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ICA 1-1: IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
Designing a Candy Bar2
Learning Objectives. To have students work in teams to: (1) define a target market for a
candy bar and (2) develop a simple marketing program for it.
Nature of the Activity. To engage students actively in a realistic marketing task in their
first class meeting and have them share their ideas with classmates.
Definitions. Because the class is not yet familiar with marketing terms, instructors may
wish to define the following terms before starting the ICA:
• Target market: One or more specific groups of potential consumers toward which an
organization directs its marketing program.
• Marketing mix: The marketing manager’s controllable factors—product, price,
promotion, and place—that can be used to solve a marketing problem.
• Points of difference: Those characteristics of a product that make it superior to
competitive substitutes.
Estimated Class Time and Teaching Suggestions. About 20 minutes, taught in class in
4-person teams.
Materials Needed.
• Samples of other candy bars that represent a variety of compositions (chocolate,
caramel, peanuts, etc.) and forms (bar, drop, bundle, etc.), such as those marketed by
Hershey’s, Mars, Nestlé, and Ghirardelli in the U.S. Purchase several of the
following brands and items to distribute in class:
– Hershey’s: Milk Chocolate Bar, Kisses, Milk Duds.
– Mars: M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way Bar, Dove.
– Nestlé: Milk Chocolate Bar, Crunch Bar, Baby Ruth, Kit Kat.
– Ghirardelli: Milk Chocolate Squares, Milk Chocolate Squares w/ Caramel.
• Copies for each student, either in hard copy or electronically, of the “Designing a
Candy Bar” handout.
Steps to Teach this ICA.
1. OPTIONAL: Bookmark the following websites on your classroom computer:
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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3. Give the following mini-lecture about marketers and their responsibilities:
“All of you purchase products and services every day, ranging from necessities, such as
food, clothing, and shelter, to discretionary items, such as candy, music, and education.
To offer these products and services, marketers must first understand your needs and
wants. Then, they must:
• Develop the features and benefits for the products and services that you desire.
• Charge a price that you are able and willing to pay.
4. Ask students the following questions about their candy purchasing behavior:
• Question 1: How many of you buy candy? Why?
• Question 2: What candy brands have you bought within the past week?
5. Pass out the “Designing a Candy Bar” Handout to students.
7. Bring up Ghiradelli’s website and give the following mini-lecture to students.
“The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company has produced and marketed premium chocolate
9. Ask students the following questions about this candy bar:
a. Who is the target market?
b. What are the key features or benefits of the Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate with
Caramel Squares?
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c. What would you charge for a bag of 12 of these “Squares”? Why do you
think Ghirardelli charges this price?
d. What advertising medium might Ghirardelli use to promote this product?
e. Where do you think consumers would buy this product?
f. How is the Ghirardelli candy bar different from those already on the
market?
10. Show Slide 1-40. Give the following instructions to complete this ICA:
“For the next 10 minutes, your team will design a candy bar based on your personal
experiences as candy bar consumers and your new role as potential marketers. When
designing your candy bar, be as creative as you can. However, the candy bar you
design must answer the following questions, as shown in the handout:”
a. To whom will your candy bar be sold? The answer to this question will specify
b. What is the product? The answer to this question will specify the features, such
think are important to consumers. Provide a rationale for the product you create.
c. How much will consumers pay for it? The answer to this question will specify
d. How will consumers find out about it? The answer to this question will specify
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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e. Where will consumers buy it? The answer to this question will specify the types
f. How is your candy bar different from those already on the market? The
11. Have one student from each of two teams go to the board and write down the team’s
answers to the six questions asked in the Designing a Candy Bar Handout.
12. Have the class comment on the marketing programs that the two teams developed for
their candy bars. Ask the following questions of the entire class about each of the
two candy bars proposed by the two teams:
a. Target market. Is it attractive enough (large, growing, etc.) to warrant the
expense of a marketing effort?
b. Product. What features/benefits are important to prospective customers? Can
they form the basis of a message that can be effectively communicated?
c. Price. What is the price based on? Do you want to recover marketing costs
quickly by charging a higher price or do you want to achieve larger sales earlier
by charging a lower price?
d. Promotion. What relatively inexpensive actions could you use to inform and
induce prospective customers to try your product?
e. Place/Distribution. What traditional outlets will you use? Will you sell your
product over the Internet? Why?
f. Points of difference. Does your product provide overall customer value?
Marketing Lessons. This ICA introduces students to the essential marketing concepts
that marketing and product managers deal with on a daily basis. Students should conclude that
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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DESIGNING A CANDY BAR HANDOUT
MARKETING
PROGRAM AND
POINTS OF
DIFFERENCE
YOUR MARKETING ACTIONS
What is it?
