Manipulative Marketing Under Attack

Manipulative Marketing Under Attack

Tough economic times have brought out the activists (although some
are calling them whiners) to protest manipulative marketing.
Wednesday, protestors visited such diverse companies as
CVS/Pharmacy, a drug store chain currently in a store building
contest with Walgreens, Mercedes Benz, maker of luxury cars, and
eBay, operator of the worlds biggest online flea market.

Interestingly, the complaints of manipulative marketing started
with eBay as the target and then spread to other companies when
bait and switch was added to the list of despised tactics.

The complaints started with eBay's "Best Match" feature which,
potential buyers soon discovered, didn't actually list the best
matches for their search terms. Instead, eBay cooks the results with a
secret recipe (it is suspected Harlan Sanders would not
approve) that alters the best match for buyer's search terms based
on seller ratings, seller sales volume, past sales of items, sales
type of item ("Buy It Now" or auction), and allegedly other yet to
be discovered forms of manipulation. Protestors claim ebay is
attempting to get buyers to buy what eBay wants them to buy, not
what their search terms say they want to buy.

Similar charges have been leveled against CVS/Pharmacy. All CVS
stores have the pharmacy located at the rear. Protestors claim
that, just like eBay, CVS is making customers look at things they
don't want while they're trying to find what the do want. "They
really make it tough" said a customer who declined to be
identified. "I didn't anticipate having such a hard time getting
my prescription for Viagra filled."

Joseph Camel of the Brand Research Institute observed that setting
up stores for suggestive sell was a long established practice.
"But at least a customer who wanders into a store can ask a clerk
for the specific item he wants, and the clerk will tell him where
it is" observed Mr. Camel. "I think CVS is on firm ground, but
under the eBay system, the customer asks, via search terms, and
eBay insists on showing him something else. That's almost bait
and switch."

Bait and switch is exactly the accusation against Mercedes. "Why,
I bought a C Class" said Mercedes owner Floyd Barker "and found out
its smaller than my neighbor's Honda Civic. When I complained to
the Mercedes dealer, they told me for only $20,000 more, I could
have a REAL Mercedes."

Mercedes spokesman Heinreich Tungensheek denied the accusations of
bait and switch. "We're merely following marketing model develped
by GM's Alfred P. Sloan. People may move up in our model range as
their success in life increases."

Mr. Camel concurred. "If they want the Tri Star, they can buy a C
Class. If they want an obsolete rear drive car designed by
Mercedes, and can live without The Tri Star, then they can buy a
Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger for the same money."

"Comments4u" > wrote in message
...
> Manipulative Marketing Under Attack
>


> Similar charges have been leveled against CVS/Pharmacy. All CVS
> stores have the pharmacy located at the rear. Protestors claim
> that, just like eBay, CVS is making customers look at things they
> don't want while they're trying to find what the do want. "They
> really make it tough" said a customer who declined to be
> identified. "I didn't anticipate having such a hard time getting
> my prescription for Viagra filled."

Heck, ya go thru the drive-thru pharmacy and you don't even have to go
in the store at our Walgreens.

Comments4u wrote:

> Manipulative Marketing Under Attack

> (...) "If they want the Tri Star, they can buy a C Class.
> If they want an obsolete rear drive car designed by
> Mercedes, and can live without The Tri Star, then they
> can buy a Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger for the same money."

This was really a stupid thing to post to r.a.m.chrysler.

The argument that someone would equate a Chrysler 300 or Charger as
being on the same choice-scale as Mercedes is complete horse ****.

Most people never knew that Chrysler was, for most of the past 10 years,
a division of Daimler, and Daimler never positioned Chrysler as a
"low-cost" option to Mercedes. Unlike the CVS and Ebay examples in this
story, a potential customer would never see a Chrysler vehicle and a
Mercedes in the same show room.

But it was true that Daimler helped drive Chrysler into bankruptcy by
forcing Chrysler to engineer their LX-based cars to use a substantial
amount of older E-class suspension and drive train components, while
gutting Chrysler's product development staff resulting in Chrysler's
current product crisis (limited number of small-car choices and no
economical mid-size car models).

