognizable? What is going to be your Just do it? Your Think different? Your Where's the beef?

In our case studies today, we look at a product so cleverly marketed, the company doesn't need to market it at all anymore and customers wait years to get it: the Birkin bag. And we hear lessons from some of the world's most time tested salespeople who can and do sell anything, literally. It's all about the four P's: Product, place, promotion and price. Also, a few other tricks we test out.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

This series is hosted by Robert Smith, and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Sally Helm and engineered by Josephine Nyounai. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Planet Money, from NPR.
0:05.3	Welcome back to Planet Money Summer School, MBA edition, where the business of business
0:19.2	is business.
0:21.2	I'm Robert Smith.
0:22.6	With today's lesson, number four, you are halfway to your totally free, barely adequate
0:28.2	MBA degree.
0:29.6	If you listen to all eight episodes and pass a short test at the end, we'll send you
0:33.6	an electronic pseudo diploma, appropriate for printing, framing, and generally just showing
0:40.0	off with.
0:41.2	So far this summer, we have learned how to start a business, how to conquer competitors,
0:45.6	and how to count our money.
0:47.8	Today, we get mystical.
0:50.3	We look into the dark arts of marketing and sales.
0:54.7	It is not easy to get someone to buy something they don't know that they need.
0:59.0	I mean, Arthur Miller didn't call his famous play happiness of a salesman.
1:04.0	Perhaps that's why so much attention at business school is focused on this problem.
1:08.7	There are the basics of sales.
1:10.8	How do someone find your product?
1:12.3	How do you convince them to buy?
1:14.4	But sales is just one small part of the bigger world of marketing, creating brands, creating
1:20.9	desires.
1:22.9	It's easy to sell one pair of shoes to a barefoot man, but selling someone their 23rd
	...

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