(Product)
Specify features,
benefits, form, size,
etc. and why
How much will
consumers pay for
it?
(Price)
Specify cost
and why
How will consumers
find out about it?
(Promotion)
Specify methods to
inform and generate
trial and why
Where will
consumers buy it?
(Place)
Specify types of
retailers and why
How is it different
from others?
(Points of
Difference)
Specify why it is
superior to
competitors’
offerings
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ICA 1-2: IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
What Makes a Better Mousetrap?3
Learning Objectives. To have students (1) discover the importance of “points of
difference” in meeting consumer wants and needs and (2) see how they vary by market segment.
Nature of the Activity. To have students do in-class “marketing research” on what
features consumers look for in a mousetrap to help discover why a “better mousetrap” failed
more than three decades ago.
Definitions. Because the class is not yet familiar with marketing terms, instructors may
wish to define the following terms before starting the ICA:
• Customer value: The unique combination of benefits received by targeted buyers that
includes quality, convenience, on-time delivery, and both before-sale and after-sale
service at a specific price.
• Points of difference: Those characteristics of a product that make it superior to
competitive substitutes.
Estimated Class Time and Teaching Suggestions. About 20 minutes, taught in class in
4-person teams.
Materials Needed. Copies for each student, either in hard copy or electronically, of the:
• “Why Did the New Plastic Mousetrap Fail to Meet Sales Expectations?” handout.
• “Which of the Markets (A, B, C, or D) was the Largest for Mousetraps 25 years
ago?” handout.
Steps to Teach this ICA.
1. OPTIONAL: Bookmark the Victor® Pest (www.victorpest.com) websites for the
2. Form students into 4-person teams.
3. Pass out copies of the following handouts to each student:
• Why Did the New Plastic Mousetrap Fail to Meet Sales Expectations? Handout.
• Which of the Markets (A, B, C, or D) was the Largest for Mousetraps 25 years
ago? Handout.
3 The authors wish to thank Karolyn Warfel and Betsy Boyer of the Woodstream Corp. who assisted in the development of this ICA.
1-42
4. Show Slide 1-42: Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote and give the following mini-lecture:
“If a man…makes a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to his door.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. Show Slide 1-43. Click on the “Video” Internet icon to play a short YouTube video
6. Continue with the following mini-lecture:
“Woolworth decided that what the company needed to do was to build ‘a better
mousetrap and wait for the world to beat a path to its door.’ He asked his engineers
and scientists to study the eating, sleeping, and crawling habits of mice. They did and
came up with a better mousetrap—one made of plastic.”
7. Show Slide 1-44: Why Did the New Plastic Mousetrap Fail to Meet Sales
Expectations?
8. Ask students to answer the following questions:
• Question 1: What triggers the decision to buy a mousetrap?
• Question 2: Who in the family makes the decision to buy?
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• Question 3: Who actually buys the mousetrap?
• Question 4: Where does the person buy the mousetrap?
• Question 5: Who in the family uses the mousetrap and how do they use it?
• Question 6: What features do users want in a mousetrap?
• Question 7: Why did sales of the “better” plastic mousetrap not meet sales
expectations? [The Live Catch mousetrap is used for educational purposes only.]
8. Show Slide 1-45: Mousetrap Market Segments and state the following:
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
1-45
WHY DID THE NEW PLASTIC MOUSETRAP
FAIL TO MEET SALES EXPECTATIONS?
OLD WOODEN TRAP
Wood
NEW PLASTIC TRAP
Plastic
Some Key Marketing Questions
1. What triggers the decision to buy a mousetrap?
2. Who in the family makes the decision to buy?
3. Who actually buys the mousetrap?
4. Where does the person buy the mousetrap?
5. Who in the family uses the mousetrap and how do they
use it?
6. What features do users want in a mousetrap?
7. Why did the “better” plastic mousetrap not meet sales
expectations?
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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WHICH OF THE MARKETS (A, B, C, OR D) WAS THE
LARGEST FOR MOUSETRAPS 25 YEARS AGO?
Product: Kind of Mousetrap
Wooden Trap
Plastic Trap
A
B
C
D
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
1-47
Connect Application Exercises
Application Exercise 1: Customer Value and Relationship Strategies
Activity Summary: This click and drag activity helps students identify how firms create
customer value in a competitive marketplace. Three value creation strategies are presented to the
student: best service, best price, and best product. After reading a description of Air Tran’s,
Rolex’, and Zappos’ strategies, students match each strategy to best service, best price, or best
product.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topic: Product Value Creation
Learning Objective: LO 01-04 Explain how organizations build strong customer relationships
and customer value through marketing.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Analyze
Difficulty Level: 2 Medium
Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could build on the examples of value creation presented in the
text by creating three master lists on the board; best service, best price, and best product.
