Download activity #32 – the merchants of cool

SONNET STEVQUOAH
BUS 240 - PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
DR. DOTTIN
ACTIVITY #32 – THE MERCHANTS OF COOL
1. How large is the teenage market (in terms of dollars) for the buying and selling of cool in the
United States? The amount of money is 100 billion plus additional 50 billion spent by parents.
2. What are the dominant mediums the merchants of cool use to market to teens and gain their
loyalty? There are three thousand advertising a day, ten million by age 18. 75% have TV’s in
their bedroom, computer 2 hours a day. They study kids like anthropologist study an exotic
culture.
3. What is cool? How do you know you have it when marketing a product or service? Is a search
for a certain kind of personality, players are given a social network.
4. If you were training a “cool hunter” to come into your school, what would you train them to
look for? Look for the 20% trendsetter’s that influence the 80% of kids. Kids that look outside
the box, create their own styles.
5. Do “cool hunters” engage in a self-fulfilling prophecy by giving the teens they select money,
information, and attention which extend their influence? Yes they do in order to create high
future profits.
6.. What are the roles of correspondents or cultural spys in the marketing of a product or service
to teens? What are they looking for? They are looking for kids who are trend setters, to sell the
information’s to bigger companies.
7. Recently, political leaders have objected to filmmakers showing “R” rated films to teens under
age 17 in order to find out what would appeal to them. Is it okay to interview teens without
parents present or without parental consent? It is not ok to interview teens without their parents’
consent because they can be easily exploited.
8. When looking for teens trends for being "cool", Sprite used an anti-marketing strategy to win
the teen market was it successful, why or why not? Yes it was very successful because they went
into their culture and became part of it. They found out how they think.
9. Sprite used Hip Hoop to develop a relationship with teens was Sprite's marketing strategy
successful, why or why not? Yes because teens were paid to party with the biggest hip-hop artist.
10. Does the teenage market of cool view Sprite as a product or a lifestyle of cool? Sprite
became part of the life style and became more than baggy jeans and shoes.
SONNET STEVQUOAH
BUS 240 - PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
DR. DOTTIN
11. “The Merchants of Cool” describes the practice of under-the-radar marketing, including
hiring teens to log-on to chat rooms to talk up bands and recruiting college freshman to throw
campus parties where they distribute marketing materials. Ironically, marketers have justified
“stealth” marketing as necessary because teens have become more media savvy? Do you think
that “stealth” techniques ethical? If a marketer offered you money to log-on to chat rooms or
throw a party, would you? It is not ethical but business is all about maximizing profit.
12. What are the five major companies that sell cool and why do they use cross promotional
strategies?VIACOM, NEWS CORP, DISNEY, UNIVERSAL VIVENDI, AOL TIME
WARNER. They use internet, books, and films to acquire teens.
13. What were some of the marketing techniques MTV used to research the teenage male in
developing its brand strategy? Commercials, videos from music company, movie studies
advertising movies and trendy clothes to sell a look.
14. What male image did MTV create to reflect coolness? What female image did MTV use to
reflect coolness? Was MTV strategy effective, why or why not? The mooks are crude loud
characters. The girls are sexual objects.
15. What effect are these images having on our youth culture (positive or negative)? Negative
effects.
16. The marketing of cool in terms of sex and violence to the extreme as viewed in the spring
break footage or sexual videos footage pushing the envelop too far over the ethical edge? Is this
marketing strategy ethical, why or why not? Yes they go too far. Whatever kids sees is what they
want to do.
17. Is the teenage subculture of rebellion and violence creating a youth culture that carries out
violent acts such as rape and murder in the real world? Yes they do.
18. Are the merchants of cool exploiting rock bands and hip hop artists in order to sell their
products? Yes but there paid.
19. Should the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) impose government regulatory actions against
marketers that exploit teenage males and females by restricting their graphic advertising
messages? Yes they should.
20. Based on the video, what conclusions can you draw from the Merchants of Cool? What
ethical framework are you basing you conclusions on? Why did you take those positions? How
SONNET STEVQUOAH
BUS 240 - PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
DR. DOTTIN
do you think the marketing practices of the merchants of cool can either be regulated or
controlled from exploiting the teenage youth marketplace? And what future action would you
take in marketing to the teenage marketplace? This video proves that marketers will do anything
for profits regardless of how much it affects children.