Week 7 Assignment - Principles and Concepts of Marketing Assignment Submission

1. Download the following: 
   • Week 7 Assignment Sample [PPTX] to see an example of a completed assignment.
   • Week 7 Assignment: Principles and Concepts of Marketing Template [PPTX] to your computer and Save As using the following identifier: LastName_FirstName_Week7_Assignment.
2. Select one of the following marketing failures: 
   • Why Crystal Pepsi Was a Flop. 
     • Crystal Pepsi was set to become a billion-dollar idea as customers were more focused on healthier drink options of the day. Instead, it was a colossal flop. Less than a year after the commercial hit the airwaves, the drink was removed from shelves. Crystal Pepsi became a cultural laughingstock and was later dubbed one of the biggest product failures of all time by TIME Magazine.
     • People wanted a healthier choice. Pepsi’s motto of “Go Big” was ringing in the marketing executives' and research department’s ears. Marketing executives and researchers knew they had to deliver something. Eventually, marketers and researchers settled on a mix of sugars and salts and a secret substitute for the caramel-brown color and flavor. Even now, the secret substitute remains a mystery. The goal was to make a caffeine-and-preservative-free clear soda that tastes like the original Pepsi but wouldn’t eat into its sales.
     • The choice of marketing the new flavor as “healthy” was misleading. To achieve the quick turnaround results demanded by the company, the product was made with high fructose corn syrup and had roughly the same number of calories. The product was not as it was advertised, “pure” and “natural”.
   • Former Microsoft Zune Boss Explains Why It Flopped
     • Zune was launched by Microsoft in 2006 as a competitor to Apple iPod. Microsoft wanted a line that consisted of media players that could integrate with Zune software and Zune devices. The company also wanted the product to be able to integrate phones with Zune support.
     • All seemed very well planned, at first, but Zune failed to attract people. Zune’s biggest failure was the fact that it was 5 years too late to the party. Zune’s interface, functionality, and ease of use were not competitive with the products offered in the market, at that time. Apple had already entered the market with iPod 5 years earlier and provided similar services. Zune was nothing different from iPod nor did it provide anything extra to the customers. As a result, Zune was discontinued in 2011.
   • What Were They Thinking? The Day Ketchup Crossed The Line From Perfect to Purple. 
     • Heinz Ketchup has become an iconic American brand that is well known and loved. In 2000, Heinz rolled out a super vibrant colored ketchup in purple, green, pink, orange, teal, and blue variations. The first new color entry was “Blastin Green” in support of the new Shrek movie at the time. Kids went wild and sales for Heinz skyrocketed, shooting up to an all-time high of 60% of the U.S. ketchup industry. Assumptions were made that if odd green ketchup can make the market, why not other colors right? However, without the novelty relations of movies or trends, nutritional factors of food products begin to emerge in people’s eyes. With all the additional steps of changing the color, taste and texture eventually started to change. Chemical after chemical in attempts to keep the traditional taste, Heinz’s EZ Squirt is basically no longer the same tomato-made ketchup that we all know and love. Parents became more aware and eventually deemed it as unhealthy for children.
   • What Happened To Friendster? Why Did It Fail?
     • Back in the early 2000s, a star was born in the social media world. Friendster was one of the very first social media networks and it took the internet by storm. In fact, the concept of a social media network was so new and revolutionary at the time that Friendster was able to patent it. There was such interest in this new market that in its first year, Friendster had amassed over 4 million users. It was one of the fastest growing companies that the internet had ever seen, on a trajectory to be a multi-billion-dollar company.
     • On Friendster, you could browse your friends (of course), send them messages, or even join groups, but the focus was definitely the profile, specifically, filling in your personal history, adding photos, and gathering as many testimonials as possible. While it was fun for a bit and very popular, the service didn't offer anything substantial that went beyond merely "decorating," at least not when it had an audience. So, the long answer to why Friendster failed isn't just its news-feed problem, but also focus and timing. For a social network to be successful, the focus needs to be on social. When competitors such as My Space and later Facebook joined the market, they did not attempt to keep up with the competition.
3. Complete the PowerPoint Presentation template containing a minimum of four slides, discussing your chosen marketing failure.
4. Save your document as MKT100_LastName_FirstName_Week7_Assignment (example: MKT100_Doe_John_Week7_Assignment).
5. Submit the completed template by clicking the title to this assignment.

• Apply the key principles and concepts of marketing.