Application Exercise 2: 4 Ps of Marketing
Activity Summary: This activity provides students with an opportunity to classify marketing
tactics as one of the 4Ps in this click and drag. There are four examples of each marketing tactic
which are described to the student as they mouse over the tactic’s name. The product examples
include a new app, a website, a college lecture, and a republican candidate, price examples
include tuition, valet parking, exchange, and rent, place examples include Walmart.com, home
party, vending machine, and retail store, and promotion examples include word of mouth, flyer,
pop-up ads, and magazine advertisement.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topic: The Four Ps
Learning Objective: LO 01-03 Distinguish between marketing mix factors and environmental
forces.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Analyze
Difficulty Level: 2 Medium
Follow-Up Activity: The instructor could describe an unmet need for a target market to the class
and challenge the students to develop the controllable marketing mix factors (4Ps) that would
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Application Exercise 3: 3M: Video Case
Activity Summary: This video case describes the process of need discovery utilized by 3M as it
developed the Post-it Flag Pen. The video describes how uncovering students’ unmet need was
fundamental to the product’s creation and marketing program development. After watching the
7-minute video, students are asked a series of relevant questions covering consumer needs, target
market, value, marketing tactics, and related concepts.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topics: Consumer Needs and Wants, Target Markets, Product Value Creation, The Four Ps
Learning Objectives: LO 01-01 Define marketing and identify the diverse factors that influence
marketing actions.
LO 01-02 Explain how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs.
LO 01-03 Distinguish between marketing mix factors and environmental
forces.
LO 01-04 Explain how organizations build strong customer relationships
and customer value through marketing.
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Remember, Understand
Difficulty Level: 1 Easy, 2 Medium
Follow-Up Activity: Using the Post-it Flag Pen as a starting point, have students identify
recent product introductions from 3M. As part of their research, ask students to identify what
Application Exercise 4: The Marketing Program: How Customer Relationships Are Built
Activity Summary: This click and drag activity has the students identify the marketing mix
factors that would be used in the rental car industry for two different target markets; business
traveler segment and leisure traveler segment. Students create a marketing mix for each segment
by dragging the element to the correct market. The activity demonstrates how firms can create
value differently for different target markets.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topic: Target Markets
Learning Objectives: LO 01-02 Explain how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs.
LO 01-03 Distinguish between marketing mix factors and environmental
forces.
LO 01-04 Explain how organizations build strong customer relationships
and customer value through marketing.
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Analyze
Difficulty Level: 2 Medium
Follow-Up Activity: The instructor can challenge students to identify additional examples of
products that have unique marketing mixes its segments. After these products are identified,
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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Application Exercise 5: Chobani: Making Greek Yogurt a Household Name
Activity Summary: This video case tells the story of Hamdi Ulukaya’s entrepreneurial
development of Chobani Greek Yogurt for the U.S. market. The 2007 new-product launch is
described in the video with attention to product, price, place, and promotion. After watching the
8-minute video, students answer questions covering marketing mix, relationship marketing,
target marketing, and the societal marketing concept.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topics: Target Markets, The Four Ps, CRM, Corporate Social Responsibility
Learning Objectives: LO 01-02 Explain how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs.
LO 01-03 Distinguish between marketing mix factors and environmental
forces.
LO 01-04 Explain how organizations build strong customer relationships
and customer value through marketing.
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty Level: 2 Medium
Follow-Up Activity: The instructor could engage students in a discussion about new-product
introductions in the packaged foods category. Begin by asking how many students have tried
Greek yogurt category, the Chobani brand, and/or a competing brand. Follow-up by finding out
Application Exercise 6: iSeeit! Video Case: Value Creation Through the Marketing Mix
Activity Summary: In this straightforward whiteboard animation video, the customer value
concept is explained using a coffee shop example. After watching the 3-minute video, students
are asked three questions related to the marketing mix, customer value proposition, and market
segment.
Tagging (Topic, Learning Objectives, AACSB, Bloom’s, Difficulty)
Topics: The Four Ps, Product Value Creation, Steps in Market Segmentation
Learning Objectives: LO 01-02 Explain how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs.
LO 01-03 Distinguish between marketing mix factors and environmental
forces.
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty Level: 2 Medium
Chapter 01 – Creating Customer Relationships and Value Through Marketing
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Follow-Up Activity: Instructors could ask students to develop and present a marketing mix for
the coffees shop if baby boomers were the target audience. Begin the discussion by introducing