On Sep 16, 6:39*pm, "FrediFizzx" > wrote:
> "Comments4u" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Manipulative Marketing Under Attack
>
> > Similar charges have been leveled against CVS/Pharmacy. *All CVS
> > stores have the pharmacy located at the rear. *Protestors claim
> > that, just like eBay, CVS is making customers look at things they
> > don't want while they're trying to find what the do want. *"They
> > really make it tough" said a customer who declined to be
> > identified. *"I didn't anticipate having such a hard time getting
> > my prescription for Viagra filled."
>
> Heck, ya go thru the drive-thru pharmacy and you don't even have to go
> in the store at our Walgreens.

Talk to one of the many guys after better shelf placement of his baked
beans in a super market.
Buy him a couple of drinks and sit back and listen, then feel better
about your job..

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:39:31 -0700, "FrediFizzx"
> wrote:


>Heck, ya go thru the drive-thru pharmacy and you don't even have to go
>in the store at our Walgreens.
>

Yea, I have to wonder about how much that feature has hurt in store
sales. Just like I wonder if the labor savings from "pay at the pump"
covers the lost sales from people coming inside the gas station to
pay.

I was amused last year when gas was $4 a gallon and people were
complaining about the cost, yet they continued to sit in lines at
drive up windows. The price was only high enough for them to
complain, not high enough for them to alter their behavior.

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:51:20 -0400, Comments4u
> wrote:


>Mr. Camel concurred. "If they want the Tri Star, they can buy a C
>Class. If they want an obsolete rear drive car designed by
>Mercedes, and can live without The Tri Star, then they can buy a
>Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger for the same money."

Rear drive is perfectly fine for these cars when they have the Hemi.
Its exactly what Mercedes should have done, rear wheel drive, when
putting a powerful engine in these cars. So rear drive is NOT
obsolete in the context of the Hemi.

But since most of them come with 2.7s or 3.5s Mercedes should have
gone for what was appropriate for those engines.. front wheel drive...
and just forgotten about the Hemi. Which begs the question of why
Mercedes is still building their own cars that have wimpy engines with
rear wheel drive.

"Comments4u" > wrote in
message ...
> Manipulative Marketing Under Attack

Isn't the term "Manipulative Marketing" redundant? What is marketing
but the science of manipulating people to get them to buy your
products or services?

As for Pharmacies locating the pharmacy counter at the rear of the
store...I don't think I've ever seen a pharmacy that sells other stuff
arranged any other way. The little pharmacy in my very small home town
was arranged like that 50 years ago.

Ed

Comments4u wrote:
> Manipulative Marketing Under Attack
>
> Tough economic times have brought out the activists (although some
> are calling them whiners) to protest manipulative marketing.


HUH?

All marketing, by definition and without exception, IS manipulative.

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics 3860 West First Street Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
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Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

"edward ohare" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:39:31 -0700, "FrediFizzx"
> > wrote:
>
>
> >Heck, ya go thru the drive-thru pharmacy and you don't even have to go
> >in the store at our Walgreens.
> >
>
> Yea, I have to wonder about how much that feature has hurt in store
> sales. Just like I wonder if the labor savings from "pay at the pump"
> covers the lost sales from people coming inside the gas station to
> pay.

Now you know why the printer at the pump is ALWAYS out of paper. Forces you
to go into the store, even if you're just there to buy gas. -Dave

"Dave" > wrote in message
...
>
> "edward ohare" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:39:31 -0700, "FrediFizzx"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>
>> >Heck, ya go thru the drive-thru pharmacy and you don't even have to go
>> >in the store at our Walgreens.
>> >
>>
>> Yea, I have to wonder about how much that feature has hurt in store
>> sales. Just like I wonder if the labor savings from "pay at the pump"
>> covers the lost sales from people coming inside the gas station to
>> pay.
>
> Now you know why the printer at the pump is ALWAYS out of paper. Forces
> you
> to go into the store, even if you're just there to buy gas. -Dave

Going INSIDE Walgreen's is faster than sitting at the drive-up...
with your engine running.

I hate drive-ups.

